Samsung S23A750D 3D LCD Display
by Chris Heinonen on December 17, 2011 2:45 PM ESTConclusion
When it comes to the Samsung S23A750D display, I’m a bit conflicted in my use of it. I do think that 120Hz panels are the way of the future, as the increased smoothness is visible even on simple tasks like dragging a window around the screen. After using it, I really want my next display to have it. I’m somewhat prejudiced away from TN panels as I’m far more concerned with color quality than I am with being ideal for fast twitch gaming sessions, but I think everyone will want 120Hz once they use it.
However, the hardware interface on the Samsung was very irritating. From not being able to switch inputs at first to always hitting the wrong button, the touch sensitive buttons just have to go. Samsung either needs to space them out more or go to buttons that you can click, as the current implementation is completely style over substance. I thought I was making too big a deal out of it after a couple of weeks, but whenever I had to switch inputs, I was ready to be done with the display.
For 3D, the 60Hz crosstalk numbers on the Samsung were very good, but the implementation inside of games appears to have a lot of artifacts. Both World of Warcraft and Half Life 2 had a lot of visual issues that bothered me, but DiRT 3 fared much better. Perhaps the native HD3D support of DiRT 3, instead of using the TriDef 3D software, is the reason for this and things will improve in the future; Deus Ex: Human Revolution is another title that's supposed to be excellent in HD3D. For watching a movie in 3D over Blu-ray the Samsung was fine, but as Active 3D gives me a headache, I’d recommend that people try it out before buying it if that’s a major use for them.
While I do love the Samsung for both gaming and general use, I have a difficult time giving it my full recommendation due to the interface issues that I kept running into. The $400 online price is similar to what you'll pay for other 120Hz TN displays, but most of those probably don’t suffer from the same interface issues. We also have to give NVIDIA's 3D Vision a clear edge for non-movie use, and right now the S23A focuses more on AMD's HD3D so keep your GPU vendor in mind when considering 3D displays.
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sviola - Monday, December 19, 2011 - link
Well, I hope it doesn't take much longer. Also, I hope they'll release them with 16:10 aspect ratio.DanNeely - Monday, December 19, 2011 - link
It'd be nice if they manage to get top flight LED backlight color accuracy above that of top flight CFL models before the 120hz refresh too.MadAd - Sunday, December 25, 2011 - link
This is my problem too.I have a triple desktop including x2 1920x1200 IPS screens. Any new 120hz monitor has to fit in, in the center, 1080 isnt going to work.
Why cant we get
-120hz
-displayport
-1200 lines
in one package? I could even wait for IPS, but the aspect ratio is a dealbreaker.
MadAd - Sunday, December 25, 2011 - link
-24"(forgot that one)
The only one ive seen even close is that horrible shape one for an insane amount of money
dingetje - Saturday, December 17, 2011 - link
screw that 16:9 paneli need vertical space....not horizontal space....i don't need a television, i need a pc screen
mac2j - Sunday, December 18, 2011 - link
I have a S27A950D, which is pretty much the same panel but 27". I actually have been pleased with the interface and have had no problems with it - although perhaps the buttons are more spaced on the 27"?The picture is amazing and I can't imagine buying another monitor that isn't at least 120hz - its not just the smooth motion and drag, etc - it's hard to describe how good and crisp the picture on this monitor really is. I have a really nice 240hz TV in the same room and if I play a Blu-ray and mirror it on the 2 screens it looks noticeably better on the monitor - better colors, better color depth, better blacks, brighter ... just all around an amazing monitor.
It would be nice if we could get a 2560 x 1440 monitor at 120hz ... which i think Displayport could handle rather than having to choose between the 850D which is 2560 x 1440 or the 950 which is 1080p but 120hz.
wtfbbqlol - Sunday, December 18, 2011 - link
I don't think an LCD's response time is dependent on phosphors.PrinceGaz - Sunday, December 18, 2011 - link
Quite correct. And the response-time of phosphors has never been an issue anyway as every CRT display used them and they could have a near instant response time.AnandTech is certainly going downhill these days.
If Anand reads these comments, he should seriously consider the quality of the reviews being posted on his site, as the quality is becoming increasingly variable, from superb articles which delve into new CPU micro-architecture, to pot-boilers like this which consist mainly of recycled previous stuff combined with the author's own input which is of very dubious quality.
Zan Lynx - Monday, December 19, 2011 - link
CRT phosphors were always an issue in multisync monitors.The issue is that the phosphor had to be chosen so that its persistence matched the refresh rate.
If it lasted too long there would be ghosting. If it was too short the image would flash and cause eye strain.
This was a big problem with CRTs designed for a 75Hz refresh. Running them at 60Hz was pretty awful, yet lots of people did that anyway.
ggathagan - Monday, December 19, 2011 - link
All true, but the overarching point is that LCD screens don't involve phosphor, hence the complaint.