I've had this monitor for a couple of months now and wanted to share my thoughts. Overall, I like it. It's a beautiful addition to my desk, with the "touch of color" frame and piano-gloss-black base. Very pretty. I love having a high resolution widescreen 1080p-sized screen. The colors are vibrant, and the brightness and contrast are great. I LOVE the amount of inputs this has. The fact that it has a built in HDTV tuner is pretty cool, too. Also, I thought it was a great price for this size and quality of monitor.
It's not all wonderful though. It took a while to get the colors calibrated decently, and I had to buy a color spyder to get the job done. (Once calibrated, though, the colors are better than I had expected.) The real drawback, and what keeps this screen out of the professional display realm, is the use of the cheaper TN type LCD panel. I use a dual monitor system, with my other monitor being an older samsung syncmaster with an S-IPS panel, and the different is remarkable.
Basically, the TN panel makes the color EXTREMELY sensitive to the vertical angle you're viewing. Based on what I've read, the problem, is that on TN panels the R, G, and B pixels are deeper in the panel than on other types of panels. It's like looking at colored poker chips in the bottom of a tin can. When you're looking directly down into the can, you can see all of them. But if you change your angle, the side of the can might be occluding part or even all of one or more chips. On a TN panel, this means that the RGB balance is off.
An easy on-screen example can be tested by filling the screen up with a solid color. On the T260HD, it looks like a gradient! If I fill both screens with solid blue, my older S-IPS screen looks like a solid color, but the TN panel looks like a gradient light blue to dark blue, top to bottom. Even the small difference in vertical angle between the top and bottom of the screen are enough to change the colors. Standing up and crouching down to see the screen at different angles emphasizes the problem. Even my 5 year old son noticed this. He was watching me designing a website and said, "Daddy! When I stand up, it's yellow, but like this [sitting down] it's brown!"
Another disappointing problem is the lack of good tilt adjustment. Some of the reviews I read before buying mentioned complete lack of tilt, and others contradicted that. After getting the screen for myself, I realized the confusion. It only tilts UP, not DOWN! I have trouble envisioning a scenario where the screen would need to be tilted significantly up, but as I keep my monitors on an upper hutch-level of my desk, I really needed to tilt it down! (Especially because of the color issues from viewing the monitor at an vertical angle!) I wound up propping up the back end of the base with a few coasters. It's not a solution I recommend because it reduces the monitor's stability, but it's worked ok for me.
The last issue I've seen is the time it takes for the screen to wake up from power saving mode. If it was just a few seconds, that would be fine and I would consider it worth it for saving on my energy costs. But sometimes it's 10 or 15 seconds (it seems to vary), and that's just too long. It's usually faster to turn the monitor off and then back on. And, by the way, my other monitor comes on quickly so the problem is definitely not my computer's response time.
So to sum up:
PRO: Looks great, great brightness, great contrast, good colors (once adjusted, and when viewed at the proper angle), great range of inputs, good price
CON: TN panel means colors are highly sensitive to vertical angle, can't tilt the screen down, takes a while to "wake up" from power saving mode
I would re-evaluate my options if I were looking at this again as a new purchase, although I would probably buy it again if I were under the same financial constraints, because it is a good value.
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HATE HATE HATE the on/off button!!!!!
Reviewed in the United States on January 3, 2020
WHERE THE HECK IS THE ON/OFF BUTTON???Was using this as a computer monitor so I never use the remote.For the longest time I had to figure out the magical incantation required to turn on & off this monitor. Eventually I discovered it required touching the front right corner in JUST the correct way. I had anxiety every time. Was I going to hit it correct? With the delay, I had to make the attempted finger-swipe, then wait to see if I was successful. To quick at trying again and I would end up turning it on then off.For those of you who have this same anxiety, I found a solution:1) Get yourself a pocket knife2) Turn on the monitor (good luck).3) Above the magical red glowy-area, CARVE A BUTTON with your knife.See attached pictures.Unfortunately this crappy monitor does not come with a pocket knife for carving the on/off button. You'll have to but that separately.BETTER YET, DO NOT REWARD THESE PEOPLE FOR SUCH A BAD DESIGN. DO NOT BUY THIS MONITOR!
Reviewed in the United States on January 3, 2020
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