Samsung U28D590 First impressions and Q&A

Absorbentsolid · 12 Jun 2014 at 22:32

Hey guys,So i picked up the Samsung U28D590 and have used it for about 13 hours today.

So this first impressions i'll be giving you a look into my point of view and will also post pictures.

Q:Is 4k really that big of a deal over 1080P?

A:Yes,Coming from a 120hz Samsung SA700 it looks so sharp and clear it's unbelievable.

I put both monitors side by side and colours popped without even fiddling with the settings.

It was like day and night,Text looked incredible and just the clarity of images was like looking through a window.

Q:TN panels suck? I strongly disagree,This isn't aimed at the professional that needs 10 bit panels with precise colour accuracy.

This is aimed clearly at the entry level 4K user that wan't to dabble in games and productivity.

Also folks seem to be under the impression that the viewing angles are just awful on TN.

Once again i disagree unless your towering over the monitor or sitting on the floor from being absolutely hammered.

I put this monitor side by side with my brothers AOC Q2770PQU.He questioned me about this purchase saying "Why didn't you get a IPS panel!"

I then proceeded to put of the same content as him on the screen and you might say he was impressed as he now wants one of these.

Granted his looked very nice and colours looked warm his was triumphant in that regard but,I'm sure he would tell you we were neck and neck.

So no TN isn't as bad as it once was.

Q: Will a single GTX 780 run one of these?

A:YES! i was very surprised after dabbling with settings the performance i was getting in games.

I didn't have to mess with settings on Borderlands 2 and it ran a smooth 60+FPS.

I played some higher demanding games like Crysis 3 and Metro Last light.

It did well after turning down AA i get a solid 40FPS when lowering it from Ultra to high settings. It would sometimes dip lowest to 30FPS but that's fine for me and very playable.

The only game that was unplayable but because i think it's optimised VERY POORLY was Watch Dogs. I hope to see some better drivers for that game.

So in conclusion yes if you mess with the settings you'll get it just right and it'll look fantastic.

Q: Do you miss 120hz gaming?

A:Yes and No,Yes for competitive games but for any other type of game NOPE!

Q:What are the pro's and cons to this monitor?

A: Pro's are as follows,
Entry level 4k for £499!
Looks very sleek and dominating
1MS!
1 billion colours
(Free game Watch dogs)

Con's
Wobbly stand
No Vesa Support
No Swivel or tilt
Requires some serious GPU horsepower

Q: Do you recommend this monitor?

A: 100% Yes! This monitor is a fantastic way into 4K gaming or just general productivity.

It's cheap as chips compared to 6+ months ago to where it was hard to find one under £2000.

Gaming on this monitor looks breathtaking and i don't see my self going back to 1080P at all.

Colours on this monitor are fantastic for a TN panel and you've got to see it in person to believe it.

Believe the hype 4K is Astonishing and i'm very glad i got this beauty.

Thanks to OCUK for there fantastic customer service and making them the first UK supplier to put this on the market (Tips hat)

Also Thanks to follow OCUK member Gregster for helping me pick the right monitor and top advice as always,Cheers mate!

Any questions or anything feel free to ask and thanks for taking to time to read my first impressions. Photo's below enjoy.

http://imgur.com/a/etNvw

Rroff · 12 Jun 2014 at 22:39

Still not convinced on the gaming aspect (depending a bit on what your playing, etc.), though the AOC might be worse for it than the Samsung dunno.

The image quality and overall sharpness and clarity (other than in fast motion) is very very good for a TN though absolutely agree there, contrast is a tiny shade less than perfect but otherwise its reasonably accurate and more importantly natural looking colors that just look "right" which is a breath of fresh air when I spend a lot of my time using a 120Hz BenQ where the colors are very much not eye pleasing.

Absorbentsolid · 12 Jun 2014 at 23:00

Rroff said:
Still not convinced on the gaming aspect (depending a bit on what your playing, etc.), though the AOC might be worse for it than the Samsung dunno.

The image quality and overall sharpness and clarity (other than in fast motion) is very very good for a TN though absolutely agree there, contrast is a tiny shade less than perfect but otherwise its reasonably accurate and more importantly natural looking colors that just look "right" which is a breath of fresh air when I spend a lot of my time using a 120Hz BenQ where the colors are very much not eye pleasing.

Sure,I completely agree,Do you still use your BenQ?

Rroff · 12 Jun 2014 at 23:11

The BenQ is still my main gaming monitor, the AOC replaces a Samsung 2343BW for general use/productivity/multiboxing eve online.

melmac · 13 Jun 2014 at 00:02

Hey Absorbentsolid, congrats on your new purchase and thank you very much for the Q and A type post

I am considering making the switch from the SA700 to this monitor, just like you. I will have to sell the 120hz monitor to fund the purchase though. So my question is, would you recommend the 4K monitor over the 120hz after using both? I mean if you had to stick with one.

