My Samsung 940B Review

[Nextman916]

dang chill bro ur gettin all worked up.......but wtv do what you want

 

[wpeng]

For me, non-native resolution quality is one of the most important things. I buy computer/parts once every 3 years *at the most.* I bought a used Geforce 256 (read: geforce ONE) in the summer of 2000 and used it till 2004, when I finally encountered games that my geforce couldn't handle at all. Now I have a Radeon 9700 Pro, which I will be using for another 1-2 years. I play FEAR at 800x600 resolution. Even if I'm playing games with low textures by next month, the last thing I need is for the monitor to look blurry.

 

[dhkkim]

samsung = simply the best.

i have samsung cx711t. love it!

 

[Ike0069]

Originally posted by: wpeng
For me, non-native resolution quality is one of the most important things. I buy computer/parts once every 3 years *at the most.* I bought a used Geforce 256 (read: geforce ONE) in the summer of 2000 and used it till 2004, when I finally encountered games that my geforce couldn't handle at all. Now I have a Radeon 9700 Pro, which I will be using for another 1-2 years. I play FEAR at 800x600 resolution. Even if I'm playing games with low textures by next month, the last thing I need is for the monitor to look blurry.

I mean no offense here, but if you plan to use that 9700 pro for another 1 to 2 years, then I can't see how you would be in the market for a $400 LCD monitor.
I would think that most people that get a 19" LCD for gaming at home are fairly serious about gaming and that means updating their VC much more often that every 4 years.

 

[wpeng]

I know you mean no offense, but really, how can so many here make so many assumptions about other people? It seems like everyone's expecting each other to be serious gamers with rigs that can handle at least 1280x1024 resolution. You don't even know the context of my purchase or what my priorities are.

How about this then: I only update my computer once every four years, but I have to get a new monitor because the only one I have is giving out on me, so I'm being forced to make a purchase before four years is up. Besides, I NEVER get the latest and greatest video card when I purchase, so within a couple months of my purchase, it's already outdated and can't run 1280x1024 smoothly.

I'm not really miffed at you. It's just the general attitude of these forums that's annoying. Yes, even non-tech-geeks can read these types of forums for fun.

Anyway, I don't mean to derail this thread, but I'm still looking for how non-native resolutions are handled by the 940B.

 

[Ike0069]

Well, if you basically plan to use a LCD at non native resolution most of the time when gaming, then my suggestion would be to stick with a CRT.

Of course if you play games at 800x600, then I wouldn't think how it looks on a LCD with native resolution of 12x10 would matter much. IMO 800x600 looks crappy even on ahigh-end CRT unles it's a 15" or so. It becomes way too pixelated.
Now I know that each person is different, but running LCD's at non-native resolutions should be an exception, not a normality. At least that's how I feel.

I too would like to know how the 940b looks at other resolutions, but that is because I realize that there might be times when that is necessary. I definitley would plan on having it at 12x10 the vast majority of time and would be willing to upgrade my VC slightly more often to allow for this.
That's one reason why I have no intentions of getting a 20.1" LCD with native res. at 16x12. It would be too expensive trying to always play the latest games at that res.

 

[nealh]

whats the difference between 930B and 940B?

 

[Wolfshanze]

whats the difference between 930B and 940B?

10

 

[wpeng]

Originally posted by: Ike0069
Well, if you basically plan to use a LCD at non native resolution most of the time when gaming, then my suggestion would be to stick with a CRT.

LCD vs CRT... that's another argument altogether.

Of course if you play games at 800x600, then I wouldn't think how it looks on a LCD with native resolution of 12x10 would matter much. IMO 800x600 looks crappy even on ahigh-end CRT unles it's a 15" or so. It becomes way too pixelated.
Now I know that each person is different, but running LCD's at non-native resolutions should be an exception, not a normality. At least that's how I feel.

