Digital Trends

Samsung SyncMaster 173P

April 5th, 2004 | by Brandon King

Testing and Usage

We used the same media for testing the 173P as our review of the 192T.  We used Microsoft Word for contrast and text sharpness, Tribes 2, Unreal Tournament 2003, and Age of Mythology for gaming performance and The Matrix, Dark City, and A.I. for movie viewing.

Text quality was clear, crisp, and easily readable on both analog and digital inputs. With this monitor targeted at gamers as well as office users, an important factor in visual quality is the response time, listed at 25ms. Gaming was unexpectedly better on the 173P than many other 25ms displays we've seen. Still, FPS games were playable, but had noticeable ghosting even on the DVI input.

Age of Mythology performed very well, since there was little full screen movement. Movies were very sharp, regardless of the amount of screen movement. Most of the fast action sequences were slightly blurred, but when passively viewing, it appeared to be slight motion blurring special effects. This occurred in both bright white scenes in A.I. and dark earth tones in Dark City.

Conclusion

The Samsung SyncMaster 173P boasts among the best image quality we've seen in an LCD monitor. Even the gaming performance was better than expected, but still may not live up to a sniper's expectations.

With a small footprint, easy to setup software and both analog and digital inputs, the 173P will appeal to a wide range of users.

For visually rich media, the 173P is a top performer. This shiny white plastic and silver, one-buttoned panel is sure to turn heads and open wallets.