Samsung 172X: 12ms Response Time for 17" LCD
by Kristopher Kubicki on June 8, 2004 12:05 AM EST- Posted in
- Displays
On Screen Display
Samsung happens to have On Screen Displays with which we are familiar. Our 8th look at a Samsung LCD brings us to another revision of the same menu found on the SyncMaster 213T and 192T, but with a different button interface.
Click to enlarge.
Although the menu interface was on par with other Samsung user interfaces, the buttons were not as intuitive or clearly defined. From left to right, our buttons are labeled: Auto Sync, Exit, Menu, Power, Negative and Positive, and MagicBright. Since the buttons are located under the panel, instead of on it, we found ourselves fumbling the buttons a little too much.
Another interesting feature included in the 172X is the "MagicBright" feature, which we first saw in the SyncMaster 192T. This feature is implemented again exactly the same on the 172X. Depressing the MagicBright button gave us three levels of brightness presets, plus one custom user preset. We used the "Entertainment" preset for the remainder of the analysis.
Click to enlarge.
Even though LCD technology has progressed faster than interface technology, we have always had the analog interface to fall back on. Fortunately, our 172X supports DVI and analog inputs. Switching between the two inputs can be done by pressing the "Exit" button.
Auto Syncronization has always been relatively hit or miss, even on high end LCDs. Much to our expectation, the SyncMaster 172X performs just about average concerning analog sync. A typical sync takes about 5 seconds and adjustment is only hit or miss. Several other LCDs that we have reviewed in the past occasionally adjust incorrectly on the first try, but on a second or third try, we are able to get the adjust to sync correctly. This does not seem to be the case with the 172X; if the Auto Sync does not adjust correctly on the first try, do not count on it working the second time. Horizontal alignment, color and brightness all worked very well, but vertical alignment was fairly inaccurate. Attempting to sync the monitor with black edges near the top of the screen will crop the monitor inaccurately, but will not stretch the signal height. If you adjust your monitor while running in some kind of console or command mode (white text on black background), expect poor or inaccurate results.
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Crosster - Monday, June 21, 2004 - link
Just another test :http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/other/display/sam...
Crosster - Monday, June 21, 2004 - link
nourdmrolNMT1 - Sunday, June 13, 2004 - link
question: what is the difference in this LCD screen, and the MUCH cheaper 12ms response 710N or 710T (t just has the DVI input)?MIKE
MadAd - Saturday, June 12, 2004 - link
Ho well, just another 6 bit panel, big whoop.When o when are we going to start seeing competition at the 19" 32bit 1280x1024 16ms $550 (£300) level?
When I bought this 17" Iiyama e431s i thought it was only going to be a season or 2 and ill be able to upgrade to something bigger, faster, stronger but now whats all this 6 bit retrograde stuff? Man they are dragging their heels here.
skunkbuster - Wednesday, June 9, 2004 - link
as soon as they make an lcd with true 32bit coloring(and not that dithering crap) with 16ms times or lower, i'll get one.i dont like the fact that they have to sacrifice color reproduction for low response time. grrr
TheAudit - Wednesday, June 9, 2004 - link
#11 – What about if you are space constrained and don’t want a 50 lb behemoth with a two foot long neck on your desk?#13 – You are correct. CRT technology hasn’t moved in years.
JGF - Wednesday, June 9, 2004 - link
11, I wouldnt call the move to LCDs a 'fad'. Its the sound of inevitability. :) CRT's are dead. It pains me to say it since LCDs dont best meet my needs but CRT manufacturers are drastically cutting their lines back or dropping them all together and refocusing on lcd monitors.Crosster - Wednesday, June 9, 2004 - link
I own one of this baby since 3 weeks, i'm very pleased with it. Display is very reactive (I play RTCW) and the only negative point I see is some dither in black colors, especially in video or DVD viewing.If you buy this screen, you should be aware of dead pixels (i had to test 5 different screens to get a clean one (a lot of them where red lit)
Otherwhise, I know it's not relevant but i just want to see the result, is it possible to get the Color profile you created for this article?
PS : Can we get too the date of manufacturing and the origin of the screen? Thanks
IkeEisenhower - Wednesday, June 9, 2004 - link
This (and I really hate to have to use this term) corporate-hyped fixation on LCD and plasma displays is what turned me off of Tom's initially. I realize the site is all about chronicling the 'latest' technology, but Anandtech has always strived more to achieve end-user quality over faddish toys like these things. Unless you literally have money to burn or can't afford a decent desk or pay four bucks extra on your power bill, there is ablsolutely no advantage to using either an LCD or plasma display in favour of good 'ol perfected-technology CRTs. Sure, you can get a plasma to look decent at 1024x768 at forty diagonal inches, but unless you have a forty-inch-diameter head, it's useless. You can get the absolute best commercially-available 21-inch CRTs for easily half the price of a 22" LCD with decent tech in it. But althogh you can carry your new LCD in one hand, your colours suck, ghosting is inevitable, contrast levels fluctuate from bad to worse, AND YOU'RE SPENDING MANY THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS for something that merely looks cool. I know that the top CRTs out there have been done to death review-wise by innumerable other sites, but it would be great to see Anandtech buck the trend and show you spec-for-spec how 'good' these new LCDs are compared to CRTs that do everything so well they don't really have any room for improvement (the infamous Sony quip), and bottom-line the price.My two cents, for what it's worth.
ElFenix - Wednesday, June 9, 2004 - link
yet another low resolution desktop LCD. I seriously do not understand why laptop LCDs have significantly higher DPI. mine runs at 142 DPI. in contrast a 17" 1280x1024 resolution monitor such as this runs at about 97 DPI. a 17" version of a typical notebook screen would run something about 1900 pixels across the screen, so obviously manufacturers don't have a problem with the DPI of making a 1600x1200 17" LCD, and yet they don't. i guess i just don't get it. why wouldn't people want 50% more desktop area?