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Well I just received the monitor today! So before I get into the review proper, pictures will arrive tomorrow I hope. I tried pictures in the evening and lighting with the digital is not great. With the flash there is the glare and without it is too dark. So I know the day shots will prove better, so I'll update the review tomorrow with pictures 
I have to admit that the first thing that was REALLY pleasing to me was the simple fact that it arrived so quickly from Ontario. It took only three days in transit through Purolator and the box was in great shape. The next item of note that was shared by the delivery person was the weight. I now know why. First of the all of the base is really solid, which is a great idea considering how bloody thin this thing is! The second item is that the monitor comes with a very impressive wall mount unit. For those who have purchased LCDs before and have had to buy an additional wall mount - you do not need to with this model! The MagicPivot (dual hinge) saves the 50$+ purchase of an arm! Oh and everything from software to ergonomics is Magic something ...
Packaging and quality really top notch. No chance for shifting of cables and such. DVI/RGB cables included and I was impressed with the thought to include a plug in the recesses. Nice touch that I assume protects any of the connectors from potential problems during transit.
Literature is pretty sparse - as seems to be the route with most things - one CD with manual, software and drivers.
Software: I tried MagicTune and though it is indeed well laid out and easily used I have decided not to use the software. There reason is I like a streamlined OS and the software take a fair amount of resource for something that my ATI Catalysts already provide - in general. If I have any complaint about this monitor it is the fact that the software is pretty bloated, but most monitors can be tweaked through the video card's own GUI.
Image: WOW!! I know that many people are blown away when they go from a CRT to an LCD and I am no exception. I once read where someone said that an LCD with photographs and image was like seeing colours again for the first time. Very true! Vibrant, robust and rich. Details I have not seen before in my own pictures are alive on this monitor!
DVD Playback: My test for most monitors for movies is usually the opening sequence in Gladiator. There is so much going on and such richness that I find it a good test. And here I was not disappointed. In fact with DVI for my connexion, I can actually tell the difference in film quality. Wide angle shots that are panoramic can seem almost grainy, whereas the intentional detail in the close quarters combat is very sharp. I feel this is due to the digital quality that is actually again demonstrating the depth of the PVA aspect of the monitor top notch!
TEXT: Rich and clear. I actually see what the point of ClearType is now! Again a world of difference from the CRT for me at least.
Gaming: Well I know many people out there want to know! So my only FPS available at the moment is DX: IW. I tried it with both V-Sync off and enabled as with most LCDs youll want this enabled. Again the richness and depth of colour compared to my CRT is worlds apart. No jagging once v-sync was enabled and indeed no ghosting whatsever. Observation at this point is that I would love to play a game that in fact makes use of the depth this monitor can offer.
General Observations/Surprises:
One thing I was REALLY pleased to discover is that the monitor does both portrait and landscape! I thought I would have to settle without it, but I was WRONG and I am pleased I did not have to sacrifice this benefit. The bases solid nature allows for switching quickly form landscape to portrait and ATIs internal rotation capability again has allowed me not to have to install more bloatware!
Pixels: None seem to be dead. I am not certain, but Ill play longer and update if anything changes. Samsungs warranty is the best in the indistryt and that is clearly evident in the quality of the monitor.
Blacks are REALLY black. In fact, comparing it to my CRT, I think that I was used to the washout like effect. I now realise that was to what I had become accustomed. The monitor is fairly bright, so tweaking down the brightness with the ATI Catalyst Suite to zero!
The only negative thing I can find with this monitor is also part of its selling feature for some. There is no OSD except MagicTune. Which means if I do not want to use proprietary software, I have to settle for the video cards (Radeon 9700 Catalysts 5.2) internal options.
Finally I would like to add I have gone from a 21 ViewSonic Professional series monitor. The difference is immense for me. For me, this is the LCD I have been waiting for. Thats the best recommendation I can give it in the end.
I will hopefully post some pics in the next few days as I mentioned at the outset and I hope this review is of some use. If there are requests and such let me know and I will try to accommodate.
Update:
Here is the PixPerAn results as requested:
Readability: I can read them past 10 - I just can't type and focus fast enough
Game test: It was really clear, I just suck at that type of Asteroids game!
And the image test:
The image was actually not this blurry - but I could not seem to get it quite right!
Ok here are some pictures. I apologise for the quality. I am not really certain how to do justice to the monitor with my digital :?
Update 2: I have now re-evaluated my opinion of the MagicTune OSD. I had originally thought the software was dependent on being a start-up item and thus a resource eater. Seems I was wrong! There are two start-up items, both of which are tray items, and do not actually affect anything. Once changed through MagicTune, it affects just like a normal OSD!! This is great news for me, as the brightness on this thing is incredible and I am still finding the comfort zone the ATI set was too simple. With MagicTune now in place, I can add warmth without shutting off the brightness.
