Samsung Central Station: The Future of Laptop Docking?
by Kristian Vättö on June 14, 2011 11:30 PM EST- Posted in
- Displays
- Samsung
- Central Station
- Laptops
Performance
Samsung claims Central Station is based on their own technology but unfortunately we don’t have any further details of what this technology holds inside. The technology shouldn’t, however, interfere with WiFi or Bluetooth so you don’t have to worry about messing up other connections. Samsung promises USB 2.0 speeds over the wireless connection so that would be a maximum of ~40MB/s in real world, which is quite a bit faster than what you currently get with 802.11n.
Update: As noted in the comments, Samsung uses UWB (Ultra-wideband) for wireless connection. It's the most suitable for small range connections which explains Central Station's 5 feet range. Some laptops even have UWB built-in (e.g. Samsung 9 Series) so they can connect to Central Station without the USB dongle.
CNET ran a couple of tests on their review unit and it turned out to be okay for videos and gaming. There was definitely a loss in quality but CNET claims that it’s not very noticeable and most users won’t see the difference. It’s quite obvious that these monitors aren’t a gamer’s choice anyway due to the price and poor panel type, but it’s good to see that it can manage such tasks if needed. I was actually fairly surprised to read that it can do any gaming or movie playback as I was expecting stuttering, especially with HD movies and any serious gaming. As it handled gaming okay, day to day tasks should run without a hiccup. Unfortunately we don't have a review unit (yet) so we cannot do our own extensive testing of the performance and Central Station in general.
Final thoughts
At $449 for 23” and $599 for 27”, Central Station is dangerously close to being overpriced. While it’s not too expensive for someone who really wants the features on offer, it’s not cheap enough for the mainstream audience. As mentioned earlier, a similar 23" display without Central Station can be had for around $150 so you could buy three such displays for the price of the 23” model. However, if you need a laptop dock as well, the price might not be so bad since a good dock will easily be over $100, and there are laptops that don't even have a docking option. In that case, Central Station is only $100-200 more expensive, but you get a wireless docking station that can be used with future laptops.
The biggest market for Central Station is clearly people who move their laptop a lot but still want a big screen when at their desk, with a fast and seamless connection method. I would expect business users to be a big market as they usually don’t need gaming or movie playback capabilities but often move their laptop around. Imagine that you are working on a document and you have to leave to a meeting very quickly. You just grab the laptop in your hand and leave; no need to undock or disconnect cables. You come back and after a few seconds, you can continue to work on your spacious monitor. Before Samsung updated their product page with full specifications, it actually mentioned two separate models for business use but the updated page has no reference to them.
It will be interesting to see whether other manufacturers will follow Samsung and come up with something similar. If there is a decent market for something like this we could see some degree of competition, which should provide more options and better prices. I’m pretty sure Samsung is already working on bringing Central Station to their TVs, but the range needs to be extended for such use. I also hope there will sooner than later be a monitor with 2560x1440 or 2560x1600 resolution that will support Central Station or equivalent technology. 1080p is okay but if I’m going to pay $150 more for the 27” model I'd want a higher resolution. I would rather pay $999 and get a nice resolution as well (though the bandwidth required to transmit 2560x1440 without lag could be too much).
All in all, Central Station is a very interesting concept and it seems to be something that we will hear about in the future. These are the first monitors to support it so they won't please everyone, but this is definitely a good start.
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DigitalFreak - Wednesday, June 15, 2011 - link
They probably compress the hell out of it.DanNeely - Wednesday, June 15, 2011 - link
Probably, but USB2 monitor adapters have always stank above very low resolutions (no smooth animation or video playback); unless they're offering a USB3 dongle this is unlikely to be usable.(Only offering USB2 data even with a USB3 level hookup isn't unreasonable since the video would need most of the bandwidth.)
Hrel - Wednesday, June 15, 2011 - link
I want a wireless hub, with built in usb dongle. But I wanna use it with whatever tv/keyboard/mouse/speakers etc I want. I don't wanna be forced into that rather mediocre Samsung display. Personally I like my 37" HDTV best for my bedroom. So if I could just set the laptop on the nightstand, grab my bluetooth keyboard/mouse or 360 controller or whatever and just start using it on my tv without having to fuss with cables that'd be great.You know what. I've been wondering when I'll finally ditch desktops all together. Being a bit of a power user and all. I think when the day that everything I want from a dock comes that will be the day I decide to never build another desktop again.
Also hopefully by then EVERY laptop part is standardized and interchangeable like desktops are now, mostly. Seriously guys, it's not that hard to just certify a specific chassis for 55W TDP GPU and 45W CPU or whatever. Then people like us, who read sites like this all the time, could mess around with customizing heatsinks and fans and what not. Liquid cooling in a laptop? One day friends, one day:)
SlinkyDink - Wednesday, June 15, 2011 - link
You'll still need to connect the laptop for power, so might as well just plug in a mini display port instead.Apple has the right idea with it's recent patent showing a magsafe connector that has Lightpeak built in (just one cable for power, display, NAS, devices, etc)
Kristian Vättö - Wednesday, June 15, 2011 - link
If you have a laptop with long battery life, there may not be a need to connect the power cord every time. Apple's patents are always interesting but most of the time they never see the daylight. I think Central Station does have a market and a future. Like I said in the article, these are the first gen monitors so they left a lot to be desired.velis - Wednesday, June 15, 2011 - link
For mentioning the 2560 resolution.I think review sites such as Anandtech should really push for resolutions because the manufacturers aren't listening to us enthusiasts.
Given enough "demand" from review sites, there's bound to be a manufacturer that would take the plunge and try a decent high-res monitor so that we at least have a choice.
Otherwise we'll be stuck with 1080p for years to come...
Kristian Vättö - Wednesday, June 15, 2011 - link
In this case, I actually understand the low resolution. Since it's wireless, there are bandwidth limitations. A higher res requires more bandwidth and might be that this technology isn't advanced enough to support 2560 resolutions. Otherwise I'm totally with you, we need more 2560 displays at better prices :)viktory - Wednesday, June 15, 2011 - link
Plugging in one VGA/DVI Cable, which is also standardised, is now too much to ask for? Not sold.I would like to see an open standard for video-out on phones running meego/android/ios.
Turn your phone into your all-purpose computing device. That may sell some new monitors.
Peanutsrevenge - Wednesday, June 15, 2011 - link
I've been talking a bit recently about the whole docking thing (Asus transformer & Padfone).So, how long until we just have our (super)smartphones doing all the work and just dock them to whatever size screen /peripheral is best for whatever situation?
Gaming/DTP/Graphics etc will continue to demand high end desktops, but most people just browse the web (cloud computing anyone?) and process some words, so such technology would be brilliant.
Oh technology, how I love you so!
krackel - Wednesday, June 15, 2011 - link
I have one of these and it uses UWB for the wireless connection which is way it doesn't suffer any interference issues with my WiFi or BT. The thing i like the best about it is the quick connect/disconnect time. Exactly as they described i use this for business and when i come in and out of my office it quickly and easily connects and disconnects allowing me to both use the monitor and quickly print something to my USB printer that is connected to the monitor. I don't do a ton of gaming or watching movies, but it works perfect for typical video clips and watching streams while I am working.