Samsung 970P
May 25th, 2006 | By Archive
Samsung 970P
Date
: 05/25/06 – 02:47:40 AM
Author
:
Category
: Monitors
Page 1 : Index
Manufacturer:
Samsung Canada
Price:
$389.99USD (Amazon.com)
Back in February Simon did a complete review of the Samsung 244T but since then we have not seen anything on the pages of Overclockers Online from Samsung. Until today that is, when I have a look at the most esthetically pleasing 19" LCD panel I have seen in a while. We all know Samsung for wonderful monitors with amazing screens and today we look at the 970P which offers the most adjustable Samsung monitor base to date.
What sets this monitor apart from any other LCD panel on the market is the Triple Hinge (Tilt/Swivel/Pivot) adjustment of the base and attached arm. From the moment you cut the box open to this beautiful monitor, you know it is different. The base comes shooting out at you like a jack-in-the-box and as you grab it you feel it turn in your hand and immediately assume something just broke. Not to worry as this movement is entirely acceptable for the flexible and agile base.
Along with the refreshing adjustability comes the standard fare with every Samsung monitor including their patented Magic Color, MagicBright2, Magic Zone, as well as Magic Rotation features. This list of features will provide us with complete control in setting up this monitor so lets get to some pictures and specifications.
Page 2 : Package
A great number of Samsung Monitors come in plain brown boxes with a small Samsung logo in a corner or something to that extent, but not the 970P.
The Samsung 970P is too esthetically pleasing to be caged up in an ugly brown box. Instead the Samsung 970P comes complete with a primarily white box sporting many different images of its unique base and adjustment system.
The major specifications such as Contrast Ratio, Resolution, and "Magic" features are listed front and center alongside the appropriate logos indicating further abilities of the monitor inside. This list is accompanied by a head on photo of the monitor in the lower right hand corner.
The opposite corner lets us know for certain that a 19" panel is inside.
The edge of this package continues to provide stimulating images of this unique creation and of course brands the model number and Samsung logo into our heads. Samsung's standard carrying handle is not omitted from this package despite its obvious differences from the standard Samsung brown box offering.
The last of the package images shows one of the ends that normally is no big deal but this edge happens to show a color swatch of the four available colors of this monitor which include a deep royal blue and rich velvety red color alongside white and black, more standard colors. This intrigued me as it is not often colors like this are offered in flat panel displays. This indicates further that the Samsung 970P is not your ordinary monitor.
Page 3 : Specifications
At Samsung.ca the 970P is described as a:
The major specifications are listed in that first quote and are quite impressive; 6ms response time, 1000:1 Contrast ratio, and a near 180 degree viewing angle both horizontally and vertically make this almost the perfect monitor at this size. Here is a breakdown pulled from the Samsung web site describing the various "Magic" abilities of this LCD Panel:
We now know how this monitor is suppose to perform so it is time to cut the belly of the beast and let the inside breathe. We'll start with a look at what comes with our package.
Page 4 : Package Contents
To get inside the Samsung package we need to slice down the center of the box and open up the flaps to reveal our bounty inside.
We are greeted with a number of small bags and pieces. The typical Samsung packaging has a safe and secure spot for everything that comes with the monitor. This clean, precise package ensures safe arrival of the monitor whether you pick yours up in a store or have it shipped as I did, from an on-line retailer or the like.
The care package that comes with the 970P is standard fair including the warranty card, manual, an installation CD, power cable and both a DVI and VGA cable. After the controversy I had from American readers stating to me in various e-mails that the Samsung 940B I reviewed some time ago did not come with a DVI cable while the Canadian readers I heard from said that it did, I have decided to note that my Canadian model of the 970P came with a DVI cable but cannot guarantee that all regions will receive the same. We also receive the power adapter which is a bit of an odd sight with Samsung panels as they tend to have that built into the unit in the past. This design obviously doesn't allow for that to happen.
There is no mistake, one DVI-D and one 15-Pin VGA cable are included with my sample of this monitor.
I mentioned in the opening that removal of the monitor resulted in almost being kicked in the chops by the base and it was at this point that it almost happened. As soon as the Styrofoam is removed the base of the Samsung 970P springs to life and can catch you off guard so be careful.
Released from the box we can see that the monitor will fold perfectly flat as this is how it is packaged. It literally takes seconds to realize just how adjustable this monitor is going to be after opening the box…and we haven't even taken the monitor out of the bag yet.
[quote]The swivel base shown here in action provides the ability to rotate side to side without having to move said base.
My initial impressions of this monitor give me that warm fuzzy feeling inside like you get being around a Mac. The creative design juices inside of you start to flow and the pleasing demeanor of the sophisticated 970P has a way of making you want to work. Okay, so maybe I took it a bit far but the geometry of this monitor gives it some stunning angles to look at, even from behind.
Since the base is already attached, installation will consist of a couple simple cable hook-ups followed by plenty of on-screen meddling.
Page 5 : Installation
As noted earlier, the base comes attached and setup with the monitor so installation simply requires the placement of the monitor on the working surface and connecting the DVI-D cable.
The inset image shows how most LCD panels would need to be setup when in a corner but with a swivel base I can place it directly in the corner and still have the monitor facing towards me at the right angle. There is minimal desk space gained but it looks and feels very geometrical.
The last of the physical setup was to connect the video and power cables to the dongle. With the length of the cord attached to the dongle it was easy to hang behind the desk and out of sight when being used. This made it easy to hide cables going to and from the monitor. The rest of the installation involves software and adjustments, for this we start with the included CD.
