Samsung S27B970D Series 9 Monitor Review

November 15, 2012 | Mark Goldstein | Accessory Reviews |

Introduction

The new Samsung Series 9 S27B970D is a premium monitor targeted at photographers and other imaging professionals. The 27-inch-wide monitor has been individually colour calibrated and comes equipped with an advanced PLS panel with a wide viewing angle of 178 degrees and a resolution of 2560x1440 pixels.

In the United States, the Samsung Series 9 S27B970D monitor costs $999.99, and in the UK it retails for £749.99.

Ease of Use

The Samsung S27B970D boasts a stunning design, with a two-tone silver and black colour scheme, rounded base and height adjustable stand.

Note that it can't be placed in a portrait orientation, though, only vertical.

The 27-inch display boasts a WQHD resolution of 2560x1440 pixels, four times the resolution of HD (720p), making it well suited to running multiple programs and windows side-by-side.

Front of the Samsung S27B970D

The Samsung S27B970D's connectivity options are mostly located on the rear of the stand, with ports for power, DVI, HDMI, DisplayPort, and USB from PC, as well as two downstream USB ports positioned on the side.

Rear of the Samsung S27B970D

Samsung S27B970D connectivity

Side of the Samsung S27B970D

As you can see in the photo below, the Samsung S27B970D has a very glossy display, so much so that our overhead office lights and other reflections proved a little distracting during longer periods of working with the monitor. If you're not a fan of glossy monitors, then the Samsung S27B970D won't do anything to convince you otherwise.

The Samsung S27B970D is very reflective!

Front of the Samsung S27B970D, stand raised to full height

Rear of the Samsung S27B970D

Samsung S27B970D connectivity options

Samsung S27B970D connectivity, including two USB ports on the left

On the front bezel of the bottom of the height-adjustable stand are an array of soft buttons for controlling the monitor's configuration, which glow white when in use and fade away when idle. There's an Enter button, a Menu button, and up and down navigation buttons that double as volume and preset shortcut buttons, plus a power in the bottom-middle. They are a little on the small side and more difficult to use than most other monitors, especially when the stand is lowered right down.

Front control panel of the Samsung S27B970D

There are five different monitor presets - Standard, High Bright, Cinema, sRGB, and Calibration - plus Brightness, Contrast, and Sharpness controls and Red, Green, and Blue adjustment options. You can also adjust the response time, gamma, and choose from 13 different color temperature settings.

Front of the Samsung S27B970D, Windows Vista

Front of the Samsung S27B970D, displaying everyone's favoruite website!

We calibrated the Samsung S27B970D with the Datacolor Spyder4 Elite, a mid-range device that we've previously reviewed here. The before and after results showed very little difference, which indicates that the factory calibration is accurate and the built-in Natural Colour Expert software works well. The Spyder4 Elite results also confirmed that the Samsung S27B970D 99% of the sRGB colour gamut, 77% of AdobeRGB and 72% of NTSC, making it well suited to life as a photographer's monitor.

Calibrating the Samsung S27B970D with the Spyder4 Elite