| 27 AUGUST 2005 |
| Samsung
910MP LCD Display |
LCD displays for the computer have
come to the point where they are more affordable and are
starting to become more common. Computer manufacturers now
provide consumers with the option of choosing a CRT monitor or
upgrading to an LCD display. When comparing LCD displays with
CRT monitors, each have their unique features that tend to a
user's preference. LCD displays are much thinner, lighter, and
definitely more portable than a CRT monitor. CRT monitors on
the other hand are much heavier, but are much cheaper.
Today, I will be reviewing the Samsung 910MP. Unlike most
other LCD monitors, this is a multifunction monitor. Other
than solely being an LCD monitor, this monitor has TV tuning
capabilities so you can watch TV on it also without the need of
an extra internal or external card or device. The 910MP
manages to have the same Samsung LCD quality while providing the
versatility of watching TV on the same monitor while saving
overall desk space. Couple this with an 8ms pixel response
time and you've got a fully-featured LCD monitor that can do
gaming as well.
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The LCD monitor came in an expected
cardboard box with a handle. When opening the box on the
side, everything was neatly packaged and well protected by the
large layers of foam. The LCD layer lies in between the
two foam layers. The included extra items are packaged on
the sides of the box. |
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LCD monitors come in all shapes and
designs. The 910MP is a 19 inch monitor which sports an
all silver colored design in the front. The monitor looks
longer than your typical 19 inch monitor because of the
integrated speakers below the display. The back of the
monitor is black and is fairly slim. All the port
connections are located at the lower center where all the
connections are vertical.
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Since the base of the display
is already connected to the display, there is no need to set
anything up to get the monitor to stand. The base is based
on a hinge design. To stand the monitor up, you just pull
the monitor foward while on a flat surface. Doing this can
possibly put force on the display itself. The monitor will
then stand up on its own. While this hinge design makes it
easy to setup, it does have some limitations. For one
thing, you can only tilt the monitor forward or backward a
certain number of degrees. If you tilt the monitor back to
far, the hinge may not be strong enough to keep the monitor
standing and it will fall. Also, since this design places
a lot of stress on the hinge, it becomes questionable how long
the hinge will last.
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There are quite
a few buttons on the front of the monitor. There is of
course the power button to turn the monitor on and off.
There are two buttons used to control the volume of the
integrated speakers when connected. There is a 'Source'
button which allows you to switch between your computer and the
TV. There is a 'PIP' (Picture-In-Picture) button to allow
a small TV window to show up while using your computer.
There are also two buttons used to change the channels.
Lastly, there is an 'Enter' and 'Menu' buttons which are used to
navigate the menus of the LCD monitor options.
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The back of the monitor has all the
connections needed to setup the monitor properly. Of
course, you will need an power plug which is the same kind used
for a PC's power supply. There is a VGA port and a sound
input port. There are audio/video RCA type ports as well
as an S-video port. Lastly, there is a headphone jack and
an antenna connection. Unfortunately, there is no DVI port
for those seeking one on this monitor. Also, you will need
to reach to the back of the LCD monitor every time you need to
plug in your headphones which can be a hassle. It would
have been preferred if some short cable was provided or if the
headphone jack was located in the front to make it more
accessible.
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As expected with Samsung's LCD
monitors, everything has been provided to allow you to setup the
monitor. A VGA and power cable has been provided. |
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To allow full control of your
television and monitor, a remote control has been provided.
The remote control has its keys laid out well and is organized.
Most of the special functions such as switching from one source
to another or performing picture-in-picture are the buttons
located toward the bottom of the remote. Two AA batteries
are used with the remote. A small antenna adapter been
provided in order to allow you to plug in your antenna or cable
television to the monitor. This adapter is required to
make the connection. Having
been used to a CRT monitor, I enjoy the sharp crisp text that
the 910MP has to offer. The 910MP is capable of being very
bright with a 700:1 contrast ratio. When viewing pictures
from your digital camera on this monitor, they are just as
bright as how you see them on your camera. The colors are
also vibrant and vivid. The monitor I received had no
damaged pixels and worked perfectly fine with no complaints.
The integrated speakers are better than laptop speakers and are
almost on par with low-budget speakers. The sound is not
bad for the mid to high sound. There is slightly more bass
than expected for integrated speakers which is a plus.
Even when turning the volume up all the way, there was very
little distortion. I would say the sound levels would
match a decent AM/FM boombox.
What's more interesting is how the TV tuner is integrated with
the monitor. I was able to immediately watch TV by just
plugging an antenna to the monitor. I found the picture
quality was ok, but not the best. That was because the
picture showed quite a bit of noise. It is better if you
watch the TV a longer distance than you normally are when you
use your computer. You can easily switch between the TV
and your computer by just pressing the 'Source' button. I
noticed that it does change pretty quickly in less than 2
seconds. Changing channels is also very quick as well just
like any other standard television. The picture-in-picture
mode allows you to watch television while using your computer at
the same time. By default, it is in the lower right hand
corner of the screen. It is also slightly offset so you
can view the items in the start menu while still having room to
use the bar on the right to scroll through pages. You have
to admit that even the small television screen can get in the
way sometimes. In these cases, you can either press the
PIP button again to turn it off or you can customize the
picture-in-picture. Within the menus, you can even change
the size and location of the picture-in-picture so that it suits
your needs.
As a quick diversion in this review, I wanted to mention that
the TV tuner built in the monitor is quite different than
getting a PC card. The main difference is that a PC card
uses your computer's resources in order to function properly.
If you have a slower computer, this may mean poorer performance.
Being able to use your computer and watch TV on your computer is
also possible with a TV card, but it tends to use quite a bit of
CPU power. Also, drivers and software are required to set
up a TV tuner. Since the TV tuner is built into the 910MP,
no resources are used at in the computer.
Although using the buttons on the front can be difficult
navigating the built in menus, the provided remote sure does
come in handy when using the television or navigating the menus.
I found it much easier to navigate the menus with the
directional pad. In addition, you have access to the same
functions with a single key on the remote.
With an 8ms pixel response time,
this monitor becomes a very compelling combination. I ran
this monitor through quite a few rounds of first person shooters
such as Half-Life 2 and Doom 3. I was impressed with the
fluid response and graphics of the monitor. You will only
notice the very tiny lag under extreme movement, but you will
get used to it in a very short amount of time. LCD
monitors are getting faster and faster. What that means is
that it's getting awfully close to the performance of a CRT
monitor. Watching movies is equally good. In
fast-paced scenes such as car races, you will no longer see the
blurred detail of fast-moving objects. Moving things will
look more detailed and clearer. |
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The Samsung 910MP is another great
monitor from Samsung. This monitor combines the elements
of a gaming monitor with TV capabilities. The TV tuner
will only be useful if you would like to save space and not have
to get an extra TV. With the control of the TV tuner, you
can easily watch TV while using your computer and switch
in-between both easily. The quality of the 8ms screen was
just as I had expected from Samsung and offers solid performance
on clarity and brightness.
Reviewed by
ronald@digitalreviews.net
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