DisplayBlog

Samsung T190, T220, T240, T260

Sizes: 19″, 22″, 24″, 26″
Pixel Format:

• 19″: 1440 x 900
• 22″: 1680 x 1080
• 24″: 1920 x 1200
• 26″: 1920 x 1200

Contrast Ratio: 20,000:1 (dynamic)
Response Time: 2ms GTG (T190, T220), 5ms (T240, T260)
Input: HDMI (T240, T260)
Power Consumption: 0.3 watts at standby
Availability: Now (T190, T220), End of July 2008 (T240, T260)
Pricing: $259 (T190), $359 (T220), $499 (T240), $599 (T260)

Samsung announced on April 23, 2008 the launch of its Touch of Color (TOC) line of LCD monitors: T190, T220, T240, and T260. They have a minimalist design, a deep ruby red infusion, and a glossy piano-black finish.

Continue reading…

Samsung 942BW

Size: 19″
Pixel Format: 1440 x 900 (16:10)
Response Time: 5ms Gray-to-Gray (GTG, MagicSpeed)
Brightness: 300 cd/m2
Contrast Ratio: 500:1
Input: DVI with HDCP
Special Feature: Narrow bezel, MagicBright3 (automatic brightness, contrast, gamma optimization)
Price: MSRP US$249.99

The design is quite simple and boring. It is your typical 19″ wide LCD monitor with the regular 1440 x 900 pixel format. The 5ms response time isn’t that impressive. However there are some interesting features such as MagicBright3 that automatically optimizes brightness, contrast, and gamma. I wonder how it optimizes brightness unless it has some sort of light sensor. It probably doesn’t, so that means it changes the brightness based on the image content, which could end up simply annoying the user. Another “feature” is the narrow bezel. I guess it’s better than having a really thick bezel. Thin is in, whether it is the bezel or the depth. The price is decent at $250. Street prices according to PriceGrabber seems to be around $225 as of this writing.

Source: Business Wire, via Engadget

Instead of using the typical TFT LCD glass substrate, Samsung Electronics displayed a 19″ LCD monitor panel using a soda-lime glass substrate at the FPD International 2007 conference in Yokohama, Japan. The LCD monitor features a pixel format of 1280 x 1024. Normal TFT LCD glass substrates are sodium- and alkali-free. Soda-lime glass is not as transparent as regular TFT LCD glass substrates and may need a more powerful backlight or a more efficient optical film stack to compensate. In addition, soda-lime glass is difficult to make thin. Current TFT LCD glass substrates are just 0.5mm to 0.7mm thick. Although there is potential for a reduction of material cost going from normal LCD glass to soda-lime glass, there will be some difficulties to overcome. But Samsung seems to have everything under control at its G5 plant with the 19″ LCD monitor panel featuring a brightness of 300 cd/m2, a contrast ratio of 1000:1 and a color gamut of 72% NTSC. Samsung stated that volume production is imminent. I am not sure who supplies soda-lime glass, but this news might impact Corning. Corning is one of the largest suppliers of LCD glass.

Source: DigiTimes

Asustek VW198S

Size: 19″ Wide
Pixel Format: 1680 x 1050
Brightness: 300 cd/m2
Contrast Ratio: 3000:1
Viewing Angle: 170/160
Colors: 16.7M
Response Time: 5ms
Input: VGA (D-Sub)
Pricing: NT$7,290 (~US$224)

Asustek Computer recently launched three new LCD monitors in Taiwan according to DigiTimes. The three LCD monitors include one 19″ and two 22″ LCD monitors, all three sporting wide aspect ratios. According to Asustek, the 19″ wide VW198S is the world’s first with a pixel format of 1680 x 1050. Typically, a 19″ wide LCD monitor would be limited to a pixel format of just 1440 x 900. With a typical non-wide, 5:4 aspec ratio, 19″ LCD monitor sporting a 1280 x 1024 pixel format.

If you’ve been looking for some extra display real estate (in terms of pixels, not size), Asus’ VW198S might just be the ticket. Just one caveat: for those of you with less than perfect eyes, the fonts on Windows and OS X will be smaller compared to a 19″ wide with 1440 x 900 or 1280 x 1024. If you are OK with that, then the added bonus of just $224 will certainly help in making the decision. There has been no mention of the VW198S and the other 22″ LCD monitors becoming available in the US.

The other two monitors are both 22″ wide (VW222S $304, VW222U $347) with the same pixel format of 1680 x 1050. Brightness, contrast ratio, viewing angle, and colors are all the same as the 19″. The only difference are faster response time (19″ 5ms vs. 22″ 2ms) and that the VW222U sports a DVI-HDCP in addition to a VGA port, which tack on an extra $43.

Source: DigiTimes

Samsung 940BW

Size: 19″
Aspect Ratio: 16:10
Pixel Format: 1440 x 900
Brightness: 300 cd/m2
Contrast Ratio: 500:1
Response Time: 4ms
Viewing Angle: 160/160
Input: VGA, DVI-D
Availability: June 28, 2007 in India

Samsung introduced its 940 BW 19″ wide LCD monitor in India on June 28. The monitor has a 1440 x 900 resolution and has a 16:10 aspect ratio. Although ChannelTimes is indicating that two whole A4 size pages can be viewed side by side, that is not true. A4 size pages are even longer than letter sizes and not even 1680 x 1050 resolutions can handle two letter sized pages at 100% in Microsoft Word. You need at least a 1920 x 1200 resolution display to do that, barely.

Continue reading…