Samsung's Studio Display Rival Launching in South Korea Next Week for Equivalent of $1,300

[zach-coleman]

Expected them to try and go for the $999 that everyone said the Studio Display should have been. Guess the SD really wasn't as overpriced as everyone said...

I hate smart TV garbage so this would never have been for me, but I guess competition is good.

Why would you need smart tv apps on this?

A new vector to show you ads, and planned obsolesce when the unfortunate processor gets too bogged down trying to load ads to display your image correctly in 4-5 years.

 

[EugW]

Expected them to try and go for the $999 that everyone said the Studio Display should have been. Guess the SD really wasn't as overpriced as everyone said...

As I mentioned earlier, street pricing is apparently under US$1000, in Korea at least.

Unlike Apple products, a fair number of Samsung products sell for well under MSRP even at launch.

Why would you need smart tv apps on this?

It's popular in certain demographics, but also because Samsung kinda likes throwing everything including the kitchen sink into some of its products, hoping that will be a value add for some people. Much less focused approach than Apple.

Unfortunately, this can lead to bloated and buggy products, but we can hope that if we ignore the smart apps, it won't affect the basic monitor functionality.

 

[CalMin]

This is quite disappointing. Money is money, but the cost differential doesn't put this into the must buy category over the ASD for me.

Although pricey, the ASD continues to be a stunning monitor which integrates beautifully with MacOS, sounds great etc. Just the way the on-screen colors are calibrated to match my MacBook Pro out of the box and that the volume/brightness keyboard shortcuts just work. It never randomly wakes up when my computer is asleep, and never fails to wake along with my MacBook. And people complain about the webcam, but I don't need (or want) my Zoom calls to be sharper.

There's lots of little things that add to up to a lot. I might take a chance on the Samsung for less than $1,000, but when it's priced so close the ASD, those intangibles more than make up for the extra spend, and make the ASD the one to get for me.

I've been waiting on Apple to release a 32" ASD (the pro-XDR would be a waste for me) but since that looks ever less likely, I might just grab a 2nd ASD when they go on sale.

 

[alexandr]

It is not every day that a true 5K monitor is released. It competes directly with the Apple Studio Display at a way more affordable price. And Samsung prices are often well discounted after some months. I am looking forward to this monitor!

Way more affordable, really?..

 

[alexandr]

Well, if this is anything like the M8 quality-wise — AHAHAHAHA, ok...

 

[CookItOff]

It’s the number 1 reason why I won’t buy an Apple monitor.

Have fun with your washed out colors and crappy image.

 

[andrew8404]

I'm very interested in the US pricing for this. If it's priced at 999 and throw in Samsungs military discount I would probably be tempted to get it. But if it's 1300 I might as well just get Apple for 1200 through the refurb store.

 

[Patchwork]

Since Samsung copies everything else Apple does, why wouldn't they use Apple exchange rates too? $1299 USD is £1399 GBP.

The price in Switzerland is is listed as 1,384 Swiss francs which when you allow for diffrent VAT levels would work out about £1,350 in the UK. The release date is showing as 25th August - see https://www.galaxus.ch/en/s1/product/samsung-ls27c902pauxen-5120-x-2880-pixels-27-monitor-36001327

 

[doboy]

Man, I would love a XDR Pro competitor w/ 120hz. Would be willing to pay up to $3k

 

[StellarVixen]

Apple Studio Display is 8-bit.

Exactly, that’s why I’m asking

 

[BusanAA]

If this monitor offers the same glossy finished glass as the ASD, it can be a worthy competitor. Otherwise, personally I don’t want another matte finished display, thank you.

By applying a matte display that minimizes light reflection, the Viewfinity S9 provides an environment where you can work with a consistent level of brightness and color without a separate light-shielding hood, and it has also been verified as "Glare Free" by UL ( Underwriters Laboratories), a global safety certification company.

The matte display has been confirmed on Korean media sites...

