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Samsung SyncMaster TOC Txx0HD-Series Owners Thread - Page 2

post #31 of 173
9/15/08 at 12:31pm
Has anyone hooked this up to an Xbox 360 via VGA and Component?

I would like to get this monitor (240HD or 260HD) to replace my aged 19" 1280x1024 monitor.

What I am curious about is if the monitor will scale 1:1 when running on VGA and Component from the 360? Also, how do games look that have the built in 1:1 correction like Gears of War (letterboxed), versus games that don't (cropped) like COD4 and many others?

Also, is it possible to a natural looking picture over Component and VGA with decent black detail?

Is the picture sharp through both inputs?

This seems to be the perfect solution for my needs. I was considering getting the 32" 1360x768 LCD TV Samsung makes (LN32A450), but I sit REALLY close to the screen when playing games, so I need 1920x1200.
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post #32 of 173
9/15/08 at 2:32pm
Yeah dude the games are going to look really sharp and vivid. Out of the box settings are alright, but you can adjust it to your liking. Personally I loved it for gaming (on PS3) but as for Blu Ray movies and even upscaled DVDs looked like crud on this set. It varies in blacks in movies from crush to grey and there are a lot of pixelated areas in dark scenes. I ended up returning it. Don't get me wrong though, it's perfect for gaming; I couldn't tell any lag and if there was it was usually a dropped connection.
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post #33 of 173
9/15/08 at 3:55pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by One2The3 View Post

Yeah dude the games are going to look really sharp and vivid. Out of the box settings are alright, but you can adjust it to your liking. Personally I loved it for gaming (on PS3) but as for Blu Ray movies and even upscaled DVDs looked like crud on this set. It varies in blacks in movies from crush to grey and there are a lot of pixelated areas in dark scenes. I ended up returning it. Don't get me wrong though, it's perfect for gaming; I couldn't tell any lag and if there was it was usually a dropped connection.

That's a bummer to hear about the blu-ray and dvd quality. Samsung has a pretty good reputation for LCD TVs. I wonder if the settings can be tweaked in a way to fix the problems you saw. I know on other Samsung sets, the auto processing stuff can really ruin a good HD feed. Things like dynamic contrast (auto black level), edge enhancement, and such usually do more harm than good on HDTVs. At any rate, it will certainly perform better than my cheapo 19" Acer.

Anyway, I wont be using this monitor for blu-ray and dvd. It will be Computer->DVI, 360->VGA or Component, and Cable->Coax.
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post #34 of 173
9/15/08 at 5:19pm
Then its a great choice! I would've kept it, but I'm pretty picky about movie quality *bought Transformers Blu Ray only to be disgusted by horrid pixelation! But yeah, if its just gaming then by all means go for it. I didn't however, try out the HD tuner.
Good luck to ya.
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post #35 of 173
9/15/08 at 7:04pm
My monitor makes "settling" noises in the night, slighlty crackling, anyone else get this?
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post #36 of 173
9/16/08 at 8:51am
NewEgg currently has an open box of this TV set for $340 plus $25 for shipping. Anyone one have experience with them regarding open Box TV's, quality, returns, etc... more to the point is it wise to even consider it, to save $150, or should I just pay more and go to a Costco B&M, for the return policy and the extended warranty?
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post #37 of 173
9/16/08 at 9:38am
Quote:
Originally Posted by BeerCur View Post

NewEgg currently has an open box of this TV set for $340 plus $25 for shipping. Anyone one have experience with them regarding open Box TV's, quality, returns, etc... more to the point is it wise to even consider it, to save $150, or should I just pay more and go to a Costco B&M, for the return policy and the extended warranty?

That is a fantastic price. I'm not sure what Newegg's return policy is on open box buys though. I didn't get mine through Newegg because there was no way to return it w/o the 15% fee (unless it was defective, of course), and I would be out the shipping, so I paid a little more and got on sale at Best Buy and with a 10% off coupon, brought the difference down to about $40-$50.

