Samsung 955DF 19" Monitor

Image Quality

To test out the Samsung 955DF we used the trusted standard of the monitor evaluation community: DisplayMate. Fitting on a 3.5" floppy, DisplayMate has set the standard for monitors as a result of its thorough tests. We decided to test the 955DF in the resolution we feel it should be run at: 1280x1024, the recommended resolution of the monitor. The refresh rate was set to 75Hz, Samsung's recommended refresh rate when at 1280x1024. Color depth was set to 32-bit.

For comparison purposes, we compared the Samsung SyncMaster 955DF with an older Samsung SyncMaster 950p which uses a different 19" shadow mask CRT. Below is a table with the tests performed and notes we made during testing.

DisplayMate told us quite a bit about the 955DF. For the most part, the image on the 955DF was right on par with the image on the "professional" 950p. In fact, the 955DF looked better in many instances as a result of its flat screen. You may not think that the convexity of the screen makes much of a difference in image quality, but it can really make a difference in your viewing experience.

The 955DF was not without faults, however. Most notably were the monitor's lack of focus control, color registration problems, screen regulation and slight ghosting. The lack of focus control left a small portion of the screen at the bottom right slightly out of focus, although the problem was not noticeable under normal use. Color registration is a problem that plagues all monitors and occurs in areas where the 3 primary colors are not aligned properly on the screen. Misregistration is typically poorest on the periphery of the screen, especially in the corners, a fact which we observed on both the 950p as well as the 955DF. Again, the misregistration problem did not manifest itself to a noticeable amount outside of the intensive DisplayMate test.

Screen regulation was another area where the 955DF had a slight problem. On most monitors the image expands in size in areas of the screen that are bright and contracts in areas that are dim, but the degree to which this occurs varies from monitor to monitor. Turning down the brightness of a monitor will reduce problems with screen regulation, but this will also decrease the degree range of brightness generated. Ideally, the monitor should have little or no screen regulation issues in the ideal brightness setting determined earlier in the DisplayMate tests. As the observation notes, we had less of a problem with screen regulation on the 950p. There was also a bit of ghosting visible on the monitor when a sharp white image was displayed on a black background. Like all the limitations DisplayMate allowed us to see, the problem did not manifest itself during normal use.

We also tested the 955DF using a color checker. For this we used a Gretag Macbeth color checker which is a small chart that contains patches of scientifically true color. Included for each color is the computer value for the color, making it very easy to reproduce the proper color on the computer. We therefore created a TIFF image of the color chart at 1280x1024 and compared the image on the screen to the color checker.

Like we found using DisplayMate, the color chart appeared slightly more warm on the 955DF than it did on the 950p. Both monitors did produce a very good image that represented the actual color checker rather accurately.

Perhaps the best of of determining what we though of the monitor was using it. We used the 955DF to look at pictures, type in a word processor, and browse the web. We were extremely satisfied with the results: the 955DF at 1280x1024x32 at 75Hz did not disappoint.