12 NOVEMBER 2019|COMPUTER SHOPPER|ISSUE 381
RANTS&RAVES
WHATISITwith monitor companies? If you’ve got adisplaywith
multiple inputs, switching between them seems unnecessarily hard.
If your computer is turned on and there’s apicture on the display,
you can always get intothe fiddly menu systems and switch inputs.
As soon as there’s no signal input, aload of monitors I’ve had the
displeasure to use become an exercise in frustration. My Samsung
monitor,for example,has abrilliant picture,islarge enough forme
to have two documents side-by-side,and super-thin bezels.
As soon as there’s no signal, pressing the menu button does
exactly nothing. Then the monitor decides that it’s time to go into
power-saving mode,soitshuts down. Pressing the menu button
then wakes the screen back up,soIcan go through the rigmarole
again, and hope that this time the menu will pop up.
Often, it can take two or three goes until Ifind the magic
combination of turning on the monitor and bringing up the menu
Onecompany mayleadthe wayintechnologicaldevelopment,butitdoesn’t always
geteverythingright,especiallyifyou’retryingtouse oneofitsmonitors
RANTS&RAVES& SS
so Ican change the input. With three inputs to cycle
through (two HDMI and one DisplayPort), getting
from the first to the last can be really annoying.
I’ve learned to get around the problem. If I’m about
to shut down my PC and use the Mac, Iline up the PC
forshut down, get the monitor menu up,then shut
down and hit the change input button. Often, in time.
This issue isn’t limited to Samsung. It seems that monitor
manufacturers are trying to be smart, looking out forasignal, then
tryingtosavepowerbyshuttingdownifitisn’tfound.Thisisastupid
plan, and monitor manufacturers need to copyTVmanufacturers.
Every TV I’ve ever seen has adedicated button to change the
input. It’s usually located on the remotecontrol, but there’s no
reason why this can’t be aphysical button. OK, some monitor
manufacturers do have this, but not enough.
Next, the monitor always needs to switch input when this button
is pressed. No waiting around to see if there’s asignal on the
current input, no shutting down automatically.Finally,monitors
should only shut down if there’s no input foraset period of time,
saythree minutes. That’s what TVstend to do,and theyshow you a
countdown on the screen, all while letting you select adifferent
input. It’s either that or I’ll have to buy three monitors and never
change the input to preserve my sanity.
ASATECHjournalist,it’smydutyto beobjective,whichIunfailingly
achieve in my dayjob.But Ihavetoadmit there are some brands
I’m partial to.Imay have babbled on these very pages that I’m abig
fanofOnePlus phones, find Huawei an interesting company,like
Microsoft’s Surface efforts, and tout Apple as the best tablet maker.
However,one tech giant has always had my affection, and that’s
Samsung. My first telly was aSamsung flatscreen CRTIadored, and
my second and current gogglebox is alovely 4K slab of screen from
the South Korean tech giant. My first LCD monitor came courtesy of
Samsung and saw me through nearly adecade of use.And my
second smartphone –afterthe iPhone 4S -was the Galaxy S6.
So Samsung tech has been in my lifefor years. That’s forgood
reason, as it’s always been well-made and well-priced stuff. But alot
of tech offers that, and often undercuts Samsung these days.
YetIstill feel Samsung is much apremier brand to
watch. My current daily handset is the Galaxy S10,
which is afantastic rectangle of glass and metal with
agorgeous screen, while the Note10isalso afine
example of how to make alarge form factor phone.
The Galaxy Book S(see page 14) demonstrates
Samsung is willing to take adifferent approach to making
laptops that would normally use Intel processors. And the
Galaxy TabS6shows at least someone is still trying to make an iPad-
rivalling tablet with afew slick features of its own.
Recently Ivisited an apartment decked out with Samsung smart
devices that work with the company’s SmartThings IoT platform.
Finally,there’s all the stuff Samsung does on the semiconductor and
displayside,from making high-capacity,high-speed storage,toits
mobile chips and slick OLED screens forall manner of companies.
I’m not saying other firms are boring; heck, Apple can still grab
attention every time an iPhone launch comes around. But Ifeel that
of all the big tech players, Samsung is the most interesting and has
the most wide-reaching scope to make and do exciting things.
So allow me to doffmymetaphorical cap to Samsung, and
look whimsically towards an equally metaphorical horizon,
beyond which tomorrow’s tech lies.
Roland
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DavidL
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