Just remember, someone could have returned it because it had dead pixels, and not enough to warrent a defective product, another reason to be very careful with open box buys of LCD monitors/Televisions.
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post #38 of 173
9/16/08 at 9:46pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by ak3883 View Post

someone could have returned it because it had dead pixels, and not enough to warrent a defective product, another reason to be very careful with open box buys of LCD monitors/Televisions.

Good point... thanks
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post #39 of 173
9/16/08 at 10:04pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by arubaflower View Post

I recently purchased a T220HD (June 2008 build date) for my parents. Hooked it up to a DVD player and had no problems. Then hooked it up to OTA antenna and about 5 minutes after it completed the auto channel scan, it died. Screen went black--no power, no nothing. The outlet was fine, as two other items plugged into the power strip were still powered up. I plugged the monitor into another outlet but it remained dead. May it RIP.

I bought the monitor from Amazon and I am currently in process of exchanging it. They told me I needed to contact Samsung first to see if there is a firmware update that may easily fix the problem. The Amazon rep said they receive too many Samsung TVs for return or exchange for a problem that could have been fixed with an update.

Samsung said there are no firmware updates for the T220HD, adding that software wouldn't revive a TV from the dead anyway. They said I could exchange it through them (would take over two weeks). I declined. I surmise dealing through Amazon will be faster.

FWIW, the Samsung tech said people have called in for set-up help but this is the first she heard of a major problem with this monitor. Thankfully there doesn't appear to be product-wide issues with the TV tuner so I feel safe in exchanging the monitor for another one. I guess I got the one lemon in the bunch.

UPDATE: Big River sent me a replacement in 3 days. Great customer service. The first one must have been a lemon after all because the new set is wonderful. Even the audio sounds much better. I purchased a set of T-10 Creative speakers, which sound great via the headphone jack, but I might not even use them. I am pleased enough with the internal audio for use in the kitchen.

I am liking the TOC set so much that I am now thinking about also getting the 26" for myself once the price drops a little bit more. As far as small TVs are concerned, no other manufacturers come close to making one on par with the TOC TxxHD series. I have to laugh at the specs I've seen on some of the other TVs under 26". No much of a selection there. I guess manufacturers think people no longer watch TV in their kitchen and thus have no need for a small TV. Though I highly doubt most people are putting a 40" up in their kitchen.

Other than the audio (which truly is a problem even on regular HDTVs this size), I see no reason to overlook these gems when considering a TV or monitor.
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post #40 of 173
9/16/08 at 10:16pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by ph00p View Post

My monitor makes "settling" noises in the night, slighlty crackling, anyone else get this?

Nothing I've heard so far. I do know what you are talking about though. My Samsung 32" makes those sounds from time to time. I think it might be the bezel reacting to a change in temperature, like when the TV is heating up or cooling down. My ProView monitor also makes those noises and I've had it running almost nonstop for about 4 years (I hardly ever turn it, or my computer, off) and it's been fine.
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post #41 of 173
9/16/08 at 11:02pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by heavyfeul View Post

Has anyone hooked this up to an Xbox 360 via VGA and Component?

I would like to get this monitor (240HD or 260HD) to replace my aged 19" 1280x1024 monitor.

What I am curious about is if the monitor will scale 1:1 when running on VGA and Component from the 360? Also, how do games look that have the built in 1:1 correction like Gears of War (letterboxed), versus games that don't (cropped) like COD4 and many others?

Also, is it possible to a natural looking picture over Component and VGA with decent black detail?

Is the picture sharp through both inputs?

This seems to be the perfect solution for my needs. I was considering getting the 32" 1360x768 LCD TV Samsung makes (LN32A450), but I sit REALLY close to the screen when playing games, so I need 1920x1200.

I have the T240HD and can confirm that the monitor does 1:1 over both component and hdmi. It has a "just scan" option. Test images showed 0 over scan and a perfect aspect ratio. It will of course be letterboxed, but still looks great. Hope that helps.

