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Features
The unit
  • IrDA Sensor for Remote Controller
  • Side mounted headphone jack
  • High Performance: Down-scaling, Up-scaling
  • HDTV Ready (1080i, 720p, 480p)

Samsung USA
Approx $1250 USD

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
9/10
Samsung’s 171MP Multimedia LCD

Just a few weeks ago we had the chance to look at three of Samsung’s latest home and business LCD offerings. We we’re quite satisfied with their new products, especially with the 770 and 570 series for their multiple features, interesting and competitive price tags. Their third was the 170MP; this one got the biggest attention from you and us for its different video in and out possibilities. The 170MP came with an integrated TV tuner, Picture in Picture video while working on the computer and several other features such as an S-Video Input. In other words, the 170MP gave you the choice of being a flat panel TV for your bedroom and/or a LCD monitor for your computer, you choose. In this article, we look at Samsung’s improved 170MP monitor, the 171MP, Samsung’s latest in multimedia LCD panels.

A closer look

From my previous review of the 170MP I’ve started the review as fallows.
The 170MP unit is what I can call the monitor of the future. The unit features absolutely everything a PC enthusiast could ever dream of and much more. I am not even sure if I could call the 170MP a PC display, it features more TV features than a computer monitor. The 170MP includes a 125 Channel TV Tuner with V-CHIP support and spotting different video inputs to watch your favorite DVD's.”

As I already mentioned, the 171MP is supposed to be an improvement over the 170MP, Samsung did a great job on re-designing the 170MP and getting in result the 171MP, which indeed ends being a superior product.  The 171MP offers a totally new front panel design, is HDTV ready and offers a superior brightness level.

The functions of the buttons on the front panel have been slightly modified compared to the 170MP. They remain touch sensitive but instead of spreading the volume +, - and channels +, - buttons over the front panel, Samsung installed them around the power button in an horizontal position for the volume and a vertical position for the volume buttons, I must say that this way the panel looks much more cleaner. Another major change on the171MP is the addition of a button labeled auto, this feature lets you configure its video settings automatically. A button labeled PC, lets you switch the video mode in use back to the PC mode, the button fallowing is PIP or Picture in Picture, and this lets you bring a video window while using the computer. The video button let’s you select a video mode, similar to the previous “Source” button that is used on the 170MP but this time without any LED indicators. Fallowing is the Audio button, similar to the video button; this one changes the audio source. The last two left is the Menu and Exit buttons which both serve in the browsing of its OSD menu. The OSD menu remains very similar to the one on the 170MP unit, remains easy to navigate and offers extra features such as the possibility of moving around the OSD in any location of the screen. Below the buttons, you can notice the long speaker grill hosting two speakers, while not top of the line, they manage to do their job quite well.


The back panel where all the Audio/Video connectors are located has been slightly modified as well. On the left side of the unit you find its main video/audio inputs, which include S-Video, Video Composites and Audio composite. On the top you find the 12VDC adapter input, the 15PIN D-SUB connector and the 3.5mm audio input to use with the PC. Fallowing is the DTV connectors, you can see the port used to connect the DTV cable fallowing by two composite audio inputs and the coaxial cable input would fallow if the TV tuner option has been included. The sad news I found about its DTV ports is that they don’t support the connection of a DVD player using its Y, Pb and Pr outputs, which will obligate you to use its S-Video input in order to get the highest quality output. There is also a headphone jack on the side.

What would a TV be without a remote control? The 171MP includes a stylish metallic champagne remote control that lets you control all the features of the display. The unit connects via standard 15-PIN SVGA D-sub connector; no digital input is available. I found this a bit unfortunate as the unit is somewhat priced around what high end Digital solutions retail.

The video output while in PC mode is very sharp and crisp, very similar to the one on the 170MP. The TV tuner quality is very acceptable and identical to a TV set. The S-Video input is of course offering even higher quality output. The LCD offers a maximum resolution of 1280x1024 and a reasonable .264 pitch along with 240 nits of brightness, slightly superior to the 220 nits on the 170MP model. A smaller version of the 171MP is available as well; the 151MP offers the same features as its big brother but costs a hand less (around 650$ USD). Here is a comparison table between both models.


Specifications
151MP
171MP


Resolution
XGA(1024X 768)
SXGA(1280X1024)


Colors
16.7M
16.7M


H. Frequency
30~70kHz
30 X 81kHz


V. Frequency
56-85 Hz
56-85 Hz


Contrast
330:1
400:1


Luminance
250cd/?
240cd/?


Viewing Angle
60°/60°/70°/70°
80°/80°/80°/80°


Viedo Input
RGB, CVBS, S-Video,TV
(antenna/cable), YPbPr
RGB, CVBS, S-Video,TV
(antenna/cable), YPbPr


Sync. Type
Separate, Composite, SOG
Separate, Composite, SOG


TV Tuner(Optional)
NTSC, PAL
NTSC, PAL


Speaker
3W/ch×2(Built-in)
5W/ch×2(Built-in)


Power
40W(Max.)

52W(Max.)


Summation

The 171MP is without doubts an improvement over the 170MP model. Better picture, more features and ready for the next generation of video. The 171MP retails for around 1200$ USD and an extra 80$ for the optional TV tuner, while much more expensive than a standard 17” LCD, you can be sure that you get everything that you pay for. With the optional tuner you have a ready, quality TV set, even without one, the unit features S-Video, DTV and Composite video inputs along with audio inputs to use it with your DVD or VCR player. If you are looking for a top notch LCD/TV display with lots of video features and money is not a problem, then without doubts the 171MP is something to check out.

 


 





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