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14 January 2006 |
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Samsung 970p LCD Monitor |
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Samsung has been known in making LCD monitors that are fully functional
and provide the latest technology while making them very affordable.
Over the past few years, we have seen a variety of Samsung monitors with
the usual use of silver and black designs. Also to mention is the
faster response times which are being put in monitors these days as well
as better contrast ratios and overall brightness. Today, I will be
reviewing the Samsung 970p LCD Monitor. This monitor deviates
slightly from the usual Samsung design by capturing the 'simple, yet
elegant' approach. This will be understood further in the review.
With this in mind, Samsung still manages to pack in the rest of the
features such as a 6ms response time ideally making it an excellent
choice for gaming as well as the razor sharp 1:1000 contrast ratio. |
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The words 'simple, yet elegant' can easily describe the product when
looking at the monitor. The majority of the monitor has a white
and silver design capturing some of the essence of the Mac design.
The base, the stand, and the monitor all are neatly attached. The
stand uses a single hinge which allows the monitor to easily move up and
down, and left and right.
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The front of the monitor has a silver bezel around the LCD screen.
The hinge may look a bit thin, but it is more than sturdy enough to hold
up the LCD screen. Moving the LCD screen with the base stationary
is fairly fluid in movement making it easy for adjustment relative to
where the person is sitting when using the monitor. In fact, I
find that this Samsung monitor has a little more freedom when adjusting
the angle and position of the LCD screen compared with other Samsung
models.
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Typically, Samsung places the ports directly at the back of the LCD
screen or integrated at the base. Instead, there is a wire
extruding from the base of the monitor to a small box. The box
contains a DVI port and a connector which is where the power supply will
connect to. This approach makes it easier to plug in your power
supply cable and monitor cable, rather than having to look for it at the
back of the monitor. Keep in mind that this monitor only has a DVI
port and no VGA port. Unfortunately, there are no other ports such
as Video In.
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If you are familiar with Samsung's products, you may be wondering where
all the buttons are on the monitor. Typically, Samsung places all
their buttons right underneath the screen. Instead, there is only
one button on this monitor which is the power button. If you wish
to change settings such as the contrast or brightness, you will need to
rely on Samsung's MagicTune program. There are positives and negatives
to this approach. By allowing the user to make the settings via
the provided MagicTune software, it creates a somewhat simpler design
for the monitor, but the software can allow for much better fine-tuning.
This would only be important for those who are willing to sacrifice for
design and style. On the other hand, you will be unable to make
quick adjustments if you are in full screen and are playing a game,
which can be crucial for some gamers. I would have preferred if
Samsung kept the hard buttons right under the LCD screen.
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Included with the monitor is a power supply which is reasonably sized.
Even though I mentioned that the monitor only has a DVI connector, two
cables have been provided. One is a DVI to DVI cable; The other is
a DVI to VGA cable. This means that you will be able to use this
monitor if you have a video card or motherboard with just a VGA
connector.
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Here are the specifications as listed from Samsung's website:
-Viewable image size: 19 inches
-Brightness (typical): 250cd/m2
-Contrast ratio: 1000:1
-Viewing angle: 178/178 degrees
-Max native resolution: 1280 x 1024
-Interface: Analog/Digital
-Response Time: 6ms (gray-to-gray)
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Based on the specifications, this monitor seems to be well rounded in
most categories, but not the absolute best. With a 6ms
gray-to-gray response time, this monitor will work well for gaming.
I personally really didn't find any difference between a monitor such as
this and an 8ms response time on a Samsung monitor. The difference
is probably to the point where it is speculative. Nevertheless,
most gamers will not have a hard time adjusting to the monitor.
With the response times getting lower and lower on LCD monitors, they
become more and more attractive for gamers. With that in mind
though, the max native resolution of 1280 x 1024 will satisfy the
majority of gamers' needs, but may fall short of expectations for
hardcore gamers with elite systems that demand a resolution of 1600 x
1200.This monitor worked equally well in watching movies. With
a 178 degree viewing angle, there's not reason not to try watching a
movie with several friends on this monitor. The brightness of the
monitor will keep darker scenes in movies very visible, however, I did
notice the brightness falls slightly short of a previously reviewed
monitor such as the Samsung 915n with a brightness of 300cd/m2.
The MagicTune software allows you easily calibrate the monitor by
giving you a series of simple tests so that things such as color and
contrast are adjusted correctly and accurately.
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It's hard not to like the Samsung 970P. It provides all around
performance that will please users whether you are looking for a monitor
for office use, gaming, or for home use. The unique, simple design
of the monitor may also be attractive to Mac users as well who are
already used to the sleek design of Apple products. Having used
LCD monitors for quite a while now, I have gotten used to being able to
change settings such as contrast and brightness from the monitor itself.
This monitor does not have those buttons; it can only be controlled with
software. I found that there was a little more freedom in being
able to move the screen around. As expected from Samsung, I did
not find anything wrong with the screen itself and worked flawlessly. |
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Review by:
ronald@digitalreviews.net |
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