Five stars mainly for the same feature which attracted me to begin with, the 1.4 HDMI port (this seems to be a secret with other makes), there is only one, so need a solution for PC/TV connection and apparently neither device I use can handle 2K , right now. (Later Note: I can get 2K 1440p @60hz with HDMI connection direct from computer to monitor, even with lowly AMD A8 7400 GPU Radeon R5, whatever; wow, I wish I could keep it but I want that port for my DVR. (But yes, the movement is sluggish in certain applications;, perhaps it is the 88.8 kHz.) (Achieved with USB 3.0 to DP converter)
The ordeal was the Samsung comes set to auto port and on DVI; it kept floating an icon "check DVI", I learned to switch to "manual"and change display to HDMI. What a relief to see the "information" at bottom of main menu go to 1080P (from the DVI's 720x480P with a HDMI to DVI cable). Also a good feature for the screen to tell you what it's resolution is.
Also, the picture, for some reason being the best 1080P I have ever seen, It may work together with the Magnavox HD DVR, used as a tuner. (using high speed HDMI cable) I also set the "upscaling" feature to "mode 2"'; I see an edging effect to it,
Another worry for me was losing the color I really loved on my 27" IPS AOC; (The AOC had very dark blacks but also a generally dark screen perhaps being a cheaper model.) The colors themselves are mostly correct and the wide range of IPS, but washed out, without that great saturation, I am still working with "custom" settings; I don't like any of the color preset modes. IN ERR{The "dynamic contrast" setting might be better but it gave me a definite bad first impression. (Also, with each channel change, you see it reset.) It takes over all picture settings (even color???). } It definitely needs the Dynamic Contrast. I have just discovered I can keep custom color settings and I do not notice a reset with each channel change; I do not know what I am doing differently. (The reason for this error is that it depends on weather you are in the AV or PC setting for your particular input display, to the best of my knowledge. PC setting seems to blank out all other picture settings.)
The 50/50/50 it arrives with is fairly perfect; You would have to be trying to mess up this color.
I tried "Game Mode" for awhile and liked those saturated colors but too unreal in some settings.
*This VA panel has great blacks; I thought that was a feature of IPS panels, (Some sources say not.) because the AOC also had great blacks, but also to the extent of bad visibility in dark scenes requiring its "DCB-Auto Detect" with some improvement.. This VA panel has very good visibility in dark scenes, (less in gamma 3). What is important about blacks in my experience is the way it adds highlights to objects and makes the colors stand out, but it will not take over all dark colors; shades of gray are there.
I've discovered that Gamma 3 is used in "Dynamic Contrast" (The menu shows the settings in playback, sometimes???) and that is what improves the saturated color; it was the 100% bright and "cool" color mode in Dynamic Contrast that I did not like, so I only used the gamma 3 in my custom settings, with 100% contrast, much lower bright and set colors at varying levels all around 50%.
I believe I've captured my old IPS. (Even though it has 8 bit color, combined with some process like dithering; some say 10 bit is not noticeable ). It claims 1B(billion) in the specs. The colors on this monitors really are great. (After comparing same picture on side by side screens, I see the VA panel will never totally achieve that IPS deep color look.)
Response time is still 5 MS like AOC but I believe there is a setting for speed which I am not familiar with and probably don't need.
The stand is nice and solid; Pivoting and tilt back is good for inserting cables; forward at about 5 degrees and pivoting at about 45 degrees is good for viewing.
Also, I see volume control for audio and it has in and out holes; but the out gives a hum, unless I'm doing something wrong. (Even pass through should be outputting the audio from my HDMI.) LATER NOTE: Okay, I do now have audio from 3.5mm jack, but it was very difficult to push in.
Conserves energy compared to similar products.
As certified by
ENERGY STAR
The ENERGY STAR program is administered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). EPA sets energy efficiency specifications for over 75 products and manufacturers that voluntarily meet them can earn the ENERGY STAR for their products. In turn, consumers and businesses who want to save energy and money look for the ENERGY STAR label when making buying decisions. Since 1992, ENERGY STAR and its partners have helped American families and businesses save more than $500 billion in energy costs.
