Got a Samsung 204B, 1600 x 1200, 2005-era, LTM201UX-L01 . And had a panel failure where half it was all scrambled. Replaced the panel and got one with no dead pixels. But this replacement panel seems to have worse contrast and slightly (gently) un-even blacks that are slightly washed out. Not the deep black like my old panel had. Doesn't seem to be any fading or splotching in the panel or liquid area where the crystals reside. More like a "global" polarization issue. Or gently faded crystals from age or excessive use. The backlight is plently powerful and can be made quite bright. So that tells me either the BL was replaced, or these panels haven't been used much, but didn't pass muster and got on the grey market. Not surprising and half expected. Bummer. So many possibilities for guesses.

The further away you get from the monitor the better it seems, at 2 meters is almost even, but a photo still shows it and exaggerates it. Could the BL be too bright?

It of course came from a China-based seller that claims these are new. True enough, new to the seller, e-waste purchased in bulk. And sold to the seller as new. And to the seller it is new!. What a twist on words and a reset of the meaning "new". E-waste laundering! New other..? Yeh right. Unfortunately I'm not able find any more of these panels.

Another seller told me he had some that are 90% new when I asked if they were new in original Samsung packing material, unopened, unused, 100% genuine.

Anyhow. Can anything be done to fix this? I guess not but figured I'd ask. Love the 4:3 for classic gaming and emulating. Also wondering if it isn't time to dump this legacy stuff and go completely modern. Doing that would mean I'd want to Virtualize WinXP, as this 4:3 monitor is used exclusively with it. And that's a whole other project. I've virtualized 3.1, 95/98, but not XP.

Also not sure if it would be practical to use an analog VGA-to-HDMI converter for a new monitor on this legacy rig. Not all monitors have VGA input anymore.

Suggestions and discussion welcome!