Samsung 970p

[speedlever]

I just unpacked the 970p, hooked it up via DVI cable to my DVI out on the 6600GT card... changed the screen resolution from 1024x768 (old 14" temp monitor) to 1280x1024 and changed the refresh rate to 60Hz.

I haven't installed any drivers or MagicTune yet. I'm running Nvidia drivers 81.98.

Is there any reason to install the Windows XP driver on the included CD?

I will install MagicTune so I can hopefully have some control over the display. But first impressions are very positive.

The only fault I see on first inspection is what looks like a hair about 1/4 inch long near the left top of the display... about 1" from the left and down about 3". It runs diagonally. I've tried to brush it off but it appears to be something internal.

Not quite sure how to address that. Guess I'd better call J&R and see what they advise.

Otherwise, I am quite pleased with the initial appearance.

Geez, coming from that old 14" CRT (temp replacement for the 19" CRT that died) was an enormous change! Makes it hard to be objective about the new LCD. ;-) The screen real estate is huge!

 

[speedlever]

First up, no need to install the included drivers since the Nvidia drivers are working well (according to Samsung).

Secondly, I am returning this monitor because what appears to be a 1/4" long diagonal hair is in fact a line of dead pixels. With the monitor disconnected from the video card, the line shows up when the moving white block passes that area. Samsung says the monitor is defective and J&R is replacing it.

 

[Z33]

its a great monitor tho!. i have it and love it. 0 dead pixels here.. sucks u got a DOA

 

[speedlever]

Yeah... I was a bit concerned about the dead pixel issue... fortunately, this one has enough that Samsung called it defective. Hopefully the replacement will be clean.

What video card are you driving the 970p with?

Have you found a particular setup that you like best?

Thus far I'm using the following with MagicTune 3.6:
Brightness:45 (set when I chose internet, I think)
Contrast:50 (set when I chose internet, I think)
MagicBrite:Custom (not sure why this is going there... after cycling through the options, I liked Internet the best, but something else I did must have changed it to custom)

Color tone: warm1
Color control: default
Calibration: haven't yet figured out how that's supposed to work
Magic color: off
Gamma: +0.3

Sharpness: default (60)

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

How do you guys rate this monitor against the Viewsonic VP930b?

 

[speedlever]

This has been much discussed on the LCD buying guide thread. It should be stickied to the top of the Video forum.

Take a look there and see if your questions are answered.

 

[kranky]

Sounds like it's your first LCD - how did you decide on the 970P?

My situation is very similar - 6600GT and getting my first LCD (using a 17" CRT now) and I'm set on the 970P as well. I'm trying to wait until I can get one locally (CompUSA is out of stock) in case I have a quality issue. I noticed J&R and outpost.com have the best price (by far!) and it will be interesting to hear how quickly they turn around your replacement.

 

[speedlever]

kranky,

I'd been meditating on it every since my 19" CRT died a month or so back. I read a bit here and there... and then found the LCD buyers guide that xtknight put together .
http://tinyurl.com/cohnv

Yeah.. this is MY first LCD. I researched a year or so back for my mother-in-law.. and got her a Sammy 193P (IIRC). She's loved it. I almost cheaped out on a 6 bit panel (Sammy 940B) but then reconsidered and decided to jump all the way in on a 19"er.

The remedy for the bad monitor has run like this thus far: J&R referred me to Samsung for tech support. Samsung said it was defective. I called J&R back and they agreed to cross ship another 970P... should be here by the end of the week. Upon receipt, I'll check it out and then box up the bad one for return and credit. Sounds about as painless as it can be. Hope it all works out as easily as it sounds (and I hope the new 970P is clean).

I also stumbled across a deal on a Viewsonic VA721 that I couldn't pass up ($140/AR). The kids have a huge 17" CRT that dominates the desk space... so I thought this deal too good to pass up to replace it.
http://tinyurl.com/7ocs
Page down to the Office Depot section

Rebate: ViewSonic VA721 17" LCD Monitor $140 at OfficeDepot.com Click Here
Discuss (2) Posted 1:24 AM PST 1/15/06 by Ben

OfficeDepot.com has the ViewSonic VA721 17" Flat Panel LCD Monitor for $280 - $40 off $200 code 28891600 [Exp 1/21] - $50 rebate [Exp 1/21] - $50 rebate [Exp 1/21] = $140 with free shipping. [BizRate]

# Resolution: 1280x1024, Brightness: 300cd/m2, Contrast Ratio: 450:1
# Response Time: 8ms, Dot Pitch: 0.264mm, VGA (No DVI), 1 year warranty.

