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Samsung SyncMaster 711t 17" LCD


Date
: 03/6/05 – 03:16:55 AM

Author
:

Category
: Monitors

Page 1 : Introduction

Samsung is no stranger to the technology market making electronics from wireless phones to dishwashers and everything between, and even the semiconductors and components running most of this equipment. More specifically Samsung has been no stranger to the imaging market, and by being a veteran player, they have set quite a standard in LCD quality.

Today we will take a look at the new Samsung 711t 17" LCD Display from Samsung and see why it truly makes Samsung an industry leader.

Page 2 : Package

Samsung packages the 711t in a pretty generic box, without a whole lot of information on it.

First opening the box reveals the LCD in all of its glory. It's packaged tightly surrounded by its styrofoam protectant, and lying on either side to greet you are cables and manuals such as these:

Let's first take a look at the specifications of this LCD.

Page 3 : Specifications

As per Samsung's website:

And some interesting features include:

Let's get a closer look at the LCD.

Page 4 : Close up and personal

The entire LCD is black, with silver lettering. It has a sleek clean look to it, most of which is caused by the design of the buttons as well as the thin border around the screen.

The buttons are your standard (from left to right) Menu, MagicBright, brightness, source, auto-sizing adjustment, and power.

The side of the display shows the overall profile very well.

This LCD does not have the smallest footprint, overall approximatly 6 to 7 inches on the base from front to back, but it is by far not the biggest space hog. The stability that this base provides in my opinion is well worth a little bit of extra space.

Moving around to the back of the display shows the base in its entirety. The base holds the display up firmly and perfectly balanced. It would be quite difficult to topple this display over.

Also on the back of the display's stand you can see the system to raise and lower the entire screen. The screen itself sits on what seems like a pneumatic pump (as it sounds like it emits air when it's compressed) that holds the screen's weight when the shipping pin is removed. This allows the entire screen to be raised and lowered a total of about 4 inches.

By looking onto the back of the display, the VESA mounts are clearly visable.

VESA, or Video Electronics Standards Association, developed in 2002 a standard for mounting LCD displays. This standard consists of 4 screws on the back of the display which allow it to attach to any VESA compliant mount. So basically, if you have a VESA compliant LCD, then you are guaranteed if you buy a VESA compliant mounting device, that the two will work together.

Somewhat underneath the screen are the connectors for DB-15 pin analog, DVI, and the power plug. Unlike many LCD's the 711t does not use an external power brick.

Samsung also implemented a small yet effective way of keeping the cables connecting to the display under control.

Another feature of this display is Samsung's Pivot Technology. This allows the display to be rotated along a 180 degree line of motion.

Although this display has some useful features and slick looks on the outside, the true test is in the performance.

Page 5 : Installation/Testing

The best way to actually test a display is to try it. After spending a while using this LCD you know why Samsung is an industry leader.

Installation of displays usually is not too difficult, and the SyncMaster 711t is no exception. Connecting the provided DVI (or analog) cable into your video card, plugging the power cord in, and turning the display on is about all it takes. Although Samsung did include a CD with the display that contains the drivers, MagicTune software, and color configuration software, generally you do not have a need for any of these. The MagicTune software allows for access to most of the OSD menu configuration, simply through an application instead, and the color configuration allows for changing color frequencies etc. The driver might be needed if you run into problems such as resolutions and whatnot, but with my Windows XP SP2 install, nothing additional was needed.

The overall color clarity of this display is amazing, with the blacks in the screen truly looking black, and the whites crisp and clear. There were absolutely no dead pixels on this screen, it seems that manufacturers are beginning to listen to the consumers in the battle against dead pixels, and try harder to prevent products with dead pixels from even be sent out to sellers. This is a very reassuring statement to many consumers wanting to switch to LCD display, but leary of the rumors of "ghosting" and dead pixels. There will be more about the term ghosting later, but first an overall shot of the entire picture:

Even as you move very close to the screen, the pixelation is very difficult to see. If you put a couple of nose smudges on the LCD then you can probably make out the individual pixels. Although my camera was able to capture them fairly easily with a macro shot.

The MagicBright feature that this LCD has is simply a way of easily changing the brightness to pre-defined values at the touch of a button. This is very helpful when you want to switch from a brighter screen when you are watching a movie or playing a game, to a darker screen with less contrast in colors for reading or writing for instance a Word Document that has a white background. Not only does it allow for you to read the text easier but also puts less strain on your eyes. Then between the two extremes of "Entertainment" (brighter) and "Text" (dimmer) is the "Internet" setting which seems to be about just right for my preferences in viewing most anything.

As I stated earlier, I prefer the "Internet" MagicBright setting which had a balance of brightness and overall contrast. In addition to the MagicBright menu, there are a series of OSD menus for configuring and customizing the display:

While watching DVD's or playing games this display easily kept up with whatever it needed to display, without any visual ghosting or imperfections. The term ghostng in respect to LCD panels refers to a visal lag that appears on LCDs from pixels that cannot change their color quick enough to not be noticed by the human eye. This creates a shadow, or "ghost" behind what you are watching on the display. With this particular display, the response time of the screen is said to be 25ms, however it has no noticeable difference from my personal LCD with a 20ms response time.

A couple of shots of the LCD during action:

In both of these pictures there is some pixelation, but that is caused by my camera and the low light.

Page 6 : Conclusion

It doesn't take long to fall in love with this display. Some features like the pivot technology are not going to be used by the majority of the home users. The overall quality and sharpness of the display alone make this display a must have. Combinded that with features like Samsung's MagicTune and digital DVI in you have a awesome piece of equipment. But Samsung did not stop there. On top of all this throw in a 3 year manufacturer's warranty on parts, labor, and the backlight. Although this is not the cheapest 17" LCD display you can find on the market, it has by far the best picture of any I've seen, that is why I give the SyncMaster 711t, Overclockers Online's coveted Editor's Choice Award!

Pros:
- Amazing picture clarity and color
- Useful features such as a height adjustment
- MagicTune makes it easy to quickly optimize the brightness for different occasions

Cons:
- Not so useful features such as Pivot Technology aren't really a necessity
- Price can drive some consumers away

We would like to thank
Samsung Electronics
for supplying us with this sample.