Elitimus

BTW - Gaming on this thing is awesome. Both the PS3 and 360 look great!! I don't use it for movies so I can't comment on that aspect.
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post #42 of 173
9/17/08 at 3:28pm
Yeah like I said, its great for games, but not for Blu Ray in my opinion. It just looks pixelated and crushed in dark scenes.
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post #43 of 173
9/17/08 at 8:49pm
Looks like it's perfect for me. I never watch movies nor have the equipment to watch HD or Blu-Ray movies. All I'll do on it is game, watch tv, and hook up my laptop to it from time to time.
Just ordered the 22" model. I had a $400 budget, and the 22" was right there.
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post #44 of 173
10/2/08 at 12:01am
I just recently purchased the T260HD. The speakers don't sound too great when I hooked up my PS3 to it via HDMI. It sounds find when watching regular TV through cable. I'm trying to hookup my computer speakers to the monitor, and it looks like there's a port for it.

However, the color of the port is a lighter blue while the color of the male part for the speaker is a light green. I get no sound when I plug it in. Is there an adaptor available to fix this problem? Can it even be fixed? Brand of the speakers are Altec Lansing if that's relevant.

Picture is awesome btw.
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post #45 of 173
10/3/08 at 8:36am
Quote:
Originally Posted by arubaflower View Post

Oh, I must echo One2The3's comment on the poor speakers. The audio on the movie we watched via component hook-up was terrible. Loud enough but hollow, hollow, hollow.

I remember reading a review that cautioned if you are buying this to use more as a TV than a monitor you might want to look elsewhere because the audio is bad. My last words before I submitted my order were: "It can't be that bad."

Oops, it is that bad. To make matters worse, the only audio-out is via digital optical Toslink. My parents don't have a digital sound system in their kitchen to hook a Toslink into. Would have been nice if Samsung added a RCA port for nondigital output.

The headphone jack is the only other output option but I am not sure how (if) that works with hooking small speakers into it.

Easy mini stereo plug/audio conversion cable, couple of dollars.
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post #46 of 173
10/4/08 at 6:20am
Quote:
Originally Posted by disguy View Post

I just recently purchased the T260HD. The speakers don't sound too great when I hooked up my PS3 to it via HDMI. It sounds find when watching regular TV through cable. I'm trying to hookup my computer speakers to the monitor, and it looks like there's a port for it.

However, the color of the port is a lighter blue while the color of the male part for the speaker is a light green. I get no sound when I plug it in. Is there an adaptor available to fix this problem? Can it even be fixed? Brand of the speakers are Altec Lansing if that's relevant.

Picture is awesome btw.

There's a slot for the green headphone/speaker slots that you find on computers on the left panel of the monitor/tv. You have to flip it open. It's where the 2nd HDMI port is.


Here's something I thought was possible beforehand.. With my 360 plugged in via component cables, the quality is fine and everything's great. However, since I want to record some of my gameplay videos, I thought I would hook my 360 up via composite cables since I hook up my gamebridge and monitor at the same time with 3 RCA y-splitters. On my SD TV back home, I can have my 360 hooked up to the tv and my laptop at the same time, so I play on my 360 and record on my laptop. However, with the T220HD, I hook up the composite cables to my 360 and the RCA slots on the T220, and only get sound and a black/white version of the typical 360 start-up. I guess this is to be expected. Looks like I'll be purchasing some method to record in HD.
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post #47 of 173
10/6/08 at 10:20am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Evelgest View Post

There's a slot for the green headphone/speaker slots that you find on computers on the left panel of the monitor/tv. You have to flip it open. It's where the 2nd HDMI port is.