I play a lot of different game types, mostly fps and mmo's at the moment. I don't play racing games at all. Also, this will be my work monitor, because I work from home. How is it for doing documents and readability etc?

Rroff · 13 Jun 2014 at 00:10

melmac said:
Also, this will be my work monitor, because I work from home. How is it for doing documents and readability etc?

Dunno if the Samsung has support for it (I asumme so) but the AOC has "clear view" and similiar options that can be useful for readability, etc. and you can always dump it down to 1920x1080 which works fairly well due to being a multiple of the native res and over a 28" panel is pretty decent size for text, etc.

Absorbentsolid · 13 Jun 2014 at 02:39

melmac said:
Hey Absorbentsolid, congrats on your new purchase and thank you very much for the Q and A type post

I am considering making the switch from the SA700 to this monitor, just like you. I will have to sell the 120hz monitor to fund the purchase though. So my question is, would you recommend the 4K monitor over the 120hz after using both? I mean if you had to stick with one.

I play a lot of different game types, mostly fps and mmo's at the moment. I don't play racing games at all. Also, this will be my work monitor, because I work from home. How is it for doing documents and readability etc?

In my opinion if your playing a lot of FPS,I wouldn't go for a 4k,Stick with your 120hz,For MMO's it looks great,I tried wildstar on it,It was very nice.

Readability is fine if you hold in CTRL on browsers and scroll in,Go to 150% Zoom in looks nice and Crisp.

Not sure about documents,All depends on how good your eyesight is,Seems fine to me.

Hope i helped.

melmac · 13 Jun 2014 at 22:46

Thanks, any advice is appreciated

I think the 4K monitor is looking more and more of a must have

andybird123 · 13 Jun 2014 at 22:51

Rroff said:
Still not convinced on the gaming aspect (depending a bit on what your playing, etc.), though the AOC might be worse for it than the Samsung dunno.

The image quality and overall sharpness and clarity (other than in fast motion) is very very good for a TN though absolutely agree there, contrast is a tiny shade less than perfect but otherwise its reasonably accurate and more importantly natural looking colors that just look "right" which is a breath of fresh air when I spend a lot of my time using a 120Hz BenQ where the colors are very much not eye pleasing.

my new favourite link;
http://techreport.com/review/26510/4k-for-649-asus-pb287q-monitor-reviewed/4

After calibration, the PB287Q represents colors slightly more accurately overall than the IPS-based PB278.

These new TN's are not just good for TN's, they actually rival IPS for colour accuracy

I went from an IPS to one of these TN's and they are a huge improvement for gaming

PCM2 · 14 Jun 2014 at 08:21

andybird123 said:
my new favourite link;
http://techreport.com/review/26510/4k-for-649-asus-pb287q-monitor-reviewed/4

These new TN's are not just good for TN's, they actually rival IPS for colour accuracy

I went from an IPS to one of these TN's and they are a huge improvement for gaming

It is flawed logic to base colour accuracy off one reading in the centre of the screen. The issue with TN panels including this one is the inconsistency of colours. A given shade differs depending on where on the screen it is displayed. In particular gamma is inaccurate both below and above the central point with a shade appearing darker towards the top of the screen and lighter towards the bottom. This is not as accurate as a calibrated IPS model no matter what you do, don't get mislead.

andybird123 · 14 Jun 2014 at 13:54

PCM2 said:
It is flawed logic to base colour accuracy off one reading in the centre of the screen. The issue with TN panels including this one is the inconsistency of colours. A given shade differs depending on where on the screen it is displayed. In particular gamma is inaccurate both below and above the central point with a shade appearing darker towards the top of the screen and lighter towards the bottom. This is not as accurate as a calibrated IPS model no matter what you do, don't get mislead.

I find that hard to reconcile, at normal sitting distance I don't notice any variation in gamma or colours, sitting straight on as you do for gaming

yes the IPS I have next to it has marginally better viewing angles, but from straight on, if anything I get more in the way of IPS glow from the IPS than I do any shifting from the TN because TN
I have to actually move my head a really noticeable distance off centre before seeing any shift

have you got any of these in for your own reviewing yet PCM?

I think people are getting confused, for serious "work" or in an office type environment where you need to shift around and potentially have more than one person viewing a screen, maybe an IPS would be better, but for gaming where you CAN control the situation and dictate the right seating position, "because TN" just isn't a thing now
to be clear, my gaming pit is totally dedicated to gaming, my monitor is positioned on the centre of the leg cut out and is on a desk stand so that it is at the perfect height for my chair

if you just plonk a £500+ monitor on your desk in the corner and don't bother adjusting your desk or seating to make best use of it then what is the point?

xxShinobixx · 14 Jun 2014 at 15:38

Hi Absorbentsolid,

Congratulations on your purchase!

