Samsung U28D590 mini review

Gregster

Gregster

Gregster

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So, I decided to grab myself a nice new 4K - 60Hz Samsung monitor and thought I would give it a mini review.

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First impressions of the monitor are cheap and plastic. The monitor stand is fine and does the job but it is very wobbly and if you have an unsteady desk or move your monitor about a chunk, this could be a problem. The connections at the back are easy to get to (1 DP and 2 HDMI connectors) and the power brick is long enough to have it quite a stretch away. The bezels are not overly big and the thickness of the monitor is very acceptable. No VESA mount (which is a shame) but I knew that prior to ordering. The screen is a matt finish and is anti glare (Had the sunlight on it early and could still see everything clearly).

It comes with a DP and a HDMI lead and as I wanted 60Hz, I plugged the DP lead in (30Hz on HDMI). Turned on the monitor and fired up my computer. No need to install anything, as the monitor worked out the box but I did go to the Samsung website to get the latest driver, in case of any problems being encountered. So with everything turned on and everything connected, time to get on with image quality.

First impressions are bright...Too bright for my liking, so I went straight into the Nvidia Control Panel and notched down the brightness to 40 and added a touch to Digital vibrance. My final setting on that is 57% and this gives very nice, deep colours and everything is still nice and clear. Worth a note, is the monitor joystick at the back. This controls settings for gaming and films but as it is all in Korean, I have no idea what is what, so hence why I have altered settings via the NCP.


Straight into gaming and my first game tested was Batman Arkham Origins and wow!!! This game looks great in 1080P but in 4K, it seriously looks good. I am a big fan of gaming in 3D and wouldn't normally play a game in 2D but on 4K, it is worth it. The image is just so clear. I played a few other games (mainly running benchmarks to see what GPU grunt was needed) including Tomb Raider/Dirt Showdown/Hitman Absolution/Sniper Elite V2/Titanfall/Bioshock Infinite/BF4?Assetto Corsa and every game had me smiling. One thing we should all know is the GPU grunt required to run these games and it shows from the following bench runs, just what is needed. The one that surprised me was BF4. With all settings Maxed (I double checked they were), it gave very playable frame rates.


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As you can see, 4 out of 8 are very playable at max settings but there is no need to run everything with max details and the image looks just as good in motion with AA turned down and gives very playable frame rates. I did some single card testing on Tomb Raider and that can be very playable at 4K with decent settings. (High settings returned 52 minimum, 62 average and 74 max), you can see just how playable that is and it looked very good and played very fluid.

I have a Dell U2713HM, as well as a Asus VG278H and I always went back to the Asus for gaming, purely because of the gaming experience between the 2. The Dell IPS had the better colours and the IQ was better but the IPS never felt smooth and tearing was evident. Putting Vsync on, invoked input lag, so it was a trade off with either tearing or input lag and for fast shooters, I chose the tearing. With the Samsung, I have noticed how smooth it is. I don't get the same tearing (maybe because frames are lower) or the input lag. Not sure if this is because of being a TN panel or other reasons but the Samsung 4K is now my monitor of choice for gaming. I can't see me going back to the Dell at all and I will be packing that away for it to spend some time in a box till needed or sold.

Would I recommend this monitor to a friend? You bet I would. The IQ is very very good and the screen delivers clear pixels all the way through gaming.

For me, if you have a fairly decent system or are contemplating a decent system, jump onto OcUK and get this monitor ordered. The cheap stand soon gets forgotten when you fire up a game and get going :)

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MO-204-SA&groupid=17&catid=1895

For under £500, get your orders in and don't miss out. Well worth the money.



 
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Thanks Gee and PCM2 is the main man when it comes to reviews. I just jumped in with my findings, as he doesn't have one yet :p (Sorry bud).

Quite disappointed it doesn't have a VESA mount but I will have a word with the welder at work and see if he can't knock me something up to hold it on my vesa mount.
 
Hit most of the key points i'm interested in. The stand would be my main issue. I run a couple of 1440p DGMs and the stands are ****.

Knock the desk and they wobble.
 
Cheers Greg, much obliged.

The wobbly stand, cheap plastic and no VESA mount are a bit of a turn off for me. Which is a shame as I had high hopes for this model. Think I'll wait out a bit longer for the AOC.
 
