:. Samsung SyncMaster 191N LCD .:

Like the 191T, the 191N is a very beautiful monitor that outperforms many of its direct competitors. Both of the monitors are pretty much twins - having the same thin bevel, color, and pivot features.

However, the monitors do have differences. As opposed to its predecessor, the 191N has an internal power brick to alleviate some of the cable clutter we are all used to seeing. The 191N also has a single analog input which does not sacrifice the image quality when compared to the DVI of the 191T. This allows the 191N to be slightly less expensive than the 191T, but still incorporate many improvements.

The pixel response is also better than many of the monitors we have seen and tested. Monitors manufactured by NEC, Viewsonic, and Daewoo seem to have much slower pixel response times when we judge against Samsung LCD's. Nevertheless, the 191N did have somewhat slower pixel speeds than the 191T.

I found that the 191N was great for internet surfing, especially with the pivot feature that makes scrolling less frequent. In addition, DVD's also looked extremely good on this monitor. The screen is very large and has a great contrast and brightness rating, making the movie experience a very pleasant one. The dark colors showed up terrific and ghosting for movies handled very well. During my gaming experience, fast pace games such as Unreal 2003, MOHAA, and others had some visible ghosting but nothing that would sacrifice viewing or enjoyment.

When it was time to inspect the monitor and look for defects I found no noticeable defects and the the screen itself was excellent quality: there is no warping, the outer edges were all perfect and also there were no dead pixels.

The monitor is very firm since you can elevate it up and it will maintain its position. This is common is many LCD's but Samsung has perfected this feature. The monitor is easy to move up and down: it will not jerk when trying to raise or lower the screen and yet it maintains its position.

The pivot feature is also intelligently designed and because of this, it is very easy to toggle the screen. It is also very solid because it maintains its position once you let go.  Pivoting is great if you do a lot of MS Word work, Photoshop, or even just surfing the internet.

As I mentioned before, this time Samsung decided to have an internal power-block. That improves the overall monitor design and it is especially nice if one wishes to mount the 191N on a VESA-compatible arm.

I invited some guests to take a look at the 191N and they all agreed that this is a very sexy LCD monitor. They also mentioned that the display is very bright and crisp. I showed them the pivot feature and they all wanted the monitor after that. This is the kind of response I was expecting and it is always fun watching people react when given an opportunity to try out such a high-quality display.

If you do decide to purchase an LCD, make sure you have a close look at the response time; the lower the number the better. The 191N has a response time of about 25ms. If the pixel response is close to 40ms, then you will start running into some problems with games and DVD's. Be cautious and do some research before buying LCDs.

LCD monitors are so easy on the eyes that staying on the computer for prolonged periods of time would normally cause major eye-strain. However, that is not the case with CRT Displays. CRT monitors are great for their resolutions and pixel response times, but can really start hurting even after thirty minutes of use.

On the next page I will discuss the pros and cons of the Samsung SyncMaster 191N and give it a final rating.