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383 of 410 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
An Unusual Combination of Good & Bad Features, July 12, 2008
I have a Samsung LN52A750 LCD television which is an awesome set for use either as an HDTV or as a computer monitor. I really like the style it has with the TOC (touch of color) and the crystalline bezel design. When the T260HD was announced it seemed like a great idea to upgrade my 22" monitor with this 26" and gain HDTV functions while matching the style of the larger set.
What a disappointment! When used as a PC monitor the text could not be sharper, but the colors are all washed out and blacks are a hazy shade of gray. This performance isn't nearly as good as the cheap 22" ACER it replaces! Since the 52" Samsung performs flawlessly as a monitor I figured this 26" just needed calibration. After adjusting the configuration of the video card AND using the supplied Samsung "Natural Color Pro" software, only very slight improvement could be made.
I then replaced the HDMI cable with a DVI cable to see if that was causing the poor performance... no luck. The images were identical. The DVI cable and video card were the same ones that worked fine with the Acer, so those components could be ruled out as causes.
I even used the menu to rename the port to "PC" in the hopes that would automatically modify the port configuration as it does with the 52", but that didn't help either.
Now here's the really strange part: When used as an HDTV (plugged into Comcast cable) the images simply cannot be better. Even without any adjustments the black levels and color saturation is as perfect as anything I have ever seen. When used as an HDTV this set will not disappoint anyone - no matter how "picky" they are. At least this performance shows there may be some hope in someday finding some hidden method to improve its performance when used as a monitor.
There were four other disappointments prospective purchasers should be aware of:
1) I had already downloaded and read the User Guide from the Samsung website a couple of weeks before anyone began selling this model. Upon unpacking the set I noticed the remote control did not match what was listed in the manual - it was a completely different shape and was missing 7 buttons. This seemed strange because some of those missing functions were very useful. I borrowed the remote from my 52" Samsung which was equipped with those buttons (and many more as well). That remote was able to control everything, including the functions that were missing on the supplied remote! I called Samsung support and found that they have recently updated their online user guide and downgraded the supplied remote to the one I received. While you can still access the missing functions by navigating through their menu system, it makes using the remote a frustrating experience. This is a relatively minor complaint since I can use my other remote or buy an expensive third-party remote to get those functions back.
2) Perhaps a bigger disappointment with this unit is its total lack of VESA wall mounting holes. There is no way to wall mount this set unless you use one of those old fashioned shelves they've used for years for CRT sets. This is a pity because the 1080p performance of this set is unequalled by any other HDTV in its' size or cost range. Even if you don't need it as a PC monitor at all, it can be completely justified for purchase solely for its HDTV performance.... but this function almost REQUIRES a capability to be wall mounted, which cannot easily be done wth this set.
3) The speakers on this monitor are average for a typical HDTV - in other words - pretty poor. My first inclination was to connect a simple set of 2.1 computer speakers because even the inexpensive ones provide a huge audio improvement. It is difficult to justify a full-blown receiver and 5.1 or 7.1 sound system for a TV this small. Unfortunately, the only audio out connection on the back is an optical Toslink connector which no computer speaker system I know of is equipped with. I can't even find an adapter to convert the Toslink to any analog type of connector.
I was successful in connecting to the audio-in jack on my computer's sound card via the earphone plug located on the side of the monitor, but it looks pretty cheap to have the wire stick out like that. That appearance is not compatible with one of my main reasons for selecting this item: it's beautiful appearance. Even with a right-angle jack adapter the cable remains visible and the monitor's side door covering the connections must remain open.
EDIT: 7-28-08
Just installed a Logitech Z-5500 5.1 speaker system. It solved the problem, but at a steep $250 cost. At least it handles optical inputs, as well as digital coaxial and 5.1 channel analog. It now provides the sound system for this TV as well as the computer and an upconverting DVD player. This is a pretty good sound system that has significantly improved my viewing and computing experience. It is not as good as the sound system in use with my 52" TV, but it is a vast improvement over the 2.1 computer speaker system that I previously thought was quite good.
4) The biggest disappointment is the lack of "picture-in-picture" (PIP) capability. What could be a more natural use for this set than to be able to use it as a computer monitor while having the nightly news running in a window? The remote shown in the original manual has a button for PIP, even though the manual stated PIP is not available. The remote actually provided does not have a PIP button. I've used my other remote (which does have a PIP button) to confirm, and the set just states "function not available". I feel this is a major design flaw for a set of this type.
Now for the good news:
I really like the crystalline (clear plastic) bezel design and the TOC which matches my 52" Samsung. Just as with the larger TV, the red TOC is actually so subtle that it appears black unless directly illuminated by bright sunlight, when it still appears more of a very dark reddish-brown. The 52" set has a design feature which allows subtle screen illuminations to be reflected off the outer edges of the bezel (dubbed as the "halo effect"). I like that feature and am a bit dissapointed this set has not yet exhibited this effect. (If it does, it must be even more subtle than on its bigger brother).
