Image quality beyond the bargain price.
Written: Jan 02 '01
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Great price, sharp display, very bright
Cons: Artificial colour balance, limited bandwidth, so-so dot pitch
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| trohricht's Full Review: Samsung SyncMaster 750S 17 inch CRT Monitor |
This unit was originally purchased as a short-term replacement for another monitor (ViewSonic P775) in for warranty repairs. After spending several days as the primary monitor for a graphic design workstation, the display proved to be good enough for use as the secondary monitor of a dual-screen setup.
First the Specs
Samsung is yet another manufacturer who quotes the horizontal dot pitch in their specs rather than diagonal. The 750s is listed as having 0.24mm horizontal dot pitch. The real number works out to be 0.27mm diagonal. Maximum resolution is 1280x1024 @ 60Hz, and other supported resolutions are 1152x864 @ 75Hz, or 1024x768 @ 85Hz (and of course lower resolutions also). One nice aspect of the monitor is its relatively light weight of 15.0kg. No trouble at all using a monitor arm with the 750s for improved ergonomics and to clear a bit of desk space.
There is no option for BNC connection from your video card, only the standard 15-pin high-density SVGA cable.
Performance
I never would have expected a CDN$255 17" monitor to be this sharp. Definition and colour convergence are both very crisp right to the margins of the display. Brightness and contrast are also excellent. In fact, they're a little too excellent for my tastes and I found it difficult to calibrate the 750s to achieve a nice neutral colour balance. The only way the limited dot pitch manifests itself is on very thin vertical lines (such as the ascenders and descenders on text). If these fall in the wrong place on screen they become blurred, almost as if they are being anti-aliased.
I'm not terribly fond of the onscreen menu, but perhaps the controls will become more intuitive with continued use. There are only two choices for a hardware white point: 9300K (distinctly cyan in colour) and 6500K (a distinct rose tint). There is also no quick way to degauss the screen without navigating a series of menus.
Bandwidth is adequate for most applications. If you have no intention of running resolutions higher than 1024x768 this won't even be an issue. The 85Hz refresh at this resolution is rock solid. Although the specs don't specifically list an 1152x864 mode, I have found it will successfully run a reasonably steady 75Hz. The 1280x1024@60Hz is strictly for masochists.
Overall
How could I possibly complain for the price I paid? As a secondary monitor the performance is stellar. In fact I sometimes find myself dragging design elements over to the Samsung just to see how things look on such a bright, high-contrast display. For standard office duties or web surfing, the 750s is a solid pick. Longevity is the only wildcard, but at least there is a 3-year warranty should the need arise.
Within its limitations, this is a very nice monitor.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
trohricht
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Member: Thomas Rohricht
Reviews written: 26
Trusted by: 6 members
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