Samsung Launching 18-inch USB Monitor for 2011

A lot of people have let notebooks take the place of their regular, desktop PCs. If you need a full size keyboard or monitor, you can always add externals for when you're at home. However, those of us who like to work on more than one monitor are kind of stuck as the majority of laptops only have one VGA port.

A new offