Samsung SyncMaster 173P 17" LCD Monitor (Silver)

[Archived in $500 - $600, 17-Inch, 17-Inch LCD Monitors, Products, Samsung Optical]

Manufacturer: Samsung Optical
Price at amazon.com: $550.99
Usually ships in 1 to 2 weeks

Used & new from $524.50

List price $789.99



Product Features:

• 1,280 x 1,024 maximum resolution, 0.264 mm dot pitch
• Supports DVI digital and VGA analog input signals
• 178-degree horizontal and vertical viewing angles
• 270 cd/m2 of brightness, 700:1 contrast ratio, 25 ms response time
• Includes VESA wall bracket; PC/Mac; 3-year warranty

Product Description:

The 17-inch 173P from Samsung, a TFT LCD monitor with a small footprint and a variety of convenient extras, provides a high-quality image, advanced display technology, and a stylish design. Perfect for both home and business users as well as graphics professionals, the 173P delivers true-to-life presentations, thanks to 1,280 x 1,024 maximum resolution and 0.264 mm dot pitch. A high 700:1 contrast ratio combines with 270cd/m2 of brightness and 24-bit color support (16.7 million shades) to provide bright, clear images and easy-to-read text. The 173P supports both DVI digital and analog input signals and connects to your computer via either a 15-pin mini D-sub cable (included) or a DVI cable (optional). With a small 15.1-by-9.3-inch footprint, the 173P fits easily onto any convenient surface and is also wall-mountable (VESA 75mm, bracket included), freeing up your valuable desktop space completely. A pivot function lets you turn the monitor 90 degrees, allowing you to view documents in either portrait or landscape orientation. Extremely wide 178-degree horizontal and vertical viewing angles let you view the screen from nearly anywhere in the room, even edge-on. The MagicTune utility helps you to adjust your monitors settings for your particular viewing environment, while a number of preset display modes provide a quick and easy way to adjust settings. The 173P consumes about 40 W of power during normal operation and under 2 watts during power save mode. TCO '03 and Energy Star certified, the 173P is plug-and-play ready to use right out of the box and is compatible with both PC and Mac platforms. It also comes backed with a three-year limited warranty on both parts and labor. What's in the BoxMonitor, base/stand, D-sub signal cable, power cord, DC-adapter, VESA mounting bracket, quick setup guide, warranty card, user's guide and driver CD-ROM, pivot CD-ROM

Description from Manufacturer:The 17-inch 173P from Samsung, a TFT LCD monitor with a small footprint and a variety of convenient extras, provides a high-quality image, advanced display technology, and a stylish design. Perfect for both home and business users as well as graphics professionals, the 173P delivers true-to-life presentations, thanks to 1,280 x 1,024 maximum resolution and 0.264 mm dot pitch. A high 700:1 contrast ratio combines with 270cd/m2 of brightness and 24-bit color support (16.7 million shades) to provide bright, clear images and easy-to-read text.

The 173P supports both DVI digital and analog input signals and connects to your computer via either a 15-pin mini D-sub cable (included) or a DVI cable (optional). With a small 15.1-by-9.3-inch footprint, the 173P fits easily onto any convenient surface and is also wall-mountable (VESA 75mm, bracket included), freeing up your valuable desktop space completely. A pivot function lets you turn the monitor 90 degrees, allowing you to view documents in either portrait or landscape orientation. Extremely wide 178-degree horizontal and vertical viewing angles let you view the screen from nearly anywhere in the room, even edge-on. The MagicTune utility helps you to adjust your monitors settings for your particular viewing environment, while a number of preset display modes provide a quick and easy way to adjust settings.

The 173P consumes about 40 W of power during normal operation and under 2 watts during power save mode. TCO '03 and Energy Star certified, the 173P is plug-and-play ready to use right out of the box and is compatible with both PC and Mac platforms. It also comes backed with a three-year limited warranty on both parts and labor.