There are two other software programmes Natural Tone and Pivot which are likely unnecessary with any newer video card. Those two pieces, imo, remain bloatware. So final update MagicTune is indeed a great innovation on the OSD the other two programmes, however, are superfluous.
I have to admit that the first thing that was REALLY pleasing to me was the simple fact that it arrived so quickly from Ontario. It took only three days in transit through Purolator and the box was in great shape. The next item of note that was shared by the delivery person was the weight. I now know why. First of the all of the base is really solid, which is a great idea considering how bloody thin this thing is! The second item is that the monitor comes with a very impressive wall mount unit. For those who have purchased LCDs before and have had to buy an additional wall mount - you do not need to with this model! The MagicPivot (dual hinge) saves the 50$+ purchase of an arm! Oh and everything from software to ergonomics is Magic something ...
Packaging and quality really top notch. No chance for shifting of cables and such. DVI/RGB cables included and I was impressed with the thought to include a plug in the recesses. Nice touch that I assume protects any of the connectors from potential problems during transit.
Literature is pretty sparse - as seems to be the route with most things - one CD with manual, software and drivers.
Software: I tried MagicTune and though it is indeed well laid out and easily used I have decided not to use the software. There reason is I like a streamlined OS and the software take a fair amount of resource for something that my ATI Catalysts already provide - in general. If I have any complaint about this monitor it is the fact that the software is pretty bloated, but most monitors can be tweaked through the video card's own GUI.
Image: WOW!! I know that many people are blown away when they go from a CRT to an LCD and I am no exception. I once read where someone said that an LCD with photographs and image was like seeing colours again for the first time. Very true! Vibrant, robust and rich. Details I have not seen before in my own pictures are alive on this monitor!
DVD Playback: My test for most monitors for movies is usually the opening sequence in Gladiator. There is so much going on and such richness that I find it a good test. And here I was not disappointed. In fact with DVI for my connexion, I can actually tell the difference in film quality. Wide angle shots that are panoramic can seem almost grainy, whereas the intentional detail in the close quarters combat is very sharp. I feel this is due to the digital quality that is actually again demonstrating the depth of the PVA aspect of the monitor top notch!
TEXT: Rich and clear. I actually see what the point of ClearType is now! Again a world of difference from the CRT for me at least.
Gaming: Well I know many people out there want to know! So my only FPS available at the moment is DX: IW. I tried it with both V-Sync off and enabled as with most LCDs youll want this enabled. Again the richness and depth of colour compared to my CRT is worlds apart. No jagging once v-sync was enabled and indeed no ghosting whatsever. Observation at this point is that I would love to play a game that in fact makes use of the depth this monitor can offer.
General Observations/Surprises:
One thing I was REALLY pleased to discover is that the monitor does both portrait and landscape! I thought I would have to settle without it, but I was WRONG and I am pleased I did not have to sacrifice this benefit. The bases solid nature allows for switching quickly form landscape to portrait and ATIs internal rotation capability again has allowed me not to have to install more bloatware!
Pixels: None seem to be dead. I am not certain, but Ill play longer and update if anything changes. Samsungs warranty is the best in the indistryt and that is clearly evident in the quality of the monitor.
Blacks are REALLY black. In fact, comparing it to my CRT, I think that I was used to the washout like effect. I now realise that was to what I had become accustomed. The monitor is fairly bright, so tweaking down the brightness with the ATI Catalyst Suite to zero!
The only negative thing I can find with this monitor is also part of its selling feature for some. There is no OSD except MagicTune. Which means if I do not want to use proprietary software, I have to settle for the video cards (Radeon 9700 Catalysts 5.2) internal options.
Finally I would like to add I have gone from a 21 ViewSonic Professional series monitor. The difference is immense for me. For me, this is the LCD I have been waiting for. Thats the best recommendation I can give it in the end.
I will hopefully post some pics in the next few days as I mentioned at the outset and I hope this review is of some use. If there are requests and such let me know and I will try to accommodate.
Update:
Here is the PixPerAn results as requested:
Readability: I can read them past 10 - I just can't type and focus fast enough
Game test: It was really clear, I just suck at that type of Asteroids game!
And the image test:
The image was actually not this blurry - but I could not seem to get it quite right!
Ok here are some pictures. I apologise for the quality. I am not really certain how to do justice to the monitor with my digital :?
Update 2: I have now re-evaluated my opinion of the MagicTune OSD. I had originally thought the software was dependent on being a start-up item and thus a resource eater. Seems I was wrong! There are two start-up items, both of which are tray items, and do not actually affect anything. Once changed through MagicTune, it affects just like a normal OSD!! This is great news for me, as the brightness on this thing is incredible and I am still finding the comfort zone the ATI set was too simple. With MagicTune now in place, I can add warmth without shutting off the brightness.
There are two other software programmes Natural Tone and Pivot which are likely unnecessary with any newer video card. Those two pieces, imo, remain bloatware. So final update MagicTune is indeed a great innovation on the OSD the other two programmes, however, are superfluous.