Samsung SyncMaster S24A850DW 24" LED LCD Monitor

 (12 customer reviews)

The Samsung S24A850 has the nicest picture I've seen on any monitor. It's beautiful for photo work. Whites are actually white thanks to a relaxed application of anti-glare coating. Viewing angles are excellent, and the PLS panel thankfully lacks the awful vertical color shift that plagues TN monitors. The stand is perfect, and allows for vertical orientation and a wide range of adjustments.

That said, the backlight bleed is the worst I've seen. So I ordered another one, and it too had severe backlight bleed on the bottom third of the monitor. The original monitor suffered mostly in the right corner, and the second was no different. After trying them out for a couple days and adjusting brightness, I realized the bleed likely wouldn't go away. I packed up the second monitor, saddened that I had to return such a great picture. But I couldn't deal with the bleed. It's easily noticeable when watching movies, and sometimes when there's a single color filling the screen...Read more

Let me start off by saying that I am a professional digital artist, using most of the programs available for 3D, video, and graphics/photo creation. I am not rating this monitor as if it was intended to be a professional level monitor, but I have to be honest and say that I do notice and look for certain things in any monitor I view. This monitor was meant to be an addition used for general purposes, and not for critical work. This is a standard gamut monitor covering the sRGB color space, and fine for most work.

The 24 and 27 inch versions use a PLS panel manufactured by Samsung, and the panel is meant to be an alternative to IPS panels. The sub-pixel structure of the PLS panel is similar to the structure of e-IPS panels, with some small differences between the two. As such the characteristics are similar, color, viewing angles, etc., making it a good alternative to the cheaper TN panels that dominate the market. The 24 inch version uses a 6 bit A-FRC panel where as...Read more

I've been using the Samsung SyncMaster SA850 for a few weeks.
I've been using the Samsung SyncMaster 245BW for a few years.

The SA850 replaces the 245BW as my favorite,
so here I will compare the two.

They are the same screen size, and I drive them both via DVI.

I am able to measure brightness and power consumption with
a Specra Cine SA-810 Luminance meter and Watts Up Pro A/C power meter.

Brightness is measured in the center, which can vary by
a few % from the edges.

Max Brightness:

245BW: brightness control 100, 315 nits, 72 watts
SA850: brightness control 100, 350 nits, 32 watts

This is too bright to use, at least as a computer monitor.
But this is what your monitor will do when you
take it out of the box or reset it to default.

Daytime:

245BW: brightness control 30, 100 nits, 36 watts
SA850: brightness control 9, 100 nits, 14 watts...Read more