삼성전자, 5K 초고해상도 모니터 ‘뷰피니티 S9’ 출시

The retail. price will be 1.7 million won in Korea = 1,304.02 United States Dollar

This Viewfinity S9 will only be sold through Samsung domestically in Korea.

 

[4odomi]

One thing is certain… Samsung makes the best screen display monitors.

But not the best integrated monitors with MacOS.....
Although you never know with this one?

 

[thingstoponder]

Who is going to buy this? Mac users will get the superior Studio Display and windows users don’t care about resolution and won’t buy any monitor over 300 dollars.

 

[TechnoMonk]

One thing is certain… Samsung makes the best screen display monitors.

Nope, That would be LG. i Had terrible experience with Samsung.

 

[EugW]

Exactly, that’s why I’m asking

I'm no panel expert or creative expert, but here are my 2¢ as an interested layman:

Good quality true 10-bit panels in this market tend to be fairly expensive. However, if the panel is 8-bit + FRC, that simulates 10-bit well enough for consumers, prosumers, and even many professionals.

If you're editing a $200 million Hollywood movie though, that's a different story.

 

[zach-coleman]

Unfortunately, this can lead to bloated and buggy products, but we can hope that if we ignore the smart apps, it won't affect the basic monitor functionality.

If it works anything like their Smart TVs it will have slowed to a crawl after a few years.

Although pricey, the ASD continues to be a stunning monitor which integrates beautifully with MacOS, sounds great etc. Just the way the on-screen colors are calibrated to match my MacBook Pro out of the box and that the volume/brightness keyboard shortcuts just work. It never randomly wakes up when my computer is asleep, and never fails to wake along with my MacBook. And people complain about the webcam, but I don't need (or want) my Zoom calls to be sharper.

There's lots of little things that add to up a lot. I might take a chance on the Samsung for less than $1,000, but when it's priced so close the ASD, those intangibles more than make up for the extra spend, and make the ASD the one to get for me.

Couldn't have put it better myself. Like so many things with Apple, the details are the key. I've never had any other monitor work so reliably and quickly. Not to mention how beautiful it is in comparison to any other monitor on the market. It's one of their best products imo.

Man, I would love a XDR Pro competitor w/ 120hz. Would be willing to pay up to $3k

Unfortunately I think you're gonna be waiting 5+ years for that. I'd love it too though.

 

[dwaite]

So if you want 5k you need to drop over a grand. No matter where you look.

Samsung is just first-party selling monitors with the same panels others (such as Apple) buy.

Larger screens and newer processes are both going to cost more because they are more likely to have flaws across their surface area.

And you only get 60hz IPS at 500-600nits.

No mini-LED, no OLED, no high refresh rate.

Not until some third party (meaning almost certainly Apple) says they'll buy enough panels to justify someone spinning up manufacturing.

First party, they'll be either spinning up to manufacture televisions (lower density displays but they can make up their investment on first-party sales) or something like watch faces (very high density, small enough you can deal with yield problems without too much extra waste)

The stagnation in the display market is almost entirely because manufacturers don't want to create a new manufacturing configuration for an unsure market. Samsung is not going to sell 100 million of these 5k displays.

 

[EugW]

If it works anything like their Smart TVs it will have slowed to a crawl after a few years.

Yeah, but if you completely ignore the smart apps menu, you can bypass that lack of speed.

I don't have a Samsung TV, but perhaps my experience with one my Sony TVs may serve as an example. After some Google TV OS updates, my Sony X800E's menu system became extremely slow. Really irritating. However, if you simply use it as a display device with a single input, you never have to use the smart app menu and it works just fine.

To put it another way, my Sony has Netflix as a smart app, but if you try to use that app and Sony's app menu system, it's horribly slow. It makes me want to rip my hair out. However, if I simply treat the TV as a dumb display device and plug an Apple TV into it, everything on the Apple TV including Netflix runs fast.

