Brightness and Contrast: The
Samsung syncmaster 940UX does very well
in the grey scale tests of Nokia monitor test. The white scale bars are
nice and bright while the black tests are dark. It's
1000:1 contrast ratio creates very black backgrounds and bright
whites.
Colour Vibrancy:
The three primary colours (RGB) were vibrant from side to side. Colour saturation
was very good for a monitor in the Samsung 940UX's class. We saw no dull or
broken pixels, nor any light leakage from the very corners of the display.
Colour Shading:
In
this test there's a bit of banding due to LCD monitors being limited to 16.7
million colours. This is an issue with all LCDs and thus cannot really be
considered a negative mark against the Samsung 940UX.
Non-native Resolution:
Native resolution is 1280x1024
pixels. Image dithering at a non-native 1024x768 resolution was good and after a few minutes you wouldn't notice that
the monitor was not at its native resolution. For users
that prefer larger fonts, or need to run at a non-native resolutions, the
940UX handles text dithering gracefully.
Moire: There were no noticeable background noise in the moire test pattern in when using
DVI or USB connections. There were a few noticeable parts when using an analog
source, but the auto adjust feature fixed that quickly.
Gaming Tests: To test out
the real world action of fast paced FPS gaming on the Samsung 940UX LCD monitor we
loaded up GRAW 2 and put the Samsung screen through a couple of rounds of
terrorist, armour and helicopter fragging. The colours looked crisp, and I really
liked how the darker areas of the screen were actually black. On some
inexpensive LCD's, the backlight leaks through the darker areas of the screen which
takes away from the visual atmosphere the game otherwise creates. It's distracting
and kind of makes that $500 videocard pointless. Not so with the high
1000:1 contrast ratio of the Samsung 940UX monitor.
As to the question of ghosting in the
game... well it's a really subjective observation. With a 5ms grey to grey response time,
it was near impossible to spot any ghosting with the Samsung 940UX. There
were a few occasions when playing Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 that one may notice ghosting (no
not the characters ;-)) but even if you're looking for it, it's there
for less than a split second. Gamers will definitely be happy with the abilities of the Samsung
940UX.
Pixel Times
If you're primarily using the LCD monitor for office
use, a good contrast ratio, brightness and viewing angles are the most important
aspects. While a pixel response time of 16ms used to be very good, most
brand name LCD displays will now feature sub-10ms pixel response times as
measured on the gray-to-gray scale. Indeed the Samsung Syncmaster 940UX PCSTATS
is testing today has a 5ms G-to-G pixel responce time. This doesn't necessarily compare to the old standard of quoting the time it took one pixel to change from black to white, and back to black. So if you have a LCD panel rated at 16ms, or even 25ms from a couple years back, this may explain the big difference in pixel times.
A Good LCD with USB Functions
With a sticker price of $330 CDN ($334 USD, £162 GBP),
the Samsung Syncmaster 940UX
19" monitor is priced towards the mainstream 19" LCD market.
For your money you get a nice LCD display which is
capable of 160 degree viewing angles, a 1000:1 contrast ratio, and a brightness
figure of 300cd/m2.
Its pixel
pitch of 0.294mm is standard, as is the native resolution of 1280x1024.
Likewise, the
effect of
its pixel response time of 5ms (gray to gray) should be fast enough for
gamers. The business styled look of the Samsung Syncmaster 940UX makes it a good monitor for workstation
or SOHO environments. The display accepts DVi, VGA, and
USB video inputs - a versatility which is easily appreciated.
The build quality of the Samsung SyncMaster 940UX is excellent. The
stand is substantial and does not slip around when the monitor is being
adjusted. The swiveling, pivoting and monitor rotation hinges work effortlessly,
making handling this screen easy.
The USB monitor feature is definitely stands out. It's the first time
we've seen something like that here at PCSTATS. With a USB monitor, it doesn't
matter how many displays your videocard can support. Rely on parallel USB connections
and you can potentially connect up to six Samsung
Syncmaster 940UX monitors to your system
for Windows desktop work! Think about the possibilities; in this one stroke Samsung
has done away with the need for multi-display capable videocards where desktop applications are
concerned.
From what PCSTATS could test, the USB display visual
quality was as good as DVI or analog connections. The 2D display was as sharp and easy to read, video playback was also pretty
good. A few of the Microsoft Windows Vista gadgets did not operate properly but other 2D
Microsoft applications (like Office), VLC player and PowerDVD had no problems running through the
USB connection. Sadly USB monitors do not support 3D gaming, but
since most videocards handle at least two DVI or analog monitors, this
isn't really a problem.
As a 19"
LCD monitor,
the Samsung Syncmaster 940UX maintains excellent contrast and a vibrant picture. We
especially like how the screen offers a range of adjustments (rotation, height
and swivel) that will make it at home in any office environment where
versatility is key. Office work is a given, but as we've seen gaming and DVD
playback on the Samsung Syncmaster 940UX are just as
good.
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