A quick note on refresh rates
A CRT monitor functions by having an electron gun run a stream of electrons over molecules called phosphors that then use the electric energy to create light. A single electron beam scans over each row of cells, and as soon as the beam stops shining on a pixel, it will start fading. A high-end CRT can go over the same pixel about 100 times per second, or 100Hz. This is the holy grail that a lot of you out there are looking for so you can play CS at 100FPS with vsync on. LCDs don’t work that way. LCD pixels don’t have to be refreshed, they either let light through from the backlight or they don’t. They slowly start letting light through until they’re re-signaled. Refresh rates simply do not apply to LCDs. Windows still assigns a monitor a refresh rate even if it is an LCD, but this setting is pretty much meaningless. Play your games with vsync off is the moral of the story.

Our query
Behold, the Samsung 940BF. It is one of the most commonly recommended flat panel monitors to gamers. Here’s a quick rundown on the specifications:

• 4ms gray-to-gray response time
• 700:1 contrast ratio
• .294mm Pixel Pitch
• 300 cd/m2 Brightness
• 160 degree viewing angle

All in all these are solid specifications, though the response time is of course suspect with the atypical rating that they use. The monitor comes in a nice small box, with a detachable stand, a manual, a power cord, and both VGA and DVI connectors. Installing everything was a complete nobrainer. Just pop the panel into the stand and plug it in. Since our graphics card has only DVI outputs, we opted to go for the DVI connection. Everything got plugged in and we flipped the switch. The first thing we noticed is that the monitor doesn’t provide a solid jet black like a CRT would. Of course, this is to be expected. LCDs don’t produce their own light naturally, they require a light to shine through them, called a backlight, which is always on. No matter how black the pixel makes itself, it will still let the backlight through to a certain degree. Anyways, we get into Windows and the first thing we notice is that the image is ridiculously crisp. In fact, it’s more crisp than any CRT we’ve ever used. There was no blur at all anywhere on the screen. This is due to the fact that on CRTs, the pixels have a tendency to “flow” together due to their high individual brightness. On LCDs, there’s no such effect, and each pixel stands out on its own. It really makes static images like text look great. Another thing we noticed is that we actually had to turn down the brightness on the LCD because it was hurting our eyes. Samsung must have figured that it’s better to overdo it than not give it enough 'oompf'. We totally agree with this decision. Turning down brightness from stock is easy. Turning up brightness from stock is impossible. So far we were almost favoring this LCD in any situation, including one where a CRT can be used. Our next test is video playback.