It was spoken of as a product still in research but was finally unveiled at this year’s CES : Samsung presents the 2263DX, a 22 inch screen with a secondary 7 inch diagonal screen connected via USB (this port also serves as the power supply) for small tools such as instant messager, desktop gadgets, etc.
Besides the diagonal size, possible HDCP compatibility for both monitors, presence of a webcam and USB hub (on the 22 inch), no other characteristics or price were given for this original monitor.
From our colleagues at Engadget: Alienware has presented the prototype of a curved screen that will be launched this year with a surprising resolution of 2880 x 900 pixels. The monitor was presented with the game Crysis. According to the reporter at Engadget (see video below), it’s a retro-projection DLP type screen (this is believable given the depth of the system). The manufacturer also took advantage of the occasion to mention something that will catch the eye of gamers, a 0.2 ms response time or a tenth of what the official fastest LCDs are capable of.
There are however a few things to consider:
it’s not too logical to speak of response time with a DLP – unless this is an indication of the max frequency of oscillation of the mirrors. In this case the 0.2 ms would correspond to the fastest transition for a layer of colors. For it to produce images a red, green and blue layer are needed as well as a white or even intermediate shades.
A DLP system has two enormous advantages over the LCD: the first is that there is almost no afterglow (at least this is the case for video projectors); second is that their contrast is much better due to a very deep black. On the other hand, they suffer from a large handicap, the "rainbow effect". Not everyone is sensitive to this but those who see a delayed image instead of the sum of RGB layers that succeed each other at great speed. These viewers see brief flashes of color which can sometimes be insufferable.
The last damper on our enthusiasm: the reporter seemed very excited about this screen being the equivalent of two 24 inch LCDs. In terms of size this is true but in pixels it is equal to a single one. Finally, if you take a looker at the video, you can see four panels joined together that make up this screen.
Either way, this is quite a feat and is an original and innovative product. It’s nice to see and makes us fantasize (a little) on the possibilities.
The 226BW is dead, killed by the polemic on panels. Without officially introducing it as its successor, Samsung replaced it by the SyncMaster 2232BW. Same story? Well, there are several panels…
However, this isn't necessarily a problem and in the end we should seriously consider our supposed/real expectations regarding evolutions in the LCD industry.
Alereon, a company specialized in Wireless USB chips, and DisplayLink, the creator of the DL120 and DL160 decompression chips which we find in the USB screens such as the SyncMaster 940UX, have jointly announced the first Wireless USB graphic controller. A reference design is available and will be presented at the CES taking place in Las Vegas at the beginning of January.
The maximum resolution will be 1680 x 1050 in 24 bits (16.7 million colors). However, it will be interesting to observe if this remains the case when the distance between the PC and screen surpasses 3 meters as beyond this distance, WUSB speed falls from 60 MB/s to 14 MB /s.
Threatened by the 24 inch, 22"s are putting up a fight. Prices are no longer continuing to drop and they remain at around the 300 Euro mark. In addition, for this price we find a growing number of models with a 2 ms response time instead of the omnipresent 5 ms of the first and second batches of screens in our previous 22 inch surveys.
Here is a brief summary of the models tested to have a better idea of the interest of each one:
Asus PG221 : 2 ms with a base speaker integrated on the back
Belinea 2230 S1W : price inferior to 300 Euros
Iiyama ProLite E2201W: assures the presence of a Samsung 2 ms panel
LG L226WTQ : Philips 2 ms panel. Better than Samsung ?
Nec LCD225WXM : the return of this color specialist with a screen at a fair price
Samsung 225UW : integrated webcam
Samsung 226CW : 2 ms + wide gamut. This is an evolution of the 226BW.
The 226BW is dead, killed by the polemic on panels. Without officially introducing it as its successor, Samsung replaced it by the SyncMaster 2232BW. Same story? Well, there are several panels…
Alereon, a company specialized in Wireless USB chips, and DisplayLink, the creator of the DL120 and DL160 decompression chips which we find in the USB screens such as the SyncMaster 940UX, have jointly announced the first Wireless USB graphic controller. A reference design is available and will be presented at the CES taking place in Las Vegas at the beginning of January. 
Threatened by the 24 inch, 22"s are putting up a fight. Prices are no longer continuing to drop and they remain at around the 300 Euro mark. In addition, for this price we find a growing number of models with a 2 ms response time instead of the omnipresent 5 ms of the first and second batches of screens in our previous 22 inch surveys.