Lovely mini-review, sounds like you're happy with it! Yeah I am just playing the waiting game with Samsung's PR people here in the UK before I get my eyes on this one. :p


randal said:
Cheers Greg, much obliged.

The wobbly stand, cheap plastic and no VESA mount are a bit of a turn off for me. Which is a shame as I had high hopes for this model. Think I'll wait out a bit longer for the AOC.
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Yeah the AOC seems to be using the same stand as their q2770Pqu which I'm currently reviewing. It's pretty solid.
 
Thanks for that. Arguably some might say 6 out of 8 are playable. Although it all comes down to user experience and preference for 27FPS as a minimum.

I'll be waiting for the AOC due to the VESA mount, and I'll certainly be putting it through its paces with my system when it also arrives. Although I'll have less graphical performance.

I must ask though, what does the image quality look like when running games in 1440p? Is their clear pixelation and nastyness as with monitors when running in none native resolution for gaming?
 
Well, I have had a good 24 hours play with this monitor and loving it. A couple of gripes but nothing with the monitor and that is things like Steam. I had to manually change the font size to be able to read when people are chatting to me and the same with Origin. MSI AB is very small and needs to have a very close look to see what numbers are. Those are program gripes though and not monitor faults. Just a couple of things people should be aware of if they are going 4K.

I got the monitor menu into English (Thanks Mr Cookie) and that has helped with seeing what the monitor options are but nothing really needs fiddling with.

My overall thoughts are "A fantastic purchase". I never liked the Dell for gaming but have immediately found the Samsung a joy to game on.
 
Gregster said:
My overall thoughts are "A fantastic purchase". I never liked the Dell for gaming but have immediately found the Samsung a joy to game on.
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What's the colour reproduction and IQ like compared to the dell? You mentioned the blacks aren't as nice, but if we're to ignore the viewing angles and look at both head on, is it better than Normal TN for colours?
 
If you get a moment to try does it accept 2x 60Hz inputs if your using picture by picture mode? i.e. 1x HDMI 1920x2160 @ 60Hz and 1x HDMI/DP at 1920x2160 @ 60Hz.

Thinking of getting one for eve online but one of the more useful setups for that would be to treat it like 2 monitors but if it only does 30Hz regardless when using HDMI then thats a no go.
 
Rroff said:
If you get a moment to try does it accept 2x 60Hz inputs if your using picture by picture mode? i.e. 1x HDMI 1920x2160 @ 60Hz and 1x HDMI/DP at 1920x2160 @ 60Hz.

Thinking of getting one for eve online but one of the more useful setups for that would be to treat it like 2 monitors but if it only does 30Hz regardless when using HDMI then thats a no go.
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You can run 2 different pictures but they will both be 30Hz. You are correct with the res and I did have a little play but it looked horrid in truth and not something I would be happy doing.
 
Might just get the AOC for the VESA mount then though I prefer Samsung if I'd have to use 1x 3840x2160 instead of feeding it 2 sources.
 
Rroff said:
Might just get the AOC for the VESA mount then though I prefer Samsung if I'd have to use 1x 3840x2160 instead of feeding it 2 sources.
Click to expand...

I just use the DP (unless I have misunderstood) but from reading around, they are both the same cuts of panel, so should be no difference. I would have loved VESA but when I ordered, there was no mention of the AOC panel and I certainly don't mind, as the panel isn't as big at the back compared to the stands of the Asus VG278H monitors.
 
Great review thanks, I'm buying one now :cool:...

question though.... i see u benched at all maxed out settings, and with 4k res am i right in thinking you dont really need any AA applied ?

so what does it look like with no AA on and does this affect the frame rate much?

thanks ;)
 
spiralz said:
Great review thanks, I'm buying one now :cool:...

question though.... i see u benched at all maxed out settings, and with 4k res am i right in thinking you dont really need any AA applied ?

so what does it look like with no AA on and does this affect the frame rate much?

thanks ;)
Click to expand...

I was going to bench at playable settings today but Wifey has had me busy, so not much time for that but turning down AA gives back a lot of performance and isn't needed. It only is noticeable when you stand still in a game and study but how often do we do that?

I still feel it helps mind but no need to add massive amounts and 2xAA is enough for the most games. Another thing to remember is, I picked out some of the most demanding games out (except Crysis 3) and most games will cope well on a modest system and 4K.
 
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