Here's something I thought was possible beforehand.. With my 360 plugged in via component cables, the quality is fine and everything's great. However, since I want to record some of my gameplay videos, I thought I would hook my 360 up via composite cables since I hook up my gamebridge and monitor at the same time with 3 RCA y-splitters. On my SD TV back home, I can have my 360 hooked up to the tv and my laptop at the same time, so I play on my 360 and record on my laptop. However, with the T220HD, I hook up the composite cables to my 360 and the RCA slots on the T220, and only get sound and a black/white version of the typical 360 start-up. I guess this is to be expected. Looks like I'll be purchasing some method to record in HD.


These monitors have no "composite" inputs. Composite video is the single yellow port. Component video are the 3 ports colored red, green, blue. If you try to plug a composite cable into one of the component color inputs, it will not work. Is that what you were doing?
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post #48 of 173
10/8/08 at 11:51pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Evelgest View Post

However, with the T220HD, I hook up the composite cables to my 360 and the RCA slots on the T220, and only get sound and a black/white version of the typical 360 start-up. I guess this is to be expected. Looks like I'll be purchasing some method to record in HD.

Also check your Xbox 360 plug, the part that plugs into the 360, there's a switch on there to select HDTV or Regular TV.
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post #49 of 173
10/10/08 at 9:57am
what is the optimal calibration settings for watching tvs? also for pc connection? thanks in advance
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post #50 of 173
10/11/08 at 12:12pm
My sample photos:









I've owned several LCD monitors and this one gets the following marks:


Monitor Picture Quality (DVI) - 8/10
TV (SD) Picture Quality - 7/10
HDTV Picture Quality - 6/10

Comments:

- HDTV is quite pixelated.
- I cant get quite accurate colors when using as a computer monitor.
- Fast Tuner
- No dead pixels
- $309.99+ tax at costco

Overall a good deal since a 22" regular TV is probably about the same price. The picture quality on HDTV is among the worst I think I've seen on a samsung TV. However it is still a half decent computer monitor, equivalent to my old Samsung.

Backlight bleed is worse than most. Its not a great monitor or a great tv, however it does "good" in both.

Still VERY happy with my purchase. For the price you cant beat it.
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post #51 of 173
10/11/08 at 8:31pm
Looks like the 26" is on sale for $489 Shipped at amazon....tempting to return the 22" and upgrade.
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post #52 of 173
10/16/08 at 11:08pm
I bought the T220HD at a liquidator for $293 (with no tax) a couple months ago and have been happy as a clam. The monitor is pretty wicked. The DVI picture is excellent and I have digital cable running directly to it. Its QAM tuner picks up about 100 digital channels as well as the local HD.

My only problem lies in trying to use the HDMI input to connect my laptop's docking station. It works, however I cannot adjust several settings. They are grayed out in the menu. These settings are unavailable to me in HDMI mode:

Sharpness
Color
Tint
Digital NR
HDMI Black Level
Film Mode

The main one I need to adjust is Sharpness because though appropriate for TV sources, it adds some strange artifacts to PC text. All of the manuals indicate that these settings should be available in HDMI mode. Can someone confirm whether they see this same issue? Should I contact Samsung?
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post #53 of 173
10/17/08 at 10:15am
I'm looking at buying the T200HD or T220HD to be a monitor mostly & HDTV on rare occasions (main TV recording 2 shows). My concerns are with the remote sensor. My main HDTV is a Samsung, too. It's located about 6 feet from my computer. Will my remote (Harmony 880) inadvertently turn off/on the TxxxHD when I turn my TV off/on?

Also, just to verify...the 200 and 220 have QAM, right? So, I could plug my cable coax directly in the monitor?
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post #54 of 173
10/20/08 at 9:46am
Quote:
Originally Posted by sigmaace01 View Post

I'm looking at buying the T200HD or T220HD to be a monitor mostly & HDTV on rare occasions (main TV recording 2 shows). My concerns are with the remote sensor. My main HDTV is a Samsung, too. It's located about 6 feet from my computer. Will my remote (Harmony 880) inadvertently turn off/on the TxxxHD when I turn my TV off/on?