The on/off button on the bezel is not really a button at all. It's an invisible sensor that activates when you touch a certain spot - just as it does with the 52". Unlike its' larger brother the other contol functions for channel and volume are physical buttons hidden behind the right edge of the bezel. The power indicator light is very cool - instead of a small point of light, it is a faint red glow of a sizeable portion of the corner of the frame - perhaps a 2" crescent region.
I was greatly surprised (and pleased) to discover that after allowing the set to automatically locate and program cable channels that it found perhaps several hundred of them. It picked up lots of HDTV stations without the need for a set-top-box. The best surprise is that it shows standard definition (SD) broadcasts nearly as clearly as the HDTV broadcasts. I have to hit the "Info" key to verify the resolution of many channels because they all look so good. The SD display even surpasses the very good performance from its' 52" big brother! SD stations that are of nearly unwatchable quality on my other HDTVs look great on the T260HD, perhaps even better than they did on my old SD televisions (which I no longer have for comparisons).
Performance on HD material is quite good, but not quite as good as that of the larger Samsung.
SUMMARY:
I cannot recommend this unit for use as a computer monitor. If I ever discover a solution for its washed out appearance I'll edit that info into this review later.
The display performance as an HDTV is much better than it's performance as a computer monitor with deep blacks and saturated colors.
No PIP functionality greatly reduces this set's usefulness.
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87 of 91 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Best monitor I have ever owned, July 22, 2008
The Samsung T260HD is the best monitor I've ever owned. I was using dual 19 inchers (Samsung 940BX and Samsung 971P) and this blows both of them away. I'm an amateur photographer and my photos look amazing on this monitor -- big screen, high resolution, clear bright colors. The images are very sharp and detailed. There is so much detail in the images, it's almost like being there. Photos have more detail in both the highlights and shadows than any other monitor I have used. I love this monitor.
With the default settings, the monitor was a little too bright, so I turned the brightness down to 50 and then profiled the monitor with my Monico Optix XR color puck. Now the monitor produces less bright and more natural colors. The photos show more detail in both highlight and shadow areas than any previous monitor. The built-in 1080P HDTV works great too. It automatically found all of my DTV stations without a cable box -- in fact it found even more than my cable box shows. Standard DVDs look very good on it too. The monitor was easy to setup and use both as a monitor and as a TV. The remote is just the right size, with all the essential buttons and enough space between them for even my large fingers. The remote lets you switch between TV mode and monitor mode with a single button push.
Initially I couldn't play Blu-ray movies on this monitor and the Cyberlink Blu-ray advisor reported a digital connection that didn't support HDCP. The problem turned out to be lack on HDCP support in the GeForce 7600GT video card. I upgraded the video card to a GeForce 9800GT and now Blu-ray movies play just fine. Blu-ray movies have a little more detail, but standard DVDs look great too.
The screen seems to have an anti-glare feature -- light coming in my window that used to cause glare on my other monitors, is not a problem on this monitor. I haven't verified this in the specs, but it just seems to have less of a glare problem than other monitors.
Now that I have this large widescreen monitor, I've started watching DVDs and instant Netflix movies on it. Both look great. With a high speed connection, the instant view movies look almost as good as DVDs.
I still have a 19inch monitor to the side of this one for games that don't display well at this resolution. It also adds as an overflow monitor when I get lots of stuff running.
This monitor is a little slow to wake up after being asleep (Windows power management). I discovered that it wakes up better when detecting a mouse click than just moving the mouse.
I tried using the monitor from both the HDMI and DVI connectors and found no noticeable difference in display quality.
The sound quality from the built-in speakers is okay for watching standard TV, but I normally use my Logitech THX-certified Z-2300 speakers which are much better. When using the T260HD as a TV I let the sound come out of its own speakers, but when using it as a monitor, the sound routes through the Logitech Z-2300 speakers. They have excellent sound for both movies and gaming and are only $83 on Amazon.
If you are thinking of getting one of these monitors, just do it. You will love it.
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40 of 43 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
GREAT TV / MONITOR COMBO, September 12, 2008
I just want to address a few things. For viewing television, the picture is amazingly good. Playstation 3 looks awesome... literally the best that I've seen.
When used as a monitor... The color profile for any PC monitor is always controlled by the graphics card, so you have to go into the settings of your graphics card and tweak everything to make it look right... once you take the time to do that, it looks great.
The 'auto tune' feature for adding channels takes a long time and doesn't work that great, but any channel that you punch in will automatically be saved, so it's not a big deal. Analog signals take a couple seconds to tune in, but digital signals are quicker. Sometimes analog signals won't tune in on the first try, but not often.
There are no standard A/V inputs (RCA yellow,red,white). The verticle viewing angle could be better. There is really no way to mount it (although it has an Ex-Link port for hooking up to a motorized mount...???).
Another reviewer said there is only an optical audio output, but there is a standard 3.5mm audio output on the side, it's just not on the back.
The built in speakers would be considered good for a monitor but not great for a TV
Aspect ratio choices are: full wide 16:10, wide 16:9, 4:3, wide zoom 1, and wide zoom 2.
Buy it.
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