My Samsung 940B Review

[Budwise]

I upgraded to this from my Samsung 172X. I love my 172X, and decided to return to Samsung for my next LCD.

SIZE/LOOKS:
Upon opening the Samsung packaging, i was blown away at how big this thing really is in comparison to my older 17". Not just the screen, but the entire thing. Its thicker, heavier, and a bit bulkier, aka "Manlier" (Insert Man Grunt). Upon installing the base and putting it on my desk it looked amazing. Very simple, yet very elegant. The buttons on the bottom right are small and are barely raised from the panel itself, and the little blue power button glows and looks sweet at night. Anyway, for looks, i give it a 8.5. It looks great, very well built and sturdy, yet if you want a small thin LCD, you may wanna keep looking. The screen tilt works very well to adjust to your height too. I also must comment that i am a bit annoyed that Samsung does not include a DVI cable with this LCD. I knew this ahead of time though and bought one for $12.99 from Newegg and it works great.

General Appearance

Front and Center

8.5/10 for lack of DVI and rather bulky/manly size

INSTALLATION:
The simple plug and play worked great. Booted right up with no issues at all. One thing though, i do NOT recommend installing the Driver for this monitor. Doing this removes your 75Hz refresh rate for some reason and therefore not very good for gaming w/ Vsync on. One thing i recommend installing is "Natural Color", Samsungs color tuning software, i will explain further in a moment.

9/10 due to crappy drivers

CALIBRATION:
The one thing that i noticed that needed some calibration was the color. Although my 172X was a 6 bit panel as well, it never needed to be color adjusted, but the 940B does. Not to worry though, its not hard. Just boot up Natural Color and use that software to tune it to your liking. It took me about 48 hours to get it about perfect. Dont worry, just be patient and it turns out looking great! I recommend running Natural Color, click on Monitor Adjustment, and then Color Preference, and the set the three color levels to 1.05. This gave me the best color.

9/10 Color is great, but does require some messing with...

IMAGE QUALITY:
I have only tried DVI so far and i dont plan on trying analogue. To put it simple, if you get an LCD, you are much better off going with a DVI connection. That aside, all text, pictures, and internet surfing is a pleasure! Text is crisp and clear and even at 1280X1024 i dont have to strain my eyes to read it like on my 17". Another plus to Samsungs credit, NO Dead Pixels, YAY!

Viewing angle is excellent...
Side View
Another Side View

10/10 Excellent IQ

MOVIES:
Movies look gorgeous in my opinion. After getting the color calibrated, it looks simply stunning. Very clear picture all around. No streaking or blurring at all, even in fast paced scenes. I tested using Pearl Harbor when they are having a dog fight in the WWII fighter planes. Lots of explosions, lots of movement, and the 940B handled it wonderfully.

9/10 No problems at all, but still not widescreen lol

GAMES:
Now, we all know if you are looking at this LCD, then you are likely a gamer. Let me tell you the 940B will not let you down here. I have tried, but to no luck to get any ghosting or streaking of any kind. If you are an avid gamer, this LCD will not disappoint. Blacks are very deep, and backlight bleeding is next to non existant.

10/10 Perfect for the avid gamer

GENERAL ISSUES/COMPLAINTS:
My only issue with this LCD is having to fiddle with the color. I may have been spoiled with my 172X and its great color with no fuss, but the 940B does require some adjusting. Other than that, i think its rather stupid to not include a DVI cable with an LCD...

FINAL WORDS:
The 940B turns out to be an excellent panel for me. I love the style, very sturdy and thick. It couldnt be better as far as build quality. My only qualms with it is its necessity to adjust the colors. For gaming, i am in love with it. FEAR, HL2 Lost Coast, BF2, all look absolutely breathtaking! Movies look great, and all around IQ is very high. Very fast panel with a decent price. I got mine for $339 from Newegg on a weekend sale!

The only other review online so far is found here:
http://www.overclockersonline.com/index.php?page=articles&num=311

Here are gameplay pics and movies as requested. Although you see some lines and stuff in the picture, its just my little digicam's fault. I posted a Lost Coast SS to show the true difference. Although, keep in mind that my little point and shoot digi cam will not capture the true color of the LCD either...

You can find my collection of gameplay vids and pics here:
Gameplay Pics and Videos

Here is the Screen Shot of Lost Coast
Lost Coast Screen Shot

 

[xtknight]

Thanks for the review.