Also, just to verify...the 200 and 220 have QAM, right? So, I could plug my cable coax directly in the monitor?

Yes, you would probably have issues with a remote turning both devices on/off at the same time. I have a Samsung TV on the other end of the room and if I use my T240HD remote to turn off my monitor while leaning back in my chair a few feet, it sometimes will hit the TV, which is 135 degrees to the left. I have to be very careful since it is a DLP and repeated on/off is very bad for the bulb.

Regarding your 2nd question, all T2xxHD models have both ATSC and QAM tuners. You can just plug in cable and get all of the non-encrpyted HD channels, usually limited to local broadcast networks.
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post #55 of 173
11/9/08 at 4:27pm
I'm looking to replace my broken LCD with the T240. How does it handle aspect ratios for TV, PS3, and 360?
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post #56 of 173
11/9/08 at 7:18pm
I don't think it would kill you to read this thread, but to answer your question it does do everything correct to aspect ratio; 16:10 and 16:9 respectively.
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post #57 of 173
11/9/08 at 7:55pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by One2The3 View Post

I don't think it would kill you to read this thread, but to answer your question it does do everything correct to aspect ratio; 16:10 and 16:9 respectively.

Alright, I don't fully understand however. My 360 doesn't have hdmi out, so I can only do 720p over component. How does it display it though? I currently have a TV that is 1366x768 so it just shows the full image. And since it is 1920x1200, how will 1080p look on PS3? Is it full image? Will my Dish receiver show the full image? That is 720p/1080i. It is all very confusing to me.
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post #58 of 173
11/9/08 at 9:15pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lkr View Post

Alright, I don't fully understand however. My 360 doesn't have hdmi out, so I can only do 720p over component. How does it display it though? I currently have a TV that is 1366x768 so it just shows the full image. And since it is 1920x1200, how will 1080p look on PS3? Is it full image? Will my Dish receiver show the full image? That is 720p/1080i. It is all very confusing to me.

lol Alright I'll do my best to explain then! The monitor has a function that allows it to scale to full screen, 16: 9 (which is the aspect ratio tv and games are set in), and a wide mode. It looks great for gaming, but as mentioned above its very pixelated when it comes to movies. Since its a computer monitor and has a resolution of 1920 * 1200, to get 1080p it'll need to cut off 120 of the pixels meaning the top and lower halves will be black bars in order to maintain the correct aspect ratio (16:9) so no detail or distortion will occur. So since you're 360 can only output 720 pixels, that exact amount will show up on the monitor (it'll look small) but when you set it to full screen it'll do just that without any major loss in detail. Hope that helps!
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post #59 of 173
11/10/08 at 8:42am
Alright, thanks. I'm not too sure about this monitor then, since it appears it will be showing less than my current one. How bad is the pixelating? If I sit back, is it noticeable? Is there a TV at this price range that is better? Thanks
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post #60 of 173
11/10/08 at 3:00pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lkr View Post

Alright, thanks. I'm not too sure about this monitor then, since it appears it will be showing less than my current one. How bad is the pixelating? If I sit back, is it noticeable? Is there a TV at this price range that is better? Thanks

What do you mean by it'll show less? Trust me dude, this monitor will scale properly. For me it was pretty bad during dark scenes and occasionally during other scenes. It depends on what your main uses are. If its mostly gaming then by all means go for it. Honestly though I don't watch that many movies, but its just a personal preference since knowing in the back of my mind that this movie won't look as clean as it should. I don't know of any other monitor or tv that can do what this Sammy can. TV's of this size are generally only 720p *BTW don't use 1080i, 1080i is supposedly lesser quality than 720p hence the p meaning progressive*. The only other monitor that has this many connections is the Gateway FHD2400, but that monitor is discontinued, plus its got a horrid black light bleed. Good luck man!

PS If you want I could ask questions over at HardForum and get back to you; just give me what your requirements are and budget.
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