Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Samsung sent me one of these as a swap for my very nice 214T, which had developed a skipped line. I thought I was getting a great exchange, since the 214T is a conventional 21" whereas the 245BW is widescreen. What I should have paid attention to is the viewing angle. Samsung's better monitors have a viewing angle of 178 degrees and the cheaper models, like the 245BW, 160 degrees. I don't know how they measure this. The problem with this monitor (and there are numerous posts to this effect) is that the type of cheap LCD they use in the 245BW results in uniform screen brightness of...zero. In other words, looking at a solid block of gray (or any color, for that matter) with your head absolutely still, the gray is gets darker towards the top and the sides. If you tip your head, even 1/2 inch, the apparent brightness changes dramatically. So, tip your head down, 1/2 inch, the bottom gets much brighter, the top, much darker. Move your head up slightly and the reverse happens. If you're doing anything where you need an idea of how the output will look, you have to tilt your head up and down, look for the "sweet spot" and pray. I don't have to tell you how good Samsung monitors and TVs can be. Go into any store and you will see that Samsung is the new Sony. Even this monitor, with its one huge shortcomming, is very sharp and has no dead pixels. But shame on you, Samsung, for not telling people "This type of monitor is for entertainment or casual use only!"