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The Samsung syncmaster 940UX offers up a contrast ratio of 1000:1, brightness
is pegged at a good 300 cd/m2, viewing angles sit at 160 degrees horizontal / vertical, and tripple video inputs (DVI, VGA, USB).
81% Rating: 
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Samsung Syncmaster 940UX |
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If you're shopping for a LCD monitor
you've probably noticed all the confusing numbers and specs printed on
the sides of each monitor's box. If today is the first day you've considered
switching to an LCD display, ignore everything and just pay attention to the three following specifications; contrast ratio, brightness, and viewing angles. Pixel times are tossed around a lot, and quick times are indeed better for gamers, but realistically anything around 16ms is fine for games, 25ms for office work.
Now, of those three main specs to watch out for, viewing
angles are the best judge of actual LCD panel quality. If an LCD display has narrow viewing angles of 145/145 degrees horizontal/vertical, it's a bottom of the barrel kind of display. Conversely, an LCD with wide viewing angles of +170/+170 degrees is high quality. Realistically, 178/178 degrees is the highest this measurement will reach.
In this review PCSTATS
is testing out the 19" Samsung Syncmaster 940UX LCD display. There are plenty of
other LCD brands to choose from on the market, but we like Samsung
for two reasons. First, it has been serving users since LCD displays first hit the market. Second, it is
one of the few companies that actually manufacturers LCD glass.
The silver Samsung Syncmaster
940UX before us today is a tripple input LCD monitor, meaning
it accepts a video signals over digital DVI, analog VGA and USB (UbiSync). Though DVI
is the naturally preferred standard, multiple Syncmaster 940UX displays could be connected to a PC with the
video signal going over
the USB connection! There are some big limits for the USB-monitor-interface, so more on this in
a moment.
The
Syncmaster 940UX's 19" screen boasts a native resolution of 1280x1024
pixels, with an industry standard dot pitch of 0.294mm. The Samsung 940UX
retails for $330 CDN ($334 USD, £162 GBP) and offers up a
contrast ratio of 1000:1 (dynamic contrast ratio of 2000:1). The brightness
is pegged at a good 300 cd/m2, viewing angles sit at 160 degrees horizontal/vertical, and pixel
response time is a quick 5ms. A speed of 5ms is ideal for fast paced
gaming. The display features
a two-port USB hub integrated into the side of the panel, and is Microsoft Vista and
Mac compatible.
Power draw is listed at 42 Watts while in use, less than
5 Watts in standby. Samsung include analog and DVI monitor cables, and a USB
A-to-B data cable with the package.
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Samsung Syncmaster 940UX LCD Display |
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| Includes: |
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Manual, digital video cable, analog
video cable, USB cable, power cable,
software. |
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SPECIFICATIONS:
Screen
size: 19"
Brightness:
300 cd/m2
Contrast
Ratio: 1000:1 (dynamic contrast
2000:1)
Viewing
Angle: 160°/160°
Inerface:
Analog/DVI
Resolution:
1280x1024
Pixel Pitch:
0.294mm
Response Time: 5
ms
Power Draw:
42W
VESA Mount:
75mm
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The Samsung SyncMaster 940UX comes with
a three year warranty which covers all aspects of the product including the backlights.
The screen is jet-black when it's turned on and displaying a 100%
black image, which is always a good quick indicator of
contrast.
 The
19" SyncMaster 940UX is available in silver and black bezels, the unit
PCSTATS received for testing sports a businesslike silver bezel. The bezel
is less than a half an inch thick on all sides, so it is barely noticeable.
The Samsung logo and model number are stencilled in dark grey along
either end of the lower bezel, and a set of six discrete buttons control the
manual OSD settings.
A plastic
base supports
the display with a variety of adjustments to height, swivel, screen rotation and
tilt. The base has rubber grips on the bottom and extends up into a gooseneck
support that attaches to the display itself. The base swivel 360 degrees left
or right effortlessly, and the height of the LCD may be adjusted about 3".
The Samsung Syncmaster 940UX measures 40.7 x 40.8 x
20cm and weighs 5.2 kg including the base. Power consumption is rated at
42W with the screen set to maximum brightness, less than 5W in standby mode.
USB Hub
and USB Monitor for
Vista
Many monitors feature built in USB hubs, this is nothing new. The Samsung
940UX take USB connectivity to the next level. When connected to a
Windows Vista PC with the supplied USB cable, the Samsung 940UX is
able to receive a 2D video signal
from the videocard through the USB 2.0 bus. Where this pays off is if you wish
to have multiple monitors connected to your computer. UbiSync will support up to four compatible
USB monitors in a daisy chain, or up to six USB monitors connected in parallel
to the computer. Just think of all the screen real estate that translates into. :-) The caveat is
that the system only works with Windows Vista 2D objects -ie. if you want to play 3D games over
the USB monitor connection you're out of luck.
The integrated two-port USB slots on the side of the
940UX can also be used to hook up other devices like a scanner, digital camera,
flash memory drive or iPod very conveniently.
The Samsung USB Monitor is supported by the following
operating systems; Microsoft Windows 2000 (SP4 or later), WindowsXP (SP2)
and Windows Vista. Unfortunately, 64-bit versions of these operating systems are not supported, and there's no mention
about Linux or Mac computers.
Really though, the big let down is that USB monitors
cannot be used with 3D games. If you
try to run a 3D application over a USB monitor connection the
game may load, the image will not be displayed and you will just have the 2D
Windows desktop to look at.
USB displays do support movie
play back, though only one monitor would support DVD quality playback at full resolution, the others
might not have sufficient bandwidth. Samsung state that Power DVD, WinDVD (version 5
or higher), Windows Media player (ver 10 or higher) and VLC Player are
good to go.
Since the Syncmaster 940UX display is running
through the USB 2.0 bus, there are naturally some minimum hardware requirements to
consider. With one or two 19" Samsung 940UX displays connected via USB,
you'll need at least a 1.2 GHz processor with 512MB system memory. Connecting three monitors
requires a 1.8 GHz processor with 1GB of memory, and when using four
or more, it's recommended that you have a 1.6 GHz dual-core processor with
1GB of memory.
To set USB display up, simply connect the USB 2.0 A to B cable (provided) to
the computer, the system will prompt that a new "CD drive" has been installed,
open it up, load the USB monitor driver and restart the computer. Once that's
done the Samsung 940UX will be able to run through the USB 2.0 bus.
2D image quality from the USB monitor feature was excellent, at par with an analog or DVI
connection as far as we could see. High definition video playback was very smooth
also. In terms of 2D work, you're not going to notice the difference between
the various connection options (VGA, DVI, USB). Of course, the PCSTATS test
PC system well met the minimum hardware requirements. If you're using an older computer, check
to make sure it's up to spec.
Again for the record, you still need a videocard even if
you plan on using the USB monitor option. Removing the videocard from the system will result in no display. The USB monitor
feature is certainly a handy tool for business applications where you need to clone your 2D
video display or require a large amount of 2D screen real estate. In PCSTATS
tests with it, we did experience a few glitches with the Microsoft Windows Vista
gadgets on the right hand side, but that's about it.
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