BTW, I have another Sony TV also running Google TV, and it is much, much faster. It was fast enough that its smart app menu and Netflix on it run decently fast. However, despite this, I still use an Apple TV with it, because Apple TV simply is a better user interface.

 

[mbenji]

no glossy. sooo close.

 

[dwaite]

60 Hz because most consumers don't care in this space, and because it's 5K - cost.
No mini-LED because most consumers don't care and because of cost.
Matte is also popular in this space.

Similarly, like the Apple Studio Display this is not a true 10-bit panel because the cost would be too high.

Most likely, they don't have the display controllers to go to 120Hz yet. 120Hz at 4k is still exceedingly rare, and 5k is going to be pretty much custom atm.

 

[EugW]

Most likely, they don't have the display controllers to go to 120Hz yet. 120Hz at 4k is still exceedingly rare, and 5k is going to be pretty much custom atm.

FWIW 5120x1440 240 Hz monitors already exist. I don't know how the TV controllers work, but wouldn't that suggest that 5120x2880 120 Hz could also be supported by the same controllers?

Also, 4K at 120 Hz isn't exactly rare these days.

 

[dwaite]

FWIW 5120x1440 240 Hz monitors already exist. I don't know how the TV controllers work, but wouldn't that suggest that 5120x2880 120 Hz could also be supported by the same controllers?

Yeah, there are a handful of doublewide 2.5k (or whatever you want to call those) do have 240Hz support, I believe using DisplayPort 2.x. At least Samsung does not seem to support via HDMI.

This screen uses Thunderbolt 4, which is USB4 PHY. That requires DisplayPort 2.1. Interactions between USB4, Thunderbolt 4 and DP 2.1 are outside my realm of expertise. It may be however that they only have 2.0 controllers and not 2.1 controllers.

The 49" screens being driven at 240 Hz and this panel are possibly different technologies, and this panel may simply not be capable of being driven that high. Easiest way to tell there would be to look for a smaller sibling like a 24" 4k and see if it supports a higher refresh.

It is also worth noting that unlike HDMI which is a pretty bizarre cabling specification, DP is designed by VESA to be able to carry the signal all the way onto the panel, e.g. it is meant to be conducive to have all the internals be DP as well. So it may just be a matter of demand - Samsung is possibly recycling the panel tech that they built for Apple (who would be dual-sourcing with LG). Putting an entirely new 6 month old controller on the panel may just not be something they were going to do for what will probably be a lower-volume product.

Also, 4K at 120 Hz isn't exactly rare these days.

Ahh you're right. I was thinking 4k@120 content and 120Hz input on televisions - but VRR gaming rigs can certainly find screens that support it.

 

[Smartuser]

Looking forward to objective reviews by non-Apple fans. We know Apple fans will key on negatives while mostly ignoring the positives. Objective reviewers will just see this as another monitor to go head to head against other offerings.

[...]

I hope it objectively reviews well for all who are interested in competition that benefits us consumers.

Heaven forbid that "Apple fans" who own Apple computers and are looking to buy external monitors for their Apple computers are comparing this monitor to Apple Studio displays, because that cannot ever be "objective".

We must only take "objective" reviews into account that must not address the question of whether this monitor is a good choice for "Apple fans".

Never mind that looking at a product under different aspects and emphasizing them for different types of customers can still be objective and correct.

 

[doboy]

If it works anything like their Smart TVs it will have slowed to a crawl after a few years.


Couldn't have put it better myself. Like so many things with Apple, the details are the key. I've never had any other monitor work so reliably and quickly. Not to mention how beautiful it is in comparison to any other monitor on the market. It's one of their best products imo.


Unfortunately I think you're gonna be waiting 5+ years for that. I'd love it too though.

It looks like they have a 4k mini-led monitor for $3k but it's freaking 55"!

 

[Smartuser]

I'd be a little skeptical about how that "standard matte finish" of the S9 compares to Apple's nano-texture. I have the nano-texture on a 2020 iMac and an Apple Studio Display, and it looks nothing like the "standard matte finish" on a cheap display.