The Test
For comparison purposes, we ran a combination of CheckScreen and DisplayMate on the AG Neovo S-18 against the previously reviewed Samsung 191T LCD. Below is a table with the tests performed and notes we made during testing. Our test machine is composed of an Inno3D GeForce4 4200 using DVI. We ran all of the tests at 1280x1024 pixels with a refresh rate of 60Hz.
| DisplayMate/CheckScreen |
||
| Test |
Monitor |
Observations |
| Intensity range check |
S-18 |
Looks good |
| 191T |
Looks good |
|
| Black level adjustment |
S-18 |
Very bright darks. |
| 191T |
Blacks appear slightly lighter than on CRT |
|
| Defocusing, blooming and halos check |
S-18 |
None |
| 191T |
None |
|
| Screen uniformity and color purity |
S-18 |
Complete uniformity |
| 191T |
Sharp, crisp, pure |
|
| Dark screen |
S-18 |
Dark maroon glare, less than a CRT |
| 191T |
Very little glare. Anti-reflective screen |
|
| Primary colors |
S-18 |
Colors appear a little cool |
| 191T |
Looks good |
|
| Color Scales |
S-18 |
Reds darken too fast. |
| 191T |
Reds got dark a little too fast |
|
| 16 intensity levels |
S-18 |
Blue/Green appears to slight mis-register. |
| 191T |
Looks good |
|
| Pincushion/barrel distortion |
S-18 |
No distortion. |
| 191T |
Completely straight, no distortion |
|
| Geometric Linearity |
S-18 |
Completely flat, no distortion |
| 191T |
Razor sharp grid, no curvature |
|
| Focus check |
S-18 |
Focus on edges is the same as in the middle. |
| 191T |
Uniform clean focus |
|
| Horizontal color registration |
S-18 |
None |
| 191T |
Slightly off on each color, expected due to RGB sub pixels |
|
| Vertical color registration |
S-18 |
Slight offset, common LCD problem |
| 191T |
Completely level |
|
| Fine line moiré pattern |
S-18 |
No ripples, No waves. |
| 191T |
Vertical Moiré, corrected slightly by controls |
|
| Screen regulation |
S-18 |
No distortion |
| 191T |
No problems |
|
| Streaking and ghosting |
S-18 |
Very subtle streaking. |
| 191T |
Intense streaking over grey. Very surprised to see! |
|
From our tests we can see that the AG Neovo S-18 has very few problems with our custom benchmark suite. The only real disappointments we had were with the monitors fairly light shades of black. As we pointed out in our last review, LCD monitors have difficulty reproducing black because the backlight must be constantly on. On the contrary, CRT monitors simply dim the electron beam as to where the black areas are necessary. Unfortunately for LCD monitors, there is no set standard for determining contrast ratios. Look forward to seeing a contrast test from AnandTech sometime in the future!
We noticed the cool colors (blue, purple, etc) slightly mis-registered. Furthermore, the reds tended to darken slightly faster than they should have. When we analyzed the colors closely, there was a general feeling that the NeoV filter was actually skewing the colors a little. This is most likely due to the slight tinting within the filter to dull any reflection. Graphic designers who plan on investing in an S-18 may end up spending a fair bit of time tweaking the factory standard colors!
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
0 Comments
View All Comments