What's in the Box
Monitor, base/stand, D-sub signal cable, power cord, DC-adapter, VESA mounting bracket, quick setup guide, warranty card, user's guide and driver CD-ROM, pivot CD-ROMAverage Customer Rating:

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Comment: Worth the money Rating:
I wanted an LCD with top image quality for precise photo editing, as well as general use. The 173P was above average in price, but the image quality is outstanding. I use the DVI input at the native resolution of 1280x1024 and it looks great. In my opinion, the image quality is the best of any monitor I have seen. Contrast, color, and angle of view are all excellent.

I was worried about color and tonal accuracy when editing my images because many serious photographers recommend against LCD monitors for photo editing. These "experts" must be behind the times because my images on the 173P come the closest I have experienced to looking at my original slides on a light table. I calibrated with an eye-one display calibrator, but even before calibration I would rate the color accuracy as excellent.

I also use this monitor for text and gaming. Text looks great and is very readable, especially using ClearType on Windows XP. When gaming, I don't see any visible ghosting or other motion artifacts, so the response time must be adequate.

As you can tell, I am extremely satisfied with this purchase. I'm a picky buyer and usually have some nits to pick with almost anything I buy, but after 2 months of use I am 100% satisfied with this monitor. Not only does the image on the screen look great, the monitor itself has a very elegant design. It looks clean and simple and has a great range of position and angle adjustments. My 173P doesn't have a single bad pixel. You can get a cheaper LCD if you only want to use it for text, but if you want the best, you won't be disappointed with this one.

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Comment: 172X or 173P?... Rating:
After my 21 inch trinitron monitor started to go, i decided it was finally time to jump into the flatscreen arena. My desk is now supporting 50 less pounds, is much more open and i couldn't be happier. All thanks to Samsung's 173P monitor.

For the longest time, i've been one to say, "there's no way any flat screen could ever match (let alone beat) my trinitron in terms of image quality." Once the trinitron began to die, the idea of purchasing a new 60 pound beast with the knowledge that lighter and sleeker looking monitors are availabe, was not too appealing to be honest. So i began to search around online.

Quite quickly, i arrived at the conclusion that i wanted a Samsung LCD. i found an endless supply of accolades for Samsung's LCDs. i thought about the apple cinemawide monitor, but i absolutely despise apple as a company, and the technology in their cinema displays is outdated anyway - thus my decision to go with Samsung was finalized.

I narrowed my choices down to either the 172X or the 173P.

I initially purchased the 172X. The 12ms pixel refresh rate really hooked me. Ghosting has plagued LCD's since they first came about. The idea of no ghosting, really made me feel comfortable purchasing my first LCD.

I received the 172X and was impressed by the sleek look and the small footprint of this monitor. There was absolutely no ghosting. However, as was said before in an earlier review here, the viewing angle is ATTROCIOUS on this monitor. Even when looking at this monitor dead on, it can still be difficult to aviod seeing washed out colors...bright whites melting into yellows, deep reds bleeding into pink. It was really dissappointing. So, after about a week with the 172X, i decided to send it back and shell out another 50 dollars for the Samsung 173P monitor...

boy, was it worth it.

The Samsung 172X monitor looks great, but the 173P monitor one ups it. Even before you turn it on, this monitor wows you with it's design. There are NO buttons on the face of the monitor, minus the touch sensitive power button and input changing button (hold your finger there for a moment and the monitor will turn on or off with a beep, keep your finger there for a few seconds and the inputs will change. very cool.) The power light on this monitor is a blue led which also looks really nice. But it's when you turn this monitor on that you truly realize just how great it is.