I found that my 710T (very close to 172X) needed lots of calibration too.

 

[Nextman916]

OMG thank you so much!!! my rig was down for about a week until i finally fixed the error in the registry. Anyways ive been thinking about either buying this or the Benq FP91G+ but i think ill make the decision to go with this now. Samsung is more reliable i think. Woot!!! now on sale at the egg for 309.99 after rebates http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16824001066 -hell of a deal is you ask me! and even better the deal is good till 12/30/05!

 

[Ike0069]

Nice review. Very well done. I'm also looking at getting this monitor and Newegg's current deal is very tempting.

 

[Nextman916]

Mines supposed to come in today *fingers crossed* UPS has been late on my last few newegg orders.

 

[Wolfshanze]

I'm sure everything looks great in native resolution (as with many LCDs), but if you're a gamer, you can't run EVERY game at 1280x1024.

How does non-native resolutions look on the Samsung 940B? Differant non-natives can be clearer or worse then others. How about adding a review of the non-native resolutions for gamers who might not be able to play at 1280x1024... resolutions like 1024x768 & 800x600 are common resolutions that some games will force you to use.

 

[NokiaDude]

I used to have a 930B and the color was just as you descibed. I use nvidia's digital vibrancy feature to liven up the colors just a tad. Otherwise the 930B looks like a claritin commercial. I upgraded to a VX922 yesterday and the colors are awesome right out of the box.

 

[Navid]

Originally posted by: Wolfshanze
if you're a gamer, you can't run EVERY game at 1280x1024.

Why is that? Does that not depend on what graphics card he has? If he has a decent card, why would he not be able to play all of his games at native resolution?

 

[Ike0069]

Originally posted by: Navid

Originally posted by: Wolfshanze
if you're a gamer, you can't run EVERY game at 1280x1024.

Why is that? Does that not depend on what graphics card he has? If he has a decent card, why would he not be able to play all of his games at native resolution?

I think he's saying that a new game can come out that you can't play at 12x10 with your current hardware. So instead of buying a new VC, CPU, more RAM, etc. every 6 months, you simply lower the resolution to allow for smooth gaming.

 

[NokiaDude]

He has a 7800GT, he can play pretty much anything at 1280x1024.

 

[Ike0069]

Originally posted by: NokiaDude
He has a 7800GT, he can play pretty much anything at 1280x1024.

Huh? In his sig it shows a 6800GT w/1GB RAM on a P4. Going to have trouble with BF2 and FEAR at 12x10 and any AA/AF on.

 

[Wolfshanze]

Originally posted by: Wolfshanze
if you're a gamer, you can't run EVERY game at 1280x1024.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Why is that? Does that not depend on what graphics card he has? If he has a decent card, why would he not be able to play all of his games at native resolution?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I think he's saying that a new game can come out that you can't play at 12x10 with your current hardware. So instead of buying a new VC, CPU, more RAM, etc. every 6 months, you simply lower the resolution to allow for smooth gaming.

Yes and no... sometimes you have to bump a game down for smoothness if it's got a powerful engine, but that wasn't really my point.

Believe it or not there are games that are HARD CODED to run at a CERTAIN RESOLUTION... some games are STUCK in a certain resolution (a common one is 800x600 or 1024x768), and there's nothing you can do to change the resolution in the game... these are generally older games, but not that much older... many games do exist where the screen resolutions are either locked to one res, or in some cases one aspect ratio (often 4:3, while most LCDs have a native res of 5:4).

So gaming in non-native resolutions, regardless of the video card can and often is important to many gamers (self included). This is why I asked about non-native resolutions... not all games can be played in 1280x1024.

 

[Navid]

Originally posted by: Wolfshanze

Originally posted by: Wolfshanze
if you're a gamer, you can't run EVERY game at 1280x1024.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Why is that? Does that not depend on what graphics card he has? If he has a decent card, why would he not be able to play all of his games at native resolution?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I think he's saying that a new game can come out that you can't play at 12x10 with your current hardware. So instead of buying a new VC, CPU, more RAM, etc. every 6 months, you simply lower the resolution to allow for smooth gaming.

Yes and no... sometimes you have to bump a game down for smoothness if it's got a powerful engine, but that wasn't really my point.

Believe it or not there are games that are HARD CODED to run at a CERTAIN RESOLUTION... some games are STUCK in a certain resolution (a common one is 800x600 or 1024x768), and there's nothing you can do to change the resolution in the game... these are generally older games, but not that much older... many games do exist where the screen resolutions are either locked to one res, or in some cases one aspect ratio (often 4:3, while most LCDs have a native res of 5:4).

