Clandestine
Let me start by saying how happy I am with the picture quality of this monitor. No eye strain from pwm (pulse width modulation) of the backlighting like my previous monitor. Maybe Samsung uses DC to control it. The only adjustment I did is turn the brightness down to 50% and magic upscale to mode 1. I am completely happy with the picture to my eyes. Im using DVI as the input and have not tested any of the other connections or usb hub. I was worried I would have to buy a new video card because of what other reviewers had said about using a stout video card. That was not the case at all for me. The computer hardware I use is a AMD 64 athlon x2, 3GB ram, running xp built by me in 2006. Geforce 9600gt from 2008. Experiencing no slow down. I dont game so cant speak for that. Where this monitor blew me away is in viewing pictures. It is so good I now carry my camera with me wherever I go. The detail to my eyes is incredible. Maybe the sheer size right in your face has a bit to do with it also. Now for the unacceptable manufacturing of my unit. Brand new in box. Four light scratches on the screen, one of which is 2 inches long. Can only see them when the monitor is off. Bezel is not flush with panel on the bottom, varying 1/16 to 1/8 inch gap in a wave/bulge pattern except 1 in. on each side. Small impact ding on the front of the base. You got to be kidding me. How can this possibly make it through QC. What a disservice they did to this monitor. Three stuck black pixels and a very small area that looks gray on a white background (I think this is still within Samsungs acceptable specs according to their web site) and cant tell in normal use. It would be very easy for the seller to blame the customer for the scratches and impact ding of these defects and hope I am not the one getting blamed. Now I have to deal with getting this fine monitor replaced without additional cost to me. Update Edit: The only option I had was to return with no exchange available on the return page. Thankfully it was hassle free. The day I was dropping off the monitor to the shipper a different seller had this monitor for a price approaching a cheaper brand, significantly less for a few hours. Yeah! Unfortunately I can only raise from two stars to three because even though the gap between the panel and bezel was a little better it is still noticeable especially above the control buttons. Samsung seems to be having a manufacturing process problem they might not know about unless they are just letting the units pass anyway. Im hanging on to this one because the gap is usually only noticeable when the monitor if off and no defective pixels. I am happy with the panel and controls. The PIP mode is handy for my video surveillance system.