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Ohmycaptain
Gawd
- Joined
- Jul 10, 2011
- Messages
- 717
I just picked up the new S27B970 monitor by Samsung, so here are my initial impressions;
Exterior
This monitor is just plain gorgeous from an exterior vanity point of view. Better looking than the 27" Cinema Display in my opinion. The single pane glass display is really stunning, and the aluminum just looks great. This thing screams of beauty.
Backlight bleeding and Uniformity
This is a big one for most of you out there who would be looking at this monitor. BLB is a huge problem and poor screen uniformity in high end displays should be unacceptable, but plagues every one of them.
I can say that with my experience so far, this screen is absolutely fantastic with both bleeding edges and uniformity. I can see no back light bleeding around the edges, and the uniformity of the lighting is seriously perfect for an LED. By far the best I've seen, and I've personally seen, if not owned, almost every high end monitor that is currently out with the exception of the 30 inchers. Catleap, 850D, 950D, U2711, 750D, you name it, I've probably owned it. This one beats them all, although the U2711 is great as well.
Picture Quality
Again, this scores an A++ in my book. PLS technology is my favorite, it gives such great, vivid colors. Games look amazing (especially Trine 2, WOW!). Compared to my 850D side by side, the difference isn't huge, but you can see it. Even with my 850D calibrated to the same specs as the 970D (With spyder4pro), the 970 just looks better. Luckily my 850D didn't suffer any of the awful things that plagued that series, though.
I really haven't seen a monitor with better picture quality myself. Blacks are not as deep as I'd like to see, but still very good for an LED monitor. The glass really helps things pop out and adds to the perceived contrast and vibrancy in a big way.
Glossy or Matte?
Some people love matte. Some people love Glossy. I personally prefer matte over glossy plastic. But, there's something about glass that I really love. It beats out Matte and Glossy Plastic by far. I am in love with glass displays, they just make everything look better. I think the glass display is the biggest draw to this compared to the 850D (other than being 99% accurate and having great quality control).
Now, you may or may not be aware that this is a "Semi-Gloss" glass display. And it really is. It's not as reflective or shiny as the ACD, I don't know what they did to the glass to make it semi-gloss, but while you can still see your reflection well, it's not nearly as impeding as some other glossy displays out there.
Color Accuracy
So I calibrated this with a Spyder4Pro to 6500k, 2.2 Gamma and 200cd/m2 brightness, and other than the brightness, this monitor was absolutely spot on for color accuracy. This is a HUGE plus for those who don't have a device to calibrate their displays. It really is a professional's monitor, and even for gaming it's the best out there in my opinion.
Conclusion
Conclusion? Hands down the best monitor I've ever owned. I said that about the 850D I had, until I got this. Some may be skeptical about the price, $1,200 for a 27"? You could get a catleap, or a U2711 for much cheaper.
But, you won't get everything that this has to offer. The PLS technology is gorgeous, the glass display adds to the depth and vibrancy of pictures and games, and I'm sure movies as well. No aggressive AG coating (although I heard the new revisions of the U2711 and HP variant have fixed this crystallizing issue).
Outstanding build quality, the best picture quality out there, perfect out-of-box accuracy, no backlight bleeding, amazing screen uniformity. and a single semi-gloss glass display. This is what this monitor has to offer, so I personally find the high price tag worth it, if you've got the cash to spend and are looking for the best consumer monitor, you can't go wrong with the 970D.
Now, there is one thing I do not like, a big design flaw. That's the Displayport location on the bottom. I don't mind it on the bottom (I actually prefer to have connections at the base), but the problem here is that it fits underneath the aluminum base. What that means is, to unclip the DP cable from the monitor, you have to stick something between the cable and the metal part of the base to use leverage and pop it out. This is really annoying, and something that I feel like should have been recognized when designing this monitor.
With that said, I give this monitor a solid 9.5/10 - the best LED monitor I've ever used, hands down.
Exterior
This monitor is just plain gorgeous from an exterior vanity point of view. Better looking than the 27" Cinema Display in my opinion. The single pane glass display is really stunning, and the aluminum just looks great. This thing screams of beauty.
Backlight bleeding and Uniformity
This is a big one for most of you out there who would be looking at this monitor. BLB is a huge problem and poor screen uniformity in high end displays should be unacceptable, but plagues every one of them.
I can say that with my experience so far, this screen is absolutely fantastic with both bleeding edges and uniformity. I can see no back light bleeding around the edges, and the uniformity of the lighting is seriously perfect for an LED. By far the best I've seen, and I've personally seen, if not owned, almost every high end monitor that is currently out with the exception of the 30 inchers. Catleap, 850D, 950D, U2711, 750D, you name it, I've probably owned it. This one beats them all, although the U2711 is great as well.
Picture Quality
Again, this scores an A++ in my book. PLS technology is my favorite, it gives such great, vivid colors. Games look amazing (especially Trine 2, WOW!). Compared to my 850D side by side, the difference isn't huge, but you can see it. Even with my 850D calibrated to the same specs as the 970D (With spyder4pro), the 970 just looks better. Luckily my 850D didn't suffer any of the awful things that plagued that series, though.
I really haven't seen a monitor with better picture quality myself. Blacks are not as deep as I'd like to see, but still very good for an LED monitor. The glass really helps things pop out and adds to the perceived contrast and vibrancy in a big way.
Glossy or Matte?
Some people love matte. Some people love Glossy. I personally prefer matte over glossy plastic. But, there's something about glass that I really love. It beats out Matte and Glossy Plastic by far. I am in love with glass displays, they just make everything look better. I think the glass display is the biggest draw to this compared to the 850D (other than being 99% accurate and having great quality control).
Now, you may or may not be aware that this is a "Semi-Gloss" glass display. And it really is. It's not as reflective or shiny as the ACD, I don't know what they did to the glass to make it semi-gloss, but while you can still see your reflection well, it's not nearly as impeding as some other glossy displays out there.
Color Accuracy
So I calibrated this with a Spyder4Pro to 6500k, 2.2 Gamma and 200cd/m2 brightness, and other than the brightness, this monitor was absolutely spot on for color accuracy. This is a HUGE plus for those who don't have a device to calibrate their displays. It really is a professional's monitor, and even for gaming it's the best out there in my opinion.
Conclusion
Conclusion? Hands down the best monitor I've ever owned. I said that about the 850D I had, until I got this. Some may be skeptical about the price, $1,200 for a 27"? You could get a catleap, or a U2711 for much cheaper.
But, you won't get everything that this has to offer. The PLS technology is gorgeous, the glass display adds to the depth and vibrancy of pictures and games, and I'm sure movies as well. No aggressive AG coating (although I heard the new revisions of the U2711 and HP variant have fixed this crystallizing issue).
Outstanding build quality, the best picture quality out there, perfect out-of-box accuracy, no backlight bleeding, amazing screen uniformity. and a single semi-gloss glass display. This is what this monitor has to offer, so I personally find the high price tag worth it, if you've got the cash to spend and are looking for the best consumer monitor, you can't go wrong with the 970D.
Now, there is one thing I do not like, a big design flaw. That's the Displayport location on the bottom. I don't mind it on the bottom (I actually prefer to have connections at the base), but the problem here is that it fits underneath the aluminum base. What that means is, to unclip the DP cable from the monitor, you have to stick something between the cable and the metal part of the base to use leverage and pop it out. This is really annoying, and something that I feel like should have been recognized when designing this monitor.
With that said, I give this monitor a solid 9.5/10 - the best LED monitor I've ever used, hands down.
Hope you can do a review on this on youtube? Would be really Great. 
