[AlanHo]

I am a director of the management company that looks after our retirement complex and find myself getting very involved in the admin side with accounts, reports, correspondence, maintenance tenders and a monthly newsletter to prepare. The work is not an imposition – I volunteered because I find it interesting, it fills my time and it keeps me out of mischief.

We do have a contractual arrangement with a firm of solicitors and accountants to look after the legal stuff like the annual returns to Inland Revenue and Companies House etc – but the more admin we can do ourselves, the less is their annual fee, which reduces the service charge paid by all residents.

To facilitate the preparation of reports, spreadsheets etc I decided to add a second monitor to my desktop computer so that I can have two or more documents (full size) open at the same time. I also decided that the second monitor should rotate so that I can have one of them in portrait orientation.

I bought another 27” monitor – this time a Samsung S27C750 which rotates to work alongside my 2 year old LG 27EA63. Nowadays it is not easy to find monitors with non reflective screens – most are glass glossy – so my choice was somewhat limited. Both monitors are connected to my AMD Radeon 7700 graphics card via HDMI.

The thing that has surprised me is the display quality of the Samsung monitor – I always thought the LG was pretty good with dense blacks but the Samsung is in another class after some tweaking using the AMD catalyst software.

This photo shows both monitors on my desk but does not really show accurately how much better the Samsung is with sharpness and black density.

Based upon my experience - anyone looking for a new monitor should include Samsung on your check list




PS
Just in case anyone wonders what the gizmo is under the left monitor - it is the recorder for our 4 CCTV cameras installed around the outside of the house which can be displayed on the LG monitor.

[asathorny]

Very nice Alan..  I have a similar set up which I find usefull when flying (flight sim) in my case I don't have to the image across both moniters.  Instead I use the socond moniter for things like the radio stack (non directional beacons et al) and the sat nav.   I wont show you my set up as mine is a shit tip compared to yours.  With my set up I know exactly where everything important is, it's on my desk SOMEWHERE    :rof:

Anyhow, I am off to look at this samsung moniter 

[Aussie Keith]

Samsung are pretty good to be sure. They make a lot of the panels other manufacturers use.

[Shambles]

Looks nice and black to me, from here

* Shambles slinks off to change the club's theme from black to grey

[diablo]

A friend of mine was involved in running the company which ran the little estate he lived in some years ago. I think he was treasurer then chairman or maybe both. He hated doing it but couldn't trust the other residents to make sensible choices. 

That monitor set-up looks very good. I'm still using the Samsung Syncmaster monitor I bought in 2001(?) which has had a few computers attached to it over the years.  Pretty impressive reliability I reckon, though I don't think they make TVs to quite the same standards.

[AlanHo]

Looks nice and black to me, from here

* Shambles slinks off to change the club's theme from black to grey

Be my guest - the monitor renders greys with great realism

[AlanHo]

asa - I only had the same image on both monitors to display the difference in quality. It is normally say a Word doc on one and perhaps en excel spreadsheet on t'other.

I never play any games on the computer or do simulation - I'm far too busy on other things.

Today management has me helping her to plant shrubs in the garden. The ground is too tough for her - in fact I find it difficult. One side of the garden is a veneer of soil on top of a mass of tree roots and buried builders rubble. I broke one of the tines off my fork this morning. She said "what did you just say"

I replied "fork".

[asathorny]

FORK with a uc...    Well done Alan 

[Surferdude]

asa - I only had the same image on both monitors to display the difference in quality. It is normally say a Word doc on one and perhaps en excel spreadsheet on t'other.

I never play any games on the computer or do simulation - I'm far too busy on other things.

Today management has me helping her to plant shrubs in the garden. The ground is too tough for her - in fact I find it difficult. One side of the garden is a veneer of soil on top of a mass of tree roots and buried builders rubble. I broke one of the tines off my fork this morning. She said "what did you just say"

I replied "fork".

I did that years ago. Had a great garden fork which had just the right length tines and nicely spaced. Really old as you'll see in a minute.
Anyway I broke the second tine off and eventually, after trying a couple of new ones, welded it back together.
It worked great for years.

[Phil №❶]

 

Monitor looks good Alan. We have 3 Samsung TV's and are quite happy with their video output quality. However, on researching, as a brand, the TV signal circuit is not as strong at pulling in signals as some other brands. Wish I'd known that sooner, could explain my long term tuning difficulties.

[CraigB]

However, on researching, as a brand, the TV signal circuit is not as strong at pulling in signals as some other brands. Wish I'd known that sooner, could explain my long term tuning difficulties.

Sorry for going off topic

Have you tried a signal booster Phil, your local Antenna technician should be able to install one for around $100 or you can get the do it your self ones from Dick Smith for $50

[Phil №❶]

The problem is solved for the moment, I have a masthead amp and my own digital phased array aerial which has solved my reception problems. Still needs to be tested in wet weather. But if the Samsung receiver's are weak by design, that doesn't help.

Thanks for the suggestion, though. 

[CraigB]

Thanks for the suggestion, though. 

No problem

[Dazzler]

Even in your photo that looks very impressive Alan! 

[Lakes]

very impressive Allan, wondering what you monitor on the security camera's & how hard a system like that is to set up.?

[Phil №❶]

I heard last night on a medical show that the West Midlands has the highest % of teenagers in The Uk

[AlanHo]

very impressive Allan, wondering what you monitor on the security camera's & how hard a system like that is to set up.?

I have 4 cameras outside the house, front door, footpath to road from house, rear garden and side passage entrance gates for our house and our neighbour. The neighbour has cameras better placed than mine to look at the rear of both our houses so it is a joint enterprise.

Installation is fairly easy using Cat 5 network cable to carry the video signals and power to each camera. The cameras are VGA quality with infra red illumination for night time.

The 4 mini cameras inside the house are also hard wired back to the video recorder - I am not allowed to show you that screen because my wife hasn't yet dusted today.

[eye30]

I have 4 cameras outside the house, front door, footpath to road from house, rear garden and side passage entrance gates for our house and our neighbour. The neighbour has cameras better placed than mine to look at the rear of both our houses so it is a joint enterprise.

Nowhere you can hide from Libby then..........................

[Dazzler]

Very impressive Alan (I've toyed with getter a similar system) I have half a dozen dummy cameras set up at the moment...

[Doggie 1]

They're only good for capturing mannequins.

[John B]

Very good set up Alan. It is very sad that we have to resort to this technology because of the minority who do not respect that people have worked hard to make a better life for themselves. I can remember my mum leaving the front door unlocked so the insurance man could come in and collect the money from the kitchen table, also the door key was always hanging on a bit of string inside the door so you could pull it up through the letterbox. Pity those day's are long gone.

[Dazzler]

What John said! 

[neptune]

you have a lovely looking lawn , Alan.......very nice indeed......

[asathorny]

Very good set up Alan. It is very sad that we have to resort to this technology because of the minority who do not respect that people have worked hard to make a better life for themselves. I can remember my mum leaving the front door unlocked so the insurance man could come in and collect the money from the kitchen table, also the door key was always hanging on a bit of string inside the door so you could pull it up through the letterbox. Pity those day's are long gone.

Yeah but c'mon John, get real, you are talking about 1850 when no one had owt worth stealing