The term 4K has become synonymous with with the next generation of high-definition displays.
Technically speaking, 4K is the rating used to denote a resolution of 4 096×2 160 pixels, but the term has been adopted by many consumer technologies that are in fact “only” ultra-high-definition, or UHD, with a resolution of 3 840×2 160. Samsung’s new UD590 LED monitor falls into this category.
In the past few years, there have been several technologies and services that have adopted 4K in an attempt to capture a market always seeking out bigger and better resolutions. YouTube support for 4K started as early as 2010, while Netflix began streaming some of its shows in 4K — House of Cards, Breaking Bad — this year.
The reason for all the interest is that 4K resolutions provide much finer detail, especially when viewed close up. Hollywood directors love the ability capture minute detail. And, not surprisingly, the adult entertainment industry has also already caught onto technology and pornography will almost certainly be one of the major drivers of consumer adoption.
The 28-inch UD590 is one of the few UHD monitors available in South Africa and has received a lot of early attention from gamers. This is because the next generation gaming consoles from both Microsoft and Sony both support 4K video games.
The higher resolutions have also proved popular among early adopters in the PC market, where a combination of high-end dual graphics cards and some technical know-how is required to get the best from such displays.
Aesthetically, Samsung did an excellent job with the design of the UD590. The monitor has an elegant but simple look that will look great on any desk. The T-bar stand does a good job of keeping the large monitor in place and allows for a few degrees of tilt to improve the viewing angle. Although it would have been great to have the monitor swivel horizontally on the base too, this certainly is not a deal breaker.
The screen size measures 70,8cm diagonally, while the monitor weighs 5,65kg, a reasonable weight for a monitor of this size. The UD590 is capable of displaying 10-bit colour at 60Hz with 1ms gray-to-gray) response time — more than sufficient for gaming fanatics. It also offers the standard 370cd/m2 brightness and a 1 000:1 contrast ratio.
One of the few bits of criticism that has been levelled against Samsung’s UHD monitor is the fact that it uses a “twisted nematic” display panel. While this is one of the most common panels used in display technology, it is also the oldest and often suffers from colour shifts at wide viewing angles. In fairness, this is a cheaper panel than in-plane switching panels, which offer better colour reproduction as well as better viewing angles. As it stands, the UD590 offers viewing angles of 170 degrees and 160 degrees on the vertical and horizontal planes.
There is no doubt that as the technology becomes more widely adopted, a variety of panel types will be used for monitors of this calibre. For now, you’ll be stuck with what the manufacturers roll off the production line.
Samsung says the UD590 supports a billion colours and looking at the image quality this could certainly be the case. Although one may need two panels running side-by-side using different panelling technology to see the real difference, we were very impressed with the images that the UD590 produced. Watching 4K video on this monitor also produces remarkably vibrant and colour-rich images that should have everyone from gamers to photographers drooling at their desks.
On the back of the monitor are two HDMI 1.4 ports and a DisplayPort connector. You’ll need the latter if you want to make use of the monitor’s full resolution at 60Hz. The power button situated on the bottom right hand corner doubles as the menu controller and resembles a joystick.
Because the monitor outputs such a high resolution, you may need to upgrade your computer’s graphics card/s. Even with a high-end PC in TechCentral’s office, which has dual ATI Radeon graphics cards, we couldn’t get the monitor to display at maximum resolution. Plugging in the latest-model 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display using the HDMI port proved a lot easier and we were impressed that it managed to work at full resolution, albeit at 30Hz refresh.
It should also be kept in mind that once you get the monitor to display your desktop at its native resolution, you may need to apply some software scaling to certain applications as very few software titles were designed to work at such high resolutions.
A handy feature also included with the UD590 is picture-in-picture technology, which allows users to display two monitor sources on the same screen. This is particularly useful to display a TV feed or one from a console while a Web browser is open in another. You could even park a 1080p video in a corner of the screen running at full resolution while you work on something else.
The Samsung UD590 is without a doubt one of the most beautiful displays on the market today. Early adopters will have no qualms with spending R11 599 for the eye candy this monitor produces. But patience will reward those who wait. Prices will inevitably coming tumbling down over the next 12-24 months. By then, you may be able to invest in a two- or three-monitor 4K setup and still have change left over. — © 2014 NewsCentral Media