So gaming in non-native resolutions, regardless of the video card can and often is important to many gamers (self included). This is why I asked about non-native resolutions... not all games can be played in 1280x1024.

Does any of these have this problem (not being playable at 1280x1024)?

Half-Life, Counter Strike, IGI2, Hitman 2, Halo, Half-Life 2, Counter Strike Source, Doom 3, F.E.A.R., Call of Duty 2.

 

[Nextman916]

Navid if you are referring to the 6800gt having a problem playing those games the answer is no. Absolutely not a 6800gt would run those games perfectly at mostly high settings with AA/AF enabled. But lets get back on topic guys this has nothing to do with the 940b you guys are debating over screen resolution.

 

[wpeng]

No, the only games I can think of at the moment are Diablo and Diablo II.

EDIT:
Nextman, this discussion is relevant because it is talking about how well the 940b can handle non-native resolutions

 

[Nextman916]

Originally posted by: Navid


Does any of these have this problem (not being playable at 1280x1024)?

Half-Life, Counter Strike, IGI2, Hitman 2, Halo, Half-Life 2, Counter Strike Source, Doom 3, F.E.A.R., Call of Duty 2.

I could swear this has nothing to do with the 940b handling non-native resolutions. Anyways it doesnt matter the thread looked like it was taking a turn towards resolution of games, so i was tryin to steer it back on track. I appreciate you correcting me though kind sir.

 

[Navid]

Originally posted by: Nextman916
Navid if you are referring to the 6800gt having a problem playing those games the answer is no. Absolutely not a 6800gt would run those games perfectly at mostly high settings with AA/AF enabled. But lets get back on topic guys this has nothing to do with the 940b you guys are debating over screen resolution.

No, I was not referring to the 6800GT at all!

It was mentioned that some games were hard-coded to run only at a specific resolution and not at 1280x1024. Since I am in the market for an LCD, and possibly for 940B, I would like to have examples of such games that have such problem.

If we have such an example, we can ask Budwise to try that game on his 940B to see how it looks. On the other hand, if the games that have such a problem are not any of the popular games that most of us play, it may not be an issue for many of us including me. Then, I would not worry about the capability of the monitor to play in non-native resolution.

 

[NokiaDude]

AMD X2 3800+ @ 2.65Ghz (265X10) 1.43Vcore / DFI UT NF4 Ultra-D / eVGA 7800 GT CO (480/1200) / 2GB OCZ Platinum EB 3-3-2-7 1T 260Mhz / Sound Blaster X-Fi / Coolermaster Hyper 6 Heatsink / OCZ Powerstream 520W PSU / Samsung DVD Burner / 36.7GB SATA Raptor 10K rpm / 250GB SATA Hitachi Deskstar 7K250 / Thermaltake Tsunami Dream /Samsung 940B DVI / Logitech MX1000

His rig is very similar to mine. I have a 7800GTX though and I have no problem playing any game at 1280x1024 with high image quality settings.

 

[Wolfshanze]

I could swear this has nothing to do with the 940b handling non-native resolutions. Anyways it doesnt matter the thread looked like it was taking a turn towards resolution of games, so i was tryin to steer it back on track. I appreciate you correcting me though kind sir.

I could swear this was a REVIEW of the 940b monitor... unless I'm mistaken, that means that ANYTHING YOUR COMPUTER DISPLAYS IS SHOWN ON THE 940B MONITOR... that would include non-native resolutions to many people.

Nextman, if you can honestly tell me, nobody on the face of this planet who buys a monitor would NEVER use it in non-native resolutions, you might have a point... but since this is supposed to be a review of the monitor, the last time I checked, monitors display EVERYTHING YOU SEE that your computer puts out... that includes non-native resolutions, and that includes MORE THEN TWO GAMES. Sheesh guys, is everyone on this forum under 18 and doesn't have a memory of a game older then 1-year old? Believe it or not, there are people out there in the world who use other resolutions besides 1280x1024.

If this "review" of this monitor is ONLY for one resolution, then the post should be titled "Review of Samsung 940B only in native resolutions, because if you use a monitor for anything other then one resolution, this monitor is apparently unable to perform since nobody is willing to discuss it".

