The Samsung SyncMaster 172X is designed to be a fast response time display. In order to do this, it only uses 6-bits per color. This prevents the display from having a 16.7 million color true display. It is rated at having 16.2 million colors by Samsung through dithering. It is also rated at 12ms, very fast for LCD panels.
To judge the vision quality of the Samsung 172X, it was placed side by side with a 19" calibrated CRT monitor and run through a number of tests to get a judge at the quality of the images displayed. The picture above shows the two monitors displaying the same digital photograph to judge contrast and color.
When it comes to the color and contrast, the Samsung 172X did very well. Blacks were very deep and well defined, but it was difficult to pick out some details in the darker portions of the screen. Whites were also more intense on the 172X over the CRT monitor. For being a 6-bit per color display, the 172X did a very good job. The casual observer would probably not be able to tell the difference. Closer inspection showed that some shades of colors such as the blues and reds were not as detailed.
Since it is a high-speed display, video and gaming playback were also tested. This is where the 172X really shined with no visible tearing or motion blur. This makes the SyncMaster 127X a great choice for gaming or lots of video work.