As an experienced low resolution gamer, I know that 800x600 is bad, but it can also get worse. I'd like it not to get worse. :laugh:

As for exceptions vs. normality, unless we get real samples and statistical analysis, I don't think you can decide anything definitively. I, for one, believe that most gamers are casual and don't have the capability of playing at those resolutions.

In regards to games that don't support certain resolutions, I just remembered that Battlefield 2 does not support 5:4 resolutions like 1280x1024, and apparently FEAR doesn't do 1280x1024 either. Not something I would expect to see a lot in the future, but those are two very popular games right now that won't be viewed in native resolution.

 

[nealh]

Originally posted by: Wolfshanze

whats the difference between 930B and 940B?

10

LMAO..thanks

 

[Ike0069]

Originally posted by: nealh
whats the difference between 930B and 940B?

I had the same question , and after reading many, many reviews on both monitors, here are my findings:

The 930B was plagued with backlight bleeding issues, as well as many people reporting that ghosting was a serious problem when gaming. It just seemed like Samsung, in order to keep the price down, made a cheap model here, lacking in any real QC.
Of course there are many people that were happy with their model, but far too many unhappy ones IMO.

The 940B has the exact same specs as the 930B, but it just seems as though instead of simply putting a new number on it, they actually made some QC adjustments. The % of unhappy owners seems to be way down, which is a very good sign. Bleeding issues is much improved if not completley solved, as well as reports that it actually runs like an 8ms monitor now. The 930B seemed more like a 16ms monitor to alot of owners.

So in conclusion, there are no spec differences, but the 940B just seems to be a better manufactured monitor with improved QC from Samsung clearly making it the better choice.

 

[nealh]

Originally posted by: Ike0069

Originally posted by: nealh
whats the difference between 930B and 940B?

I had the same question , and after reading many, many reviews on both monitors, here are my findings:

The 930B was plagued with backlight bleeding issues, as well as many people reporting that ghosting was a serious problem when gaming. It just seemed like Samsung, in order to keep the price down, made a cheap model here, lacking in any real QC.
Of course there are many people that were happy with their model, but far too many unhappy ones IMO.

The 940B has the exact same specs as the 930B, but it just seems as though instead of simply putting a new number on it, they actually made some QC adjustments. The % of unhappy owners seems to be way down, which is a very good sign. Bleeding issues is much improved if not completley solved, as well as reports that it actually runs like an 8ms monitor now. The 930B seemed more like a 16ms monitor to alot of owners.

So in conclusion, there are no spec differences, but the 940B just seems to be a better manufactured monitor with improved QC from Samsung clearly making it the better choice.

Very interesting...I thought the specs looked exactly the same....I purchased a 930B in July...I do see the backlight bleeding but it is insignificant...not what the fuss is...maybe this has to do with movies??...really does not effect my gaming experience in anyway that I have seen

But I no hardcore gamer...but ghosting on this panel...can not believe anyone would see any that would not be seen on any 8ms panel

On my monitor...I do notice a small color difference on my taskbar vs top taskbars...otherwise 0 ghosting, very sweet monitor IMHO

I suspect and I could be wrong...I bet later model 930B were fine

I won 3 different LCD...all hav some color nuisances and setting iisues

The 930B is a bight sharp monitor..text is excellent and colors look great in games..I am sure it needs some tweaking

 

[Nextman916]

I got my 940b ystrdy and after tuning it looks great! Can someone link me to a website where i may post my pics, because i have never done this before? maybe ill even do a review

 

[kmmatney]

I almost bought the Samsung 940B, but I went with the ViewSonic 19" widescreen LCD instead. This one:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16824116373

I went for this widescreen, as the pixel size on the 20" Widescreen LCDs is too small for me, and my video card wouldn't be able to power the higher resolutions. I'll right a review when I get it on Monday - I couldn't find any reviews on the web.

 

[xtknight]

Originally posted by: 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?

BeHardware (English hardware.fr) does sometimes and they have an image of the interpolation.