I think a "review" should cover all possible uses of a monitor... it is what you spend 100% of your time looking at when on the computer, so I would think all possible uses should be covered in a review... if that's not relevant to a review, I don't know what is.

 

[Navid]

Wolfshanze I agree with you that this is an important issue. I am in the market for an LCD monitor. My problem is that there are so many parameters that I have to consider that it has become a hassle! I'd rather know which parameters are really critical for me and which ones are only nice to have.

I mean there is the response time; there is 6-bit vs. 8-bit; there is bleeding; there are dead pixels; there is analog vs. digital (DVI); there is wide-screen vs. normal aspect ratio, there is the viewing angle; there is the warranty length; .... There is so much to consider in order to pick a monitor. Life is too short! I cannot find a monitor that satisfies all my requirements. So, I need to compromise. I'd rather simplify this rather than complicate it even more. So, I was trying to figure out if the non-native resolution issue was going to be a show-stopper issue for me or not. I did not mean to imply that it should not be considered by anybody. But, I am not going to consider it if it is never going to impact me.

 

[Ike0069]

What we really need is an LCD roundup that measures each monitor at different non-native resolutions. Problem is, reviewers don't ever really do this.
They might mention somewhere in a review that it looks "really bad" or "suprisingly good" at non-native resolutions, but I've yet to see a any kind of in-depth review in this area.

Anyone have an $5000 or so to go buy a bunch of 19" LCD's and test this for us?

 

[Wolfshanze]

Navid, my post wasn't directed to you at all... another poster mentioned non-native resolutions are irrelivent to a monitor review, or somehow off-topic, and I beg to differ. As with any aspect in a monitor, some issues are more important to others then they may be to you and vice-versa. Some things may be completely unimportant to one person while they may be absolutely critical to another... just because it's not important to you doesn't mean it's not important to anybody. Once again, my post was directed to the person who said non-native resolutions should not be part of a review on a monitor.

I mean there is the response time; there is 6-bit vs. 8-bit; there is bleeding; there are dead pixels; there is analog vs. digital (DVI); there is wide-screen vs. normal aspect ratio, there is the viewing angle; there is the warranty length; .... There is so much to consider in order to pick a monitor.

I agree... there are MANY things to consider in an LCD purchase, and life is too short... which is why when I realized last time I shopped for an LCD there was no such thing as an LCD that met all my requirements... which is why I'm still using a CRT. There are things I would really love to have with an LCD (including small size and less heat/power issues), but when it came down to it, I prefered the overall image package I got with a CRT over the LCD. I'm still hoping/praying the day will come when a LCD (or any flat-panel monitor) will come and make me toss my CRT away. I really don't want to keep CRTs, but frankly I don't think LCDs are currently where I would like them to be at for my useage.

 

[Ike0069]

Originally posted by: Wolfshanze
I agree... there are MANY things to consider in an LCD purchase, and life is too short... which is why when I realized last time I shopped for an LCD there was no such thing as an LCD that met all my requirements... which is why I'm still using a CRT. There are things I would really love to have with an LCD (including small size and less heat/power issues), but when it came down to it, I prefered the overall image package I got with a CRT over the LCD. I'm still hoping/praying the day will come when a LCD (or any flat-panel monitor) will come and make me toss my CRT away. I really don't want to keep CRTs, but frankly I don't think LCDs are currently where I would like them to be at for my useage.

I went thur the same thought process when I bought my current CRT last year, but I'm now ready to get an LCD. I know there are drawbacks, but I'm just tired of having this huge monitor hogging my deskspace, wasting power and acting as a heater.
I think LCD's have come a far enough along that I will be happy, or at least I'm trying to convince myself of this.

 

[Wolfshanze]

I'm just tired of having this huge monitor hogging my deskspace, wasting power and acting as a heater. I think LCD's have come a far enough along that I will be happy, or at least I'm trying to convince myself of this.

I had that same thought-process last year... I bought a good LCD monitor and hooked it up... after about a week or two, I missed my CRT, bulky heat-generator that it was, and gave the LCD to my wife.

I tried to like the LCD... I really did... I wanted to... but I just couldn't beat the overall image abilities of the CRT over the LCD. At least it's winter now... so my computer room is always the warmest in the house with my 19" heater. Maybe I'll be buying another LCD come the spring.

 

[Crescent13]

I have the 730B. They didn't include a DVI cable with it either. Nice review.

P.S. OMG TRUE SURROUND SOUND!!!! Put the rear speakers in front of you!!!