The installation CD opens up a web page that we use to navigate through the various software installs. These are the Magic programs that will be used to adjust the color and of course, Magic Rotate to allow us to utilize the rotating of the monitor, lets start with that.
That is about all there is for installation. Once you click okay it installs flashing this logo then saying installation finished. We can access the Magic Rotation menu by right-clicking on the desktop.
The context menu now provides us with the ability to rotate the screen with this menu. I could not get the screen setup to rotate automatically but all you had to do was right-click the desktop and choose which rotation you wanted the screen at then physically rotate it.
We can see here that the rotation even shows up on the display properties window for the active screens. The next Magic software to setup is Natural Color.
Natural Color is an easy to follow program to setup color profiles or to simply adjust between the common presets offered from Samsung. The color adjustment section is where a custom color profile can be created while the Color Preference section allows choices of various profiles.
I tried a few of the color profiles for their outlined task and found the Internet and Video profiles to be bang on while gaming to be too bright and choose my own color profile which had it much darker. Obviously just a personal preference played a major role in that but found them mostly to be pretty good for their task.
Magic Tune Is the next program that was installed.
Page 6 : Performance & Testing
Performance is a bit mis-leading as a title for this section as we will primarily be looking at usability and feature testing here but the end of this page will deal with gaming performance of the 970P. Lets start with the Triple-Hinge design and just how adjustable this monitor really is.
Aside from being able to swivel the monitor 180 degrees, the screen is viewable at almost 180 degrees. Samsung advertises a modest 178 degree viewable angle but lets be honest…this screen is viewable from pretty much any angle.
Just how useful this amount of adjustment really is could be open for debate but I know someone at sometime wishes they had a monitor that could do this. For the average consumer and user it really is nice being able to pull the monitor close to you when needed and with one hand just as easily push it back and rotate lengthwise for reading our Overclockers Online news feed.
Speaking of vertical, with Magic Rotate installed it is just a matter of rotating the screen and setting the rotation in the context menu of the desktop. I spent a considerable amount of time using this monitor simply for web browsing in the vertical position. It is the perfect companion to a main monitor for this use. The tilted 1280×1024 resolution is perfect for most web sites produced these days and gives the scroll wheel a big break.
Far Cry is one of my favorites but it is also perfect for testing the gaming abilities of a monitor as my 3.0GHz AMD system has no problems keeping the frame rate in the 80s with a moderate video card like an X800 GTO. The 6ms response time that the Samsung 970P boasts certainly had no issues keeping up providing a perfect picture with no ghosting or streaking.
Explosions and close up sniper action is crisp, clean, and a joy to witness. So far I have had the pleasure of two wonderfully fast 19" monitors to play with and both have handled games much better than I had anticipated. The 1280×1024 resolution is ideal as most mid-range systems these days can play most of the games with enough detail at that resolution to make it look great. For those with the big video cards, you may need a larger monitor to make it sweat.
In the dark the only light aside from the screen comes from the base of the Samsung 970P and blows an elegant blue. You may have noticed as well that there are no buttons on the monitor it self and therefore there are no manual adjustments, all is controlled by software. The blue glowing button is all there is on the 970P and that predictably is the power button.
I didn't spend as much time doing any Photoshop or photo editing work with this monitor as I did the last one because I simply didn't shoot any events while I had the 970P. I don't think there is much to go over though because the adjustments are equal to the color management of this monitor as there was on the 940B and I was able to get to a level that I could work comfortably with photos and their printed color.
It wasn't all sunny walks in the park on a fresh summer day. There were some issues that have to be addressed. With the wide assortment of viewing angles that the monitor could be placed at came some problems. The Triple Hinge has no way of locking in place. When you found the perfect setup, it was easily knocked out of place. The arm also comes off as a bit flimsy with very loose joints again, not allowing you to really lock the monitor in place. Bumps to the desk would have the screen shaking "like a bobble head doll" many people noted. The ability to induce a lock at each joint would really solve this issue but I am not sure how feasible that is or if it would lead to more headache than good.
Page 7 : Conclusion
Samsung knocks another one out of the park. They really have perfected the 19" LCD monitor increasing the specifications to a stunning 6ms response time and 1000:1 contrast ratio then incorporating a truly unique base and stand. The 970P is a culmination of a lot of work and polished software package that has completely eliminated the need for manual adjustments.
Throughout the testing period and incredible abuse the Triple Hinge took, not once did the screen flicker or flinch. Color remained perfect and I can't say as I saw anything out of the ordinary on the screen. I truly thought that at some point the screen would degrade due to the arm movement but even with dozens of people all touching the Triple Hinge arm like it was a stretch armstrong doll, the picture remained perfect and flicker free. Only longer term testing could see if this held true for the life of the panel.
The 970P is a beautiful monitor that displays a beautiful picture at an amazing amount of angles and positions providing countless possibilities. All that beauty and perfection comes at a price and it isn't a small one. Being as forward and unique also has disadvantages like the lack of a perfect although pretty close, Triple Hinge. I look forward to an improved design that would allow a more precise locking ability.
Advantages:
- Triple Hinge provides unlimited adjustments
- Vertical orientation is mandatory
- Analog and Digital interface
Disadvantages:
- No ability to lock the Triple Hinge
- Adjustments really loosened up with use
- Heavy on the wallet
Overclockers Online would like to thank Samsung for providing this sample for review.