<Introduction><Setup and configuration><Tests><Conclusion><Rating>

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Introduction

Samsung, a well known and a household brand name in Korea, is also becoming quite a force in the computer and electronics industry. Chances are the DRAMs that most of us use in our PCs today come from Samsung. Although Samsung does not actually have a PC product line, at least not outside of Korea (I believe), they are certainly coming on strong with their line of PC peripherals such as the TFT LCD monitor that we are reviewing.

The Samsung SyncMaster reviewed is a 15 inch TFT LCD display. At first sight, the monitor looks just like any other LCD monitor in the market. Closer inspection reveals the Samsung logo on the bottom left corner of the display. The design looks clean with its neat and sharp edges throughout. The controls and power button are also neatly laid out in front. As with most LCD displays, the monitor has a pedestal-like stand. Most interesting of all is the monitor can be swiveled and this is achieved by a swivel on its base. The monitor cable is attached to the back of the stand near the base. The power cable which comes from an AC adapter also goes into a socket located in this area.

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Setup and configuration

Setting up the display was extremely easy. Anybody could do it. I set it up in 5 minutes. 3 minutes to get it out of the box and remove the plastic packaging and 2 minutes to boot the PC. After Windows come up, its just a trip to the display properties to setup the display and install the display profile. The buttons on the display allows you to make certain adjustments to the display through the OSD.

The buttons are clearly labeled with icons as well as words for the 2 main ones. They are self explanatory and there isn't much else to describe either. All the items in the OSD menu is in icons too. Over here, you can set the brightness, contrast, image lock, horizontal and vertical position, color temperature, color control, auto adjustment, various image adjustments and some miscellaneous adjustments. I will explain some of these menu items which are less obvious to the user. Image lock allows you to adjust the display's capability of removing noise. The noise that I refer to manifests itself as shimmering lines or a jittery image. This is sometimes necessary with certain video cards and some LCD displays does not have this option and attempts to do this automatically and fails. This is also one thing to watch out for when selecting a LCD display. The auto adjustment menu is also unique to Samsung and allows the user the option to let the display make settings like geometry, color, brightness and contrast automatically. Image size allows the user to zoom the display. It also has a function where the user can specify to expand the image to XGA if the video signal is of a lower resolution. There are several other settings in the miscellaneous menu such as the OSD menu language, menu position, menu display delay, display mode display and the display blanking power saving mode.

The SyncMaster also comes with an option for the user to wall mount the display. Unfortunately this is a separate accessory that the user have to purchase.

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Tests

Some of the things that I did was watch DVD movies and played computer games on it. Watching video on it was great and so was games. My only gripe was that the display area was not big enough. Work or play, it still looks great.

Look at some of the sample photos to decide for yourself which is better.

Extreme closeup of a CRT display

Extreme closeup of the Samsung display

Notice how clear and sharp the edges of the text is on the Samsung. Very little aliasing effects are visible on the Samsung and the edges are well defined.The moire patterns in the Samsung picture was artifacts from the curvature of the camera lense. JPEG compression also contributed to the quality and as we all know JPEG doesn't work well when you have well defined edges in the photo. Which is better ? Well, you decide.

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Conclusion

LCD displays are still an expensive and a luxury item for a PC. Buy it only if you absolutely have the cash to do so. With worldwide demand for LCDs increasing, this may just be the time to get one since they will be in short supply for a while. It is also for those who are seriously in need of desk space. Besides having a neat desktop, the other compelling reason to get one is to reduce eyestrain if one is to spend a lot of time in front of a monitor. It doesn't flicker a lot compared to conventional CRTs and the image also seems a lot more stable with a good LCD display. The quality compared to CRTs is just unmatched. I highly recommend the Samsung. Personally, I like it a lot. It's gorgeous! You may say that I am biased but I am sure you will agree with me once you have seen it yourself. Then again, I may not have seen the best yet. Enough said.

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Sidebar

Conventional CRTs uses electrons to illuminate phosporous on a glass screen to illuminate dots. Each dot is made up of 3 primary colours when struck with varying intensities of electrons which causes it to glow or gives off light at a different intensity. The combination of intensities of each of the colours in the dot gives rise to a certain colour. On some CRTs like the shadow masks CRTs, 3 electron beams are used for each of the colours. These beams travels through a mask which controls the intensity of the beam. On LCDs, each dot is also made out of 3 primary colours. Each of these colour in the dot is actually a colour filter since the LCD is usually transmissive and is illuminated by white light from the back of the LCD panel. Each of these filter is controlled individually by an electronic switch. The switch controls how transmissive the filter becomes thus allowing a certain intensity in the colour. Since there is no need to focus any beam on any one dot, it already makes each dot sharper. The dot boundaries are also more defined which is why the LCD always look clear and crisp. Since the video signal is still analog, the LCD electronics usually includes more sophisticated electronics to display a sharper and clearer picture.

TFT LCD MONITOR RATING