Samsung SyncMaster 173P 17" TFT LCD Flat Panel Display

Company: Samsung
Product: 173P Silver TFT LCD Display
Date Reviewed: March 17, 2004
Reviewed By: Rob Parks
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Samsung SyncMaster 173P Testing:

For our testing procedure we used LCDTest from Ekimsw.com to see if there are any pixels that will not turn off, and therefore will show as either white or a primary color (RGB).  When desktop color is set to white to see if any pixels are dead, this will show up as a black dot in the white screen.  We also played many rounds of Halo: Combat Evolved, Tomb Raider: Angel of Darkness, Unreal2, Call of Duty, Need for Speed: Underground, C&C Generals and Day of Defeat to test the gaming performance of this display. We delved deeper into this particular monitor than any of the others we have tested.  Simply because Samsung is marketing the SyncMaster 173P as "targeted to PC and online gamers". We also test DVD play back using The Italian Job (2003), Star Wars: Episode One, and The Animatrix.  How does she fair?

This is the fourth LCD display from Samsung that we have tested, and the fourth with not one dead pixel.  Simply outstanding quality control.  LCDTest is new for us, but it makes testing for dead pixels much easier.  Upon launching this app the screen is set to one of five colors (black, red, blue, green, and white).  The color changes with the click of the mouse. 

Gaming performance is what you would expect from a 25ms LCD.  There is very minimal ghosting, and 'trailing' for lack of a better word.  While apparent when you first begin to use the 173P you quickly become used to these anomalies and fail to notice them.  I had no problems playing long sessions.  All games gave the same feel.  While slightly noticeable at the beginning, the trails quickly fade away.  Call of Duty was especially pleasant on the 173P.  With its extremely high contrast and brightness it was easy to pick of snipers hiding throughout the maps.
*All games were played at 1280x1024, 32bit color, Vsync set to application preference, and 3D settings at High Quality on the ATi Control Panel.

DVD playback was excellent.  There was not ghosting nor pixilation in any of the movies that I tested.  Even in the very fast scene switches in Episode One's pod race sequence, and The Italian Job's Mini getaway. Overall DVD quality was superb.
*interVideo's WinDVD software was used for DVD Playback.