This review is going to be written from a different perspective than most of the other reviews. I bought this monitor to be used as a gaming monitor. I have only had high quality IPS monitors for the last five years. I was not willing to look at TN panel models. My most recent monitor was a 30 inch HP zr30w IPS panel that had 2560 X 1600 resolution. This was a very highly rated monitor when it came to market. Before that I had a 24 inch Dell Ultra Sharp IPS monitor with 1920 X 1200 resolution. With that as background I will start with the pros. http://www.enterprisesol.com/samsung/monitors.html 1) The colors are very vibrant and vivid. I can see colors that I had never noticed in games I had played on the other two monitors. It was a definite noticeable improvement. I did not do a color calibration with third party equipment, but to my eyes the colors appeared accurate. 2) The higher resolution allowed me to see things in those games that I had not seen before on the other monitors. I could easily see ribbing and stitching on clothing, individual facial hairs on faces, paint peeling on walls, etc. This resulted in a much more life like and immersive atmosphere that made playing the games more fun and enjoyable. 3) The stand allowed for a full range of easy adjustments for swivel, pivot, portrait mode and height. 4) The build, matte finish on the screen, the stand, even the buttons looked to be of high build quality and fit and finish. Now for the cons. 1) High price. I was not willing to look at TN panels. At present the only other 31.5 inch 4k IPS monitors are either the first generation Asus or Dell models and the second generation models from Acer or BenQ. The first generation units are MST which is known to cause a lot of idiosyncratic problems like not waking up from sleep mode or only showing half the screen, etc. You can read about these in the online forums. Those units cost at least about the same price as this Samsung. The Acer and BenQ models cost about one thousand dollars, but have known issues with color uniformity, back light bleeding and mediocre color accuracy. 2) Very Small Text. You will either have to do a lot of scaling if you read a lot of text or sit close to the screen and get eye strain. Scaling can be problematic with Windows 7 and 8. There is better support in the most recent Apple software if you have a new Apple computer. 3) You will need a late model computer with high-end graphic cards in SLI or Crossfire, not to mention a powerful CPU and at least about 1000 watt power supply unit. That will definitely cost a lot more than the average mainstream computer. Overall for me, the pros outweighed the cons. If you are looking at this monitor for professional use you will probably be looking at different criteria to make your choice. Update 1/03/15 I went to the control panel in Windows 7 and clicked on Appearance and Personalization. I then clicked on Make text and other items larger or smaller under the Display category. I then set the size to Larger – 150% and clicked Apply. You then have to restart windows and it worked perfectly. Text size is much easier to read now.
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ReplyDeleteThis review is going to be written from a different perspective than most of the other reviews. I bought this monitor to be used as a gaming monitor. I have only had high quality IPS monitors for the last five years. I was not willing to look at TN panel models. My most recent monitor was a 30 inch HP zr30w IPS panel that had 2560 X 1600 resolution. This was a very highly rated monitor when it came to market. Before that I had a 24 inch Dell Ultra Sharp IPS monitor with 1920 X 1200 resolution. With that as background I will start with the pros.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.enterprisesol.com/samsung/monitors.html
1) The colors are very vibrant and vivid. I can see colors that I had never noticed in games I had played on the other two monitors. It was a definite noticeable improvement. I did not do a color calibration with third party equipment, but to my eyes the colors appeared accurate.
2) The higher resolution allowed me to see things in those games that I had not seen before on the other monitors. I could easily see ribbing and stitching on clothing, individual facial hairs on faces, paint peeling on walls, etc. This resulted in a much more life like and immersive atmosphere that made playing the games more fun and enjoyable.
3) The stand allowed for a full range of easy adjustments for swivel, pivot, portrait mode and height.
4) The build, matte finish on the screen, the stand, even the buttons looked to be of high build quality and fit and finish.
Now for the cons.
1) High price. I was not willing to look at TN panels. At present the only other 31.5 inch 4k IPS monitors are either the first generation Asus or Dell models and the second generation models from Acer or BenQ. The first generation units are MST which is known to cause a lot of idiosyncratic problems like not waking up from sleep mode or only showing half the screen, etc. You can read about these in the online forums. Those units cost at least about the same price as this Samsung. The Acer and BenQ models cost about one thousand dollars, but have known issues with color uniformity, back light bleeding and mediocre color accuracy.
2) Very Small Text. You will either have to do a lot of scaling if you read a lot of text or sit close to the screen and get eye strain. Scaling can be problematic with Windows 7 and 8. There is better support in the most recent Apple software if you have a new Apple computer.
3) You will need a late model computer with high-end graphic cards in SLI or Crossfire, not to mention a powerful CPU and at least about 1000 watt power supply unit. That will definitely cost a lot more than the average mainstream computer.
Overall for me, the pros outweighed the cons. If you are looking at this monitor for professional use you will probably be looking at different criteria to make your choice.
Update 1/03/15
I went to the control panel in Windows 7 and clicked on Appearance and Personalization. I then clicked on Make text and other items larger or smaller under the Display category. I then set the size to Larger – 150% and clicked Apply. You then have to restart windows and it worked perfectly. Text size is much easier to read now.