MaximumPC 2004 06

Samsung

SyncMaster 172X

The 172X is roughly the same size
and shape as Planar’s PL170, but
decidedly more sophisticated with its
brushed-aluminum shell and multi-
purpose stand. The 172X can either
sit on a desktop where its hinged
base allows forward and backward
tilting action and minimal height-
adjustment, or it can be mounted on
a wall, where the hinge serves to pull
the screen a couple inches out
toward the user for closer viewing.
The monitor also comes with an
chair-arm mount option. Of course,
the 172X’s fancier stylings make it
heavier than the Planar, but not by
much. Samsung touts the 172X’s
“hidden controls,” which reside on
the underside of the monitor’s frame,
but we prefer to have our buttons in
plain view, where we can easily see
what we’re pushing. We have a more
favorable opinion of the 172X’s “hid-
den cable system,” which confines all
cables to a dock of easily accessible
ports at the back of the monitor’s
base, and indeed makes for a com-
paratively cleaner look.
In our DisplayMate tests the
172X consistently performed a
notch above the PL170. Subtle
differences in grayscales were
more evident and video noise was
nonexistent. The 172X showed
slight banding in screens of con-
tinuous graduated color, but the
anomaly was isolated to just one

or two areas of the display,

and only at the darker ends

of the color spectrum. Keep

in mind that banding may

never even appear in real-

world content.

As an added bonus,

the 172X features

Samsung’s patented

MagicBright technology.

Accessible via one of the

six buttons on the mon-

itor’s control panel,

MagicBright is essen-

tially a shortcut to fid-

dling with the other control panel

buttons. Simply choose the Text,

Internet, or Entertainment option

for a setting that has theoretically

been optimized for that particular

type of content.

Times New Roman text was

comfortably legible at 9 point, and

looked pretty good all around.

Dell UltraSharp

2001FP

On the surface, the 2001FP clearly

has the edge. It’s got a generous

20.1-inch viewable area with a

1600x1200 resolution, a handsome

midnight-gray enclosure with sil-

ver accents, and an ultra-flexible

neck that lets you not only tilt

the screen forward and back, but

rotate it to a portrait orientation

(any videocard worth owning will

let you configure the content on

your display accordingly). Another

benefit of the 2001FP’s physical

agility is that you can easily access

the bounty of inputs that reside on

the monitor’s underside: DVI, VGA,

S-Video, and Composite-Video—all

at your disposal and ready to accept

a variety of video signals. A picture-

in-picture option lets you watch

content from two different video

sources—say, your PC and a TV—at

the same time. Furthermore, the

2001FP can double as a four-port

USB hub as long as it’s connected

to a USB port on your PC.

DisplayMate was the 2001FP’s

final hurdle. Here, Dell’s moni-

tor fared somewhere between the

VGA-only PL170 and Samsung’s

172X in the app’s highly exacting

test scripts. On the grayscale ramps,

the 2001FP had more trouble at

the darker end of the spectrum,

where subtle differences in tone

were harder to discern than at

the lighter end. But, overall, the

2001FP performed well and text

reproduction was laudable even

in a serif font. In other words, we

feel confident recommending this

monitor for the vast majority of

desktop chores.

With all of the 2001FP’s fine

features, its proven ability to with-

stand the rigors of gaming, and a

reasonable price tag for its size, it’s

an undeniable value for desktop

users and an obvi-

ous winner in

our book.

Not only is the

2001FP good

for games —

it’s got the

features and

performance to

prove it means

business.

Functional design, nice big screen, good gaming

performance.

SCREEN

SCREAM

Less-than-perfect resolution of dark grays

against a black background.

$900, http://www.dell.com

MAXIMUMPC VERDICT 9

Viewable area 17-inch 17-inch 20.1-inch

Native resolution 1280x1024 1280x1024 1600x1200

Pixel pitch 0.26mm 0.29mm 0.26mm

Interface VGA VGA, DVI VGA, DVI, S-Video, Composite-Video

THE SPECS PLANAR SAMSUNG DELL

JUNE 2004 MAXIMUMPC 87

Reviews

Stylish frame, satisfying DisplayMate performance,

good for gaming.

DISPLAY

DISMAY

Limited height adjustment, “hidden controls.”

$650, http://www.samsung.com

MAXIMUMPC VERDICT 9

SyncMaster 172X

UltraSharp 2001FP