Text on this monitor is razor sharp, where text on the 172X was merely very sharp. Color vibrance on this monitor beats the 172X, which is already great. While the 172X has a 500:1 contrast ratio, (how bright colors look) the 173P has a contrast ratio of 700:1, and it shows. The brightness of the 173P is very much superior to the 172X. The biggest problem with the 172X, the terrible viewing radius, is not only alleviated, but a "claimed" 178 degree viewing angle, sets an indrustry high water mark in this area and equates to stunning performance in this respect. While maybe not quite 178 degrees as Samsung claims, the viewing radius is VERY close to this, as looking at the monitor flat from the side reveals only a slight degredation of color quality. Whether you are looking at this monitor dead on, or very nearly entirely from the side, the colors stay rich and vibrant. And most surprising, despite the slower refresh rate of the 173P, i found there to be NO GHOSTING in games. If i would have known ghosting would have been a non-issue with this monitor, i never would have bothered with the 172X in the first place.

NO DEAD PIXELS were found on the 173P and this was a very pleasant discovery. My 172X had 1 dead pixel, which, while annoying, was by by no means the reason i was dissatisfied with it.

After coming from the trinitron, i can not believe how well the 173P performs. Unlike trinitron monitors, there are NO geometry issues. Straight lines are straight and not bowed in or out. Constant adjustments to picture size and geometry are no longer necessary. Degaussing every day is no longer necessary. Colors are so much more vibrant and accurate on this LCD monitor that i can not explain how much better pictures online or from my digital camera look than on the trinitron. It is quite simply, a revelation. Lastly, the space saved and super-swank aesthetics of this monitor really do make it an ultra high-class product.

Just remember that this monitor does not come cheap. At around 600 dollars, it is the most expensive 17" LCD monitor out there. Also, while crts are measured by screen and frame size, lcd's are measured by viewable size. So, while a 17" crt offers less than 17" of viewable screen size, a 17" LCD actually offers 17" of viewable space.

If you want the best 17" lcd money can buy, you would be making a mistake buying anything other than the Samsung 173P monitor.

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Comment: Beautiful, but beware the software-only OSD Rating:
I recently purchased two of the 173P displays for use in a dual-monitor setup. They are truly gorgeous, with respect to both image quality and exterior fit and finish.

Unfortunately, Samsung's choice of the MagicTune software instead of a true hardware-based On-Screen-Display can be problematic. In my case, I wanted to calibrate the displays using my EyeOne system. Now, the first step in any good color calibration process is to accurately set the white point. I expected to use MagicTune to accomplish this, but found it sorely lacking. First, on my DVI connection I got no white point control--there was just nothing to click, a blank spot in the interface! Portrait Displays, the vendor that makes Display Tune (the software OSD rebranded by Samsung as MagicTune) says on their support site that "[the white point] sub menu may not function if you are using the digital connection of your graphics card and monitor". Hmm, rats. OK, how about the analog VGA connection for my secondary monitor? No luck. I found the granularity of the RGB primary adjustments to be very large, such that it was absolutely impossible to get the white point where it needed to be. Either R, G, or B was constantly over or undershooting the target.

Next, I tried using my video card driver's software RGB brightness controls to set the white point. It seemed OK at first, but failed after the profiling process. The white point was wacky on both monitors, and there were large inconsistencies in the color rendition between analog and digital that I couldn't live with. Any attempt to fine tune manually after profiling (again, using the video card controls) only made things worse. Granted, my particular video card setup is partly responsible, but having hardware color control in the monitor would have been REALLY nice at this point.

Finally, I found a solution in a shareware utility called PowerStrip. Among many useful features, it lets you tweak your video card color output (with individual brightness/gamma/contrast/temp controls for all RGB primaries) directly at the hardware level. I set both white points, profiled the monitors, and cleaned up the analog/digital inconsistency post-profiling in just a few minutes.

In spite of my minor ordeal, I really love the 173P and am very satisfied. All other aspects of the MagicTune software are a pleasure to work with--it's a bit odd that color control is so limited. At any rate, workarounds do exist for us color fanatics :)

(NB: my system runs Windows XP w/ a Radeon 9600XT)

Posted at October 11, 2003 05:40 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)