Image Quality
To test out the Samsung 191T we used the trusted standard of the monitor evaluation community: DisplayMate. Fitting on a 3.5" floppy, DisplayMate has set the standard for monitors as a result of its thorough tests. We decided to test the 191T in the resolution we feel it should be run at: 1280x1024, the recommended resolution of the monitor. The refresh rate was set to 60Hz (the only option anyway). Color depth was set to 32-bit.
For comparison purposes, we compared the Samsung SyncMaster 191T with the previously reviewed Samsung SyncMaster 955DF which is in fact a DynaFlat CRT. Below is a table with the tests performed and notes we made during testing.
| DisplayMate |
||
| Test |
Monitor |
Observations |
| Intensity range check |
955DF |
Colors appear true, a bit warm |
| 191T |
Looks good |
|
| Black level adjustment |
955DF |
Gray colors look good |
| 191T |
Blacks appear slightly lighter than on CRT |
|
| Defocusing, blooming and halos check |
955DF |
Sharper in high intensities but lines at the bottom of the screen wave |
| 191T |
None . |
|
| Screen uniformity and color purity |
955DF |
Uniform, pure color |
| 191T |
Sharp, crisp, pure |
|
| Dark screen |
955DF |
Anti-reflective coating really helped cut down on glare |
| 191T |
Very little glare. Anti-reflective screen |
|
| Primary colors |
955DF |
Grays are slightly more pink |
| 191T |
Looks good |
|
| Color Scales |
955DF |
Looks good |
| 191T |
Reds got dark a little too fast |
|
| 16 intensity levels |
955DF |
Looks good |
| 191T |
Looks good |
|
| Pincushion/barrel distortion |
955DF |
Lines are fairly straight as a result of the flat screen |
| 191T |
Completely straight, no distortion |
|
| Geometric Linearity |
955DF |
Lines appear straight as a result of the flat screen |
| 191T |
Razor sharp grid, no curvature |
|
| Focus check |
955DF |
No focus control, Image looks sharp but could be a bit sharper in the lower right corner |
| 191T |
Uniform clean focus |
|
| Horizontal color registration |
955DF |
Color misregistration on bottom right |
| 191T |
Slightly off on each color, expected due to RGB sub pixels |
|
| Vertical color registration |
955DF |
Looks good |
| 191T |
Completely level |
|
| Fine line moiré pattern |
955DF |
Corrected via the user controls |
| 191T |
Vertical Moiré, corrected slightly by controls |
|
| Screen regulation |
955DF |
Flashing black/color pattern causes image to shrink and expand slightly |
| 191T |
No problems |
|
| Streaking and ghosting |
955DF |
Slight ghosting behind bars of pure black/white |
| 191T |
Intense streaking over grey. Very surprised to see! |
|
Incredibly, for such a high performance monitor we were shocked to see the amount of streaking in the streaking and ghosting part of the benchmark. The ghosting only appears on grey halftones, and makes itself present very rarely. However, whisping (when the monitor creates waves up and down the screen), was also detected when the monitor began to streak. This appears to be a flaw in most LCD monitors, including this one.
One thing that still plagues LCD monitors is the contrast. A CRT monitor needs only to dim its beam in order to display a black pixel. LCD monitors on the other hand need a constant backlighting. This suddenly becomes a problem if you wish to view black. While there is no actual benchmarking for contrast ratios, many manufacturers claim different scales. The Samsung 191T claims to have a 500:1 contrast. While we are still developing a method to accurately benchmark LCD contrast, we can assure you that on this particular monitor, the contrast is very good.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
1 Comments
View All Comments
Anonymous User - Monday, October 27, 2003 - link
Good review but reviewer doesn't seem to realize that power consumption and heat dissipation are one and the same (ie every Watt that goes into the monitor is converted to one Watt of heat).