I recently picked up a new monitor - a 24 inch widescreen Samsung SyncMaster 2494 HM. So far this is an awesome monitor. But, I have run into an issue with it that I didn't find documented online. So, here's a quick post to hopefully help someone else with a similar issue.
Problem: Occasionally the front control buttons stop working. The power light may start a slow flash (I observed one). The monitor continues to work just fine, but you can't use the controls in any way.
My Fix: Turn off the monitor. FLip the power switch that is on the back/underneath - beside where the power cord plugs in. WAIT. Wait a few minutes. I'm not sure the exact amount of time needed, but a minute or two worked for me. I also turned off my computer so that there was no signal to the monitor at all. This may not be necessary though.
When I turned on the power switch on the back again, the front panel was working fine again.
Causes: I'm not sure what triggers this situation, but, I have some suspicions. I tend to leave my computer on for most of the day but I have it set up to turn off the signal to the monitor when a screensaver would normally kick in. I suspect that during one of these transistions a signal to the monitor is not quite right and perhaps is not properly filtered out before being applied resulting in an unexpected result.
Let me know if you find any other solutions.