It's the back of the monitor that houses all of the main component plugs. They are all under a small lip and point downwards so if you were to use a wall mount all the cables would neatly go out the bottom and not interfere with hanging the monitor. At the far left is the plug for the adapter. This monitor uses an external adapter for power, which by reading some of my past reviews you may know I'm not the biggest fan of. I personally prefer if everything can be built into the monitor like we saw on the 710N and 913P so there are less cables and adapter boxes to find places for. I'm sure there are design factors which influence this decision such as the internal space available and the added heat generated by an internal power supply to contend with. I am certainly not an engineer, I just like having everything in one package. To the right of the adapter plug there is a DVI input and an Analog RGB input. Samsung includes a cable for use with the Analog input. When using this as a PC monitor it has a refresh rate of 25ms which is excellent for use in an entertainment setting but I personally wouldn't use this as a "gamers monitor". The games that I personally play require a refresh rate a little faster than this. For the average computer user who is not into the newest and faster games this monitor would be just fine. If your computer interests are weighted more towards audio video and multimedia then this is the perfect monitor for you. To the right of the Analog input you'll find an 1/8" audio input plug which could be plugged into your computer's sound card to use the monitor's internal speakers. A cable is also included to use with this input. Next, you'll see the component inputs. These consist of all RCA jacks which are Audio in L and R and Pr, Pb and Y video inputs. The second last plug is the FM Antenna connection into which the included FM antenna plugs into. The last plug is the Antenna In plug which also includes 2 adapters so you can use it with regular shielded TV cable or an RCA input connection. To the far right of all these connection points there is a very large EXT RGB plug which goes straight out the back of the monitor and is not angled down.

(Click to enlarge)

Installation:
There is nothing difficult about installation, simply plug in any components you will be displaying on the 930MP, plug in the power and turn it on. If you're using this as a PC monitor you may wish to install the included calibration software to fully setup the monitor, however I found that no real changes were required using the software as opposed to just plugging in the monitor and using it.

(Click to enlarge)

Testing:
Since this monitor seems to be aimed at the HTPC market, I decided to test it by watching a DVD. While watching the DVD I was looking for common things such as image ghosting.

The performance was excellent while watching the DVD. I saw no apparent ghosting and the image itself was very crisp with great colour balance. The monitor itself has several built in colour modes that can be switched by pressing a single button on the right side of the monitor. These modes are; Custom, Entertain, Internet and Text. I preferred to do most of my work with the Custom setting. The Entertain setting makes the monitor slightly brighter and Internet and Text settings are both slightly darker.

If you are using several inputs on the monitor it has a PIP function (Picture In Picture) so you can easily watch a DVD in the the bottom right corner while you browse the web on the rest of the monitor.

The included remote easily allows you to control all aspects of this monitor, from channel selection, volume, PIP, etc.

Conclusion:
In conclusion, the Samsung SyncMaster 930MP has proven to be an excellent monitor. For those wanting a superb monitor for their HTPC I highly recommend this one. It has many inputs to satisfy all your needs, built in speakers and a very large 19" viewable screen size. Owning a monitor which allows you to also watch TV, listen to FM radio, and use it's inputs to view a DVD player, VCR or video camera input is a wonderful "all-in-one" display. This is a great multi-purpose monitor which has many uses.

Pros:
Many styles of inputs
Large 19" display size
Great for HTPC's/offices (not really a gamers monitor with 25ms)
Sleek, stylish design
Built in speakers
Remote

Cons:
Would like to see the included adapter built into the monitor.

Rating: 9/10

Discuss this review in our forums!

<<Previous Page<<