Samsung LapFit D190SU

[kiLLer]

A few weeks ago, Samsung Korea launched a series of low profile external LCD monitors intended to serve as notebook or netbook companion displays. Essentially, it’s a same LCD display as in Samsung’s current notebooks, but with adjustable height: when it stands, it’s as tall as your laptop to ensure everything lines up with no offset. However there’s more technology gone into the LapFit than the design; it also comes equipped with Samsung’s UbiSync technology aka the DisplayLink USB graphic chip embedded into the display, enabling plug-n-play monitor expansion via a simple USB connection. Last week SlashGear was offered an exclusive preview of the new breed of Samsung SyncMaster, a 19-inch LapFit dubbed the D190SU, and we took the bait.

Setup is as easy as it gets, since the whole monitor is a single unit. When putting it down, simply roll out a wheeled ‘leg' until it clicks, which is an effortless process yet leaves the LD190 standing firm and solid. The leg contains a circular opening to act as a cable guide. Rounded edges combine with a weight of under 4kg to make the whole display easy to pick up and transfer between various locations. Build quality on our sample was not up to Samsung's usual standard, with creaking throughout and too much give on the top edge of the bezel, but it's by no means flimsy and looking at the box ours came in it had clearly done a tour of Samsung's global organisation

[kiLLer]

For image quality, NotePC picture mode offered a good balance of white and black luminance, and the most natural color presentation to the naked eyes. Brightness and contrast ratio at the center of the screen were measured at 136.1 nits and 1134:1 respectively; keep in mind that was with brightness at 70 percent, there was room to grow and in fact the SyncMaster exceeded its cl*aim of a native 1000:1 contrast ratio. We didn’t manage to get as far as the claimed dynamic value of 15,000:1, however.

On entertainment, the USB graphics displayed DVD movies with no lag or ghosting, but we can’t say the same for immersive gaming. As mentioned, the current DisplayLink chip doesn’t support that; it simply lacks the muscle to process 3D simulations or graphic-intense games, though simple titles work fine. As mentioned, new chips and optimized drivers are coming to provide headroom for extra pixels and monitors.