Samsung 2493HM Monitor

[dkory22]

Just wondering how this monitor would be for gaming/movie watching. It seems to have a lot of good reviews and as far as I can tell it would work fine. Also wondering how well my 7800GT would do running this at 1920x1200? And, is this an HDCP monitor? It has HDMI input but doesn't exactly say if it is or isn't.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8734426&type=product&id=1201307760095

 

[jaguarskx]

Generally, if it doesn't explicitly say HDCP, then chances are it does not have it. I couldn't find HDCP anywhere in the specs, even from Samsung's website. If HDCP is important to you, then look somewhere else.

The 7800GT is no longer powerful enough to play the latest and greatest games at 1920 x 1200.

7800GT < 7900GTX < 9600GT < 8800GT < 8800GTS (G92) 512MB <8800GTX < 9800GTX < 8800 ULTRA

People generally consider the 8800GT to be the minimum card for 1920 x 1200 gaming.

It also depends the on game too. Even 9800GTX SLI will struggle with Crysis.

 

[dkory22]

Thanks for the reply!

Yeah, I doubt this will be used to play any blu ray movies or anything, but who knows what could happen in the next 10 years or so.

I am planning a new computer build and hope to get one of the new cards that comes out in June, depending on which is better, ATI or Nvidia, so I may hold off until then on the monitor if the 7800GT will have too hard of a time putting out 1920x1200 on that.

I'm still wondering how this monitor would serve for gaming/movie watching? Also, I saw the 245T recommended over this in a recent post, why is that?

Thanks!

 

[jaguarskx]

Because of the LCD panel technology.

The Samsung 2493HM uses an inexpensive LCD panel (6-bit TN) that is easy on the wallet, but can be harsh on your eyes. These panels do not produce real 16.7million colors because of the limitation of the technology itself. It relies on dithering (a form of guess-timating) to make 16.7m colors out of 256k colors the monitor can really produce. TN panels also suffers from narrower viewing angles. In some cases merely turning your head slightly your eyes can pick up color shifts on the screen itself. The poor color reproduction can also create image artifacts on the screen.

The Samsung 245T uses the more expensive 8-bit S-PVA panel tech which can really produce 16.7m colors. Other than being more expensive than a comparable TN panel, the response time is a little slower (fastest is "rated" at 5ms) therefore your chances of seeing ghosting effects is greater. But that differs from person to person depending on how your brain processes the information your eyes transmit to it. Definitely has wider viewing angles and better color accuracy.

Not sure about current generation of TN panel, but previous generation of TN panel had a hard time displaying underwater scenes without any image artifacts.

 

[dkory22]

Well I think I'll hold off until I get my new computer built then, but thanks for the info! That will be useful when I do make a final decision.