I see you have some D3 posters and some toys laying around you monitor. Did you try Diablo 3 on it? How does it look?

This is literally the only game I play and I was wondering if I should go ahead and swap my 30'' Dell for this beauty? I'm about to swap my graphics for 7990, which I believe should be enough to power the monitor so my main concerns we more about how does the game behave at 4k.

Thanks in advance.

Quartz · 14 Jun 2014 at 16:16

My experience is pretty much the same as AbsorbentSolid's. Though the only games I'm currently playing are Borderlands 2 and Starcraft 2.

Gregster · 14 Jun 2014 at 16:17

Good write up AS

PCM2 · 14 Jun 2014 at 16:52

andybird123 said:
I find that hard to reconcile, at normal sitting distance I don't notice any variation in gamma or colours, sitting straight on as you do for gaming

yes the IPS I have next to it has marginally better viewing angles, but from straight on, if anything I get more in the way of IPS glow from the IPS than I do any shifting from the TN because TN
I have to actually move my head a really noticeable distance off centre before seeing any shift

have you got any of these in for your own reviewing yet PCM?

I think people are getting confused, for serious "work" or in an office type environment where you need to shift around and potentially have more than one person viewing a screen, maybe an IPS would be better, but for gaming where you CAN control the situation and dictate the right seating position, "because TN" just isn't a thing now
to be clear, my gaming pit is totally dedicated to gaming, my monitor is positioned on the centre of the leg cut out and is on a desk stand so that it is at the perfect height for my chair

if you just plonk a £500+ monitor on your desk in the corner and don't bother adjusting your desk or seating to make best use of it then what is the point?

I'm not doubting that these make excellent gaming monitors, but no amount of positioning can overcome inherent limitations of the technology. Limitations that are pivotal when it comes to 'colour accuracy' (or lack of it) which you were specifically praising there and which is what I had to bring you up on. Subjectively speaking some people don't 'notice' the shift in colour when gaming but even then it waters down the apparent shade variety. A given shade is lighter towards the bottom of the screen than the top and hence shades lose the distinction and 'identity' they should ideally have - something I call 'shade overlap'. That is from a normal viewing position in front of the screen. This is a 28" screen and the viewing angles are limited enough to have a significant impact even if you aren't positioned at an odd angle relative to the screen. Unless you like to sit around 5m back from the screen of course.

There is no arguing that the most important factor for 'colours' when it comes to games is that things look rich and varied overall. Which certainly seems to be the case with this. These aren't like the 24" 144Hz monitors with their washed out and completely unappealing colours, which is super. But you can't claim that they produce accurate colours based on readings from a small spot in the centre of the screen. Not when that same shade appears differently depending on where on the screen it is displayed. That isn't just theory, that is fact - a limitation of TN panel technology.

Rroff · 14 Jun 2014 at 17:15

I can see a fair difference in the gamma on mine top to bottom from a normal sitting position - its not major but i.e. the blues on this forum down a page you can see a slight change - but left to right you need to move a fair bit before it shifts.

That doesn't really bother me though as I'm not going to be doing any critical image editing on a TN anyhow - but it is nice on these that the colors are accurate enough and eye pleasing so that its not constantly an offense on the eyes like some TN panels.

Absorbentsolid · 14 Jun 2014 at 17:16

xxShinobixx said:
Hi Absorbentsolid,

Congratulations on your purchase!

I see you have some D3 posters and some toys laying around you monitor. Did you try Diablo 3 on it? How does it look?

This is literally the only game I play and I was wondering if I should go ahead and swap my 30'' Dell for this beauty? I'm about to swap my graphics for 7990, which I believe should be enough to power the monitor so my main concerns we more about how does the game behave at 4k.

Thanks in advance.

Hey man,It looks VERY Sharp,You can see a lot more detail and i was astounded as Diablo isn't exactly the most demanding game but man what a difference.

I've played maybe to many hours on Diablo (Paragon 310) :/ Anyhow 4K gives some more life to it and it looks great!

7990 would be more than enough to power it.

Get one! It's a incredible monitor friend.

Absorbentsolid · 14 Jun 2014 at 17:17

Quartz said:
My experience is pretty much the same as AbsorbentSolid's. Though the only games I'm currently playing are Borderlands 2 and Starcraft 2.

Starcraft 2 looks amazing am i right!

Mark This Day · 14 Jun 2014 at 17:20

Are u going to get a 2nd 780 ? Would love to see some pics of your screen

Absorbentsolid · 14 Jun 2014 at 17:30

Absorbentsolid said:
Hey man,It looks VERY Sharp,You can see a lot more detail and i was astounded as Diablo isn't exactly the most demanding game but man what a difference.

I've played many hours on Diablo (Paragon 310) :/ Anyhow 4K gives some more life to it and it looks great!

7990 would be more than enough to power it.

Get one! It's a incredible monitor friend.