TFT for photo editing

Dieni · 15 Mar 2006 at 23:52

Its been a long time since I posted in these forums, but this is my first TFT and I need help cause I cant decide which one to buy.

First of all I must say that I need a good all rounder, cause while I do a lot of photo editing, I also do a lot of browsing, watch dvds and play the occasional game too.

So after searching these forums, I had basically decided to get the Samsung 970p, which looks great for all the things I need it.

The thing is that today I saw a Samsung 910mp, and its really nice to have the built in tuner etc... but the specs didnt look so good. So while reading the Samsung brochure I saw the 931mp, the specs look great, but I cant find anything more about it, like which panel it uses etc...

So if someone can shed some light on this tft I would really appreciate.

Oh here is the link to the tft on the samsung website.

http://www.samsung.com/uk/products/monitors/lcd/lcdtvmonitors/ls19rtussedc.asp?page=Specifications

Baddass · 16 Mar 2006 at 08:46

the 931MP is using the same 8ms Samsung PVA panel as used in some other models like the 193P+. This is not a bad panel, but despite the claimed response time, the responsiveness of the screen is not that great. It should be fine for some occasional gaming, but Samsung really made some nice improvements with their 6ms generation of PVA panels, like the 970P.

The 970P is certainly a bit more responsive, but there are reports that movie playback is a little noisy due to a poorly controlled overdrive application. It's a shame, as apart from this, it's a very good all round screen. The Viewsonic VP930 is also a very good screen, and arguably one of the best all rounders in the market today, might be worth looking at.

djohn · 16 Mar 2006 at 12:15

Yes, if the VP930 is within your price range, I too will suggest this as the best for your intended use. I've had mine for some 5 months now and completely happy with it. My friend who is a photographer and using a high quality 19" Mitsubishi CRT said he would not use a TFT for his work.

Came over to see mine and after an hour placed his order for one, it arrived last week and he too his thrilled to bits with the choice of monitor.

Dieni · 16 Mar 2006 at 16:25

Thanks for the replies.

Baddass, the screen I am looking at is the 931mp, not the 913, was that a typo or you misread the model number.

I know about the Viewsonic VP930, but I cant find it locally, plus I can get the Samsung 970p for £350 locally which is quite a good price considering over here prices are much more expensive.

I will try to get a quote for the Viewsonic, but I wont hold my breath.

Baddass · 16 Mar 2006 at 16:37

sorry typo on my part, i was talking about the 931MP

Dieni · 16 Mar 2006 at 19:24

OK thanks, I phoned a local shop which has viewsonic tfts in stock, and he told me that he can get me the VP930, it would cost me £50 more than the 970p thou.

Do you think that its worthed to get the VP930 over the 970p if it costs £50 more? The specs of the samsung seem a bit better to me, faster response times, better viewing angles and no mention of 'back light bleeding' that I have read on the viewsonic.

Baddass · 16 Mar 2006 at 19:59

well you can't rely on spec really as an accurate comparison. They are both very good screens and at the end of the day, pretty comparable in real terms. The Samsung 970P is built with a Samsung PVA panel. They rate it at 6ms, whereas the panel used in the Viewsonic VP930 is rated at 8ms, and is a P-MVA panel from AU Optronics. Don't trust quoted specs though, in reality, they offer very comparable responsiveness in real terms. In fact, in independent tests at Tom's Hardware, the VP930 has actually been shown to be faster than the 970P:

(note, the VP191B is essentially the same as the VP930, THG use that as their reference monitor).

BeHardware have compared them both in their comparison here. They stated that both were comparable in real terms, but the graph above goes to show you can;t always rely on quoted specs

Viewing angles are going to be very very similar, they are both VA varients, and there isn't really any real difference between the two in this area. One area where there is a difference is in movie playback. The Samsung 970P has some poolry controlled overdrive application, which is something which seems to be affecting a lot of Samsung panels. Maybe Samsung haven't quite mastered this technology yet. As a result, there is a reasonable amount of overshoot on the 970P (as stated by THG as well) which leads to artefacts and noise in movie playback in particular. The VP930 on the other hand is relatively good for movie playback, and one of the better screens in this field. Overall, the overdrive is more evenly controlled. You can see a bit more about the 970P and it's overdrive in X-Bit labs' review here if it helps

The Viewsonic tends to be rated higher than the 970P really, and i would say that it is overall a better screen. Whether it is worth the extra £50 is hard to say. It is a well established panel for sure, but if you like the design of the 970P and don't really intend to watch movies on the screen, then there may not be any point when the 970P is cheaper

hth

Dieni · 16 Mar 2006 at 21:26

Thanks a lot baddass, you were of great help.

I will have a good think about it tonight, tomorrow I will order one of them.

As far as looks go, the samsung wins hands down for me, but looks arent that important after all.

The Samsung has 3 years warranty, while the Viewsonic dealer only gave me 2 years so thats a plus for the samsung.

Anyway now its all in my hands. Thanks again to everyone who helped.

Baddass · 16 Mar 2006 at 21:32

no worries. Looks are important in a selection i think. Ultimately you need to be happy with it, just trying to highlight the performance differences and also that you can't necessarily trust specs. If you like the design, save yourself £50 and get the 970P

Either way, let us know how you get on