Gaming Monitor Roundup 2014

Samsung U28D590D Review

Manufacturer: Samsung
UK price: £449.99 (inc VAT)

Specifications

• Screen size 28in
  
• Resolution 3,840 x 2,160
  
• Refresh rate 60Hz
  
• TFT-panel type TN
  
• 3D support No
  
• Overdrive Yes (enabled by default)
  
• Inputs 2 x HDMI, DisplayPort
  
• Audio HDMI audio out
  
• Extras None
  
• Dimensions (mm) 658 x 170 x 482 (W x D x H)
  
• Portrait mode No
  
• Weight 5.68kg
  
• Mount None

The last model in this round-up comes courtesy of a company that used to be synonymous with displays, but has since focused more on fancy mobile phones and tablets. Nonetheless, Samsung is still churning out a lot of monitors (not to mention panels for OEM usage) and the U28D590D is remarkable for two factors at least: it features four times as many pixels as every other screen in this test and the price for all the extra screen real estate is not as high as you might think.

Ultra HD, or 4K as it is often and incorrectly referred to, means you get 3,840 x 2,160 pixels on this 28-inch screen and even though Samsung uses a TN panel, it is one of the best we’ve ever seen. The panel (which is actually manufactured by CMO) offers quite good viewing angles and even promises ‘1 billion colours’ – we’ll take that with a grain of salt, but it is a true 8-bit model, rather than the 6-bit + FRC panels that are the norm in the dreary old Full HD budget monitor market.


Why did we include the U28D590D then? Well, Samsung claims a 1 ms response time and according to our tests, it does manage to pull off the corresponding speed. However, this is only possible by using so much overdrive that the image artefacts are the worst we’ve ever seen. Fortunately, there is a setting that is not quite as exuberant and we’ll happily trade off the loss of speed for retaining our retinas, rather than have them be permanently damaged by some horrendous trailing overshoot contours.

So, the bad news out of the way, the rest of the U28D590D really is surprisingly pleasant to work with. Yes, the contrast is not stellar, but the maximum brightness is really very impressive, particularly considering the backlight has to illuminate four times as many pixels and the energy consumption is equal to or better than the competition’s. The viewing angles are very good and the uniformity is acceptable. So is colour accuracy and even the gamma value.


In short, the U28D590D may not be the first screen you think of for gaming, but if your graphics hardware has the required power (GTX 780 or R9 290 or better, and you'll need multiple GPUs to push high frame rates with high settings) you really should consider this option. The combination of 28 inches and the high resolution makes for some very immersive gaming.