 

[speedlever]

Update:

In my various searching for info on the 970P, I'd come across info that indicated MagicTune had problems... causing crashes, etc. Thus far, MagicTune 3.6 has run without problem on my rig.
http://tinyurl.com/aykvd for example.

Asus P4S533 with Intel 1.8/P4 running at 2.4 GHz
1 Gig ram (512 x 2)
XP/home/sp2 and all updates
eVGA 6600GT video card

 

[speedlever]

Update:

The replacement 970P came in Friday (4 days after the defective monitor was received) and I just got it installed today.

This one looks perfect thus far.

J&R and Samsung did a good job dealing with the defective monitor.

I'm happy!

Edit: fix J&R (I don't know why I insist on spelling it J&S!)

 

[kranky]

Four days - that's pretty good, especially considering you had to deal with both the reseller and the manufacturer.

Did J&R just take you at your word that you talked to Samsung and they said it was defective?

 

[speedlever]

Did J&R just take you at your word that you talked to Samsung and they said it was defective?

So far as I know, yes. The Samsung rep took just a minute to troubleshoot... they basically just had me disconnect the DVI cable and watch the monitor. When the moving block passed over the defective area, the hair-like defect was still there and they immediately said it was a line of dead pixels. I was told to contact the seller and arrange for a replacement.

All in all, it was about as painless as it could be.

 

[ddekany]

About fixing MagicTune crashes, see this page (mirror is here).

 

[speedlever]

Thanks for that info, ddekany. Note that I referenced that page on a posting dated 1.17 in this thread.

Thus far, I have not seen any crashing of MT 3.6.

Also, I've been reading your posts on the LCD thread about the 6 bit and 8 bit issue with interest.

Edit: I just noticed that is your page of info! I contacted you earlier via that page to let you know that my config has not seen any crashes yet.

 

[speedlever]

ddekany,

What is the Task Tray menu in MT 3.6? (as optioned in Option/Preferences)? Mine is unchecked. I have a shortcut to MT in my quick launch toolbar and just crank up MT if I want to check or adjust something, which isn't very often.

Perhaps that's why I haven't had any trouble with MT crashing on my rig.

 

[Joeka]

Like speedlever I have also disabled the Task Tray icon - and so far all seems to be working well.

Does anybody know of a 'good' method to remove the "LCD Gamma" icon that loads into the system tray? It seems to be loaded via the Startup folder - but the shortcut refers to it as "Color Calibration". Before I go ahead and try and remove it myself, has anybody had any luck removing the icon? And does anybody know what it actually does or is used for..? (Sorry if its a bit of a dump question, but i'm new to all this LCD monitor stuff! )

I am utterly thrilled with my new Samsung 970P monitor, and would recommend it to anyone - its only negative point is the lack of onboard controls - the software is a bit of pain and can be a little temperamental, but once you get it up and running it seems to do the job well enough.

 

[speedlever]

Joeka,

I also have the LCD gamma icon in my systray. It seems to be a display only item and I don't know how to get rid of it either.

Have you found settings that you prefer on your 970P/MT3.6?

 

[Joeka]

I have already tried closing the tray icon. Nothing much seems to happen nor does it appear to have any affect on Magictune..? So I'm going to have a go at removing it from the Startup folder later. I'll let you know how I get on.

Regarding the settings for MT 3.6 - I have only been using the pre-defined settings so far. I use the "Internet" preset for general use and have switched to the "Game" preset for a few quick games of Quake4 - to test the screen . I've only had the screen for a couple of days so haven't had a chance to test it all properly yet... That I'll leave for the weekend!

What settings do you use/prefer?

 

[ddekany]

Originally posted by: speedlever
What is the Task Tray menu in MT 3.6? (as optioned in Option/Preferences)? Mine is unchecked. I have a shortcut to MT in my quick launch toolbar and just crank up MT if I want to check or adjust something, which isn't very often.

Perhaps that's why I haven't had any trouble with MT crashing on my rig.

For me, if I enable the trask tray icon, clicking at it starts MagicTune withing 2 seconds or so. If I disbale it and start MagicTune with the regular way (quick languch icon or like), it takes about 10 seconds to start. I find that annoyingly slow.

Regarding it connection to the crashes, for some people MagicTune even crashes the system if you disable the trask tray icon.