While 2K displays are ruling smartphone displays, 4K displays are starting to take over our living rooms and workplaces just like once Full HD does, people like you and me probably don’t have the budget to invest one of those curved and huge 4K TVs, our rooms might not even fit to have one either. Therefore, Samsung’s new 28” 4K PC Monitor – the U28D590D will do some justice for that budget and small space entertainment.
Samsung U28D590D Video Review
Samsung U28D590D Hardware Specifications
Screen Size: 28”
Panel Type: TN (Twisted Nematic)
Contrast Ratio: 1000:1 (Typ), Infinity Dynamic Contrast Ratio
Response Time: 1ms (GTG)
Color Supported: 1 Billion
Resolution: 3840 x 2160 @ 30Hz (HDMI), 3840 x 2160 @ 60Hz (DisplayPort)Inputs: 1 x 3.5mm Audio Out, 2 x DisplayPort 1.2, 1 x HDMI 1.3
The Samsung U28D590D sure looks like a great monitor in pictures, when you look close at it the entire body is fully made of shiny gloss plastic, just like how old Samsung monitors look like back a few years. We had actually thought that the product could’ve gotten a much more inspired design from the company’s own Smart TV design, however that doesn’t seem to be thecase.
Well, at least plastic chrome like stand looks good to us.
Being a LED monitor, the Samsung U28D590D looks really thick in our opinion, it isn’t as sexy as you’ve seen on Samsung’s own Smart TV line ups, and with such a huge 28-inch panel, it is certainly going to take up some table space on your workplace. Lastly, there’s no built-in speakers on it.
At the back of the monitor, you’ll get 2 x DisplayPort 1.2 that outputs 3840 x 2160 @ 60Hz and a HDMI port that outputs 3840 x 2160 @ 30Hz pictures, which means if you want to get a great and smooth experience, you’ll need to have a graphics card with DisplayPort output or you’ll have really choppy motions on that high resolution that’s going to make your head spin.
Instead of using an IPS panel, Samsung has opted the traditional TN (twisted nematic) display technology that benefits from short response times and lesser power consumption, despite having drawbacks such as color shifts on wider viewing angles, we have no problems in viewing the monitor from the side and top, color still looks great as it is and you will really appreciate that non-reflective matte display. The monitor has a response time of 1ms GTG (grey-to-grey).
This is a button and joystick that powers on/off and used to control the features of the monitor, it feels a little fragile.
The monitor’s OSD menu offers pretty much the same options that you’ll find on most Samsung monitors, one of the great features in there is Samsung’s MagicAngle which you can select the optimal viewing angles of the display, and that pretty much resolves the TN (twisted nematic) issue.
There’s also PIP (picture-in-picture) option if you have multiple input sources connected.
Our experience with the Samsung U28D590D was a good one, though we relied on a HDMI connection and easily got up to 4K resolution with our graphics card, the 4K resolution serves as an extremely good multitasking resolution, you will be able to open multiple working windows on it , and switch to them easily from one display, of course you may want to perform simple tasks when you’re on an HDMI connection as its motion refresh rate is limited at 30Hz. Thanks to the short 1ms response time, gaming and watching movies on the Samsung U28D590D isn’t too bad despite of that unbearable refresh rate, thanks to Samsung’s clever UHD up-scaling feature, watching Full HD movies on a 4K resolution is still a pleasure.
Verdict – A great budget 4K monitor, just make sure you have DisplayPort
While we have to admit that the Samsung U28D590D uses pretty cheap plastic materials for its body, this isn’t something that you are going to show off your friends like a smartphone, the 4K monitor performs as it should and we find no issues on using it, the only thing is that you just got to have a DisplayPort 1.2 device ready if you truly want to enjoy a smooth and great 4K computing experience. The Samsung U28D590D currently retails at RM1,899 and is available at local IT resellers.
The Good:
+ Great viewing angles for a TN panel
+ Two DisplayPorts
+ Reasonably affordable for a 4K monitor
+ Easy to use OSD menus
+ UHD up-scale
The Not so Good:
– Plastic build quality
– No VESA mount capability
– Wobbly and fragile power/menu joystick
– Hurts to see 30Hz motion on HDMI
The Samsung U28D590D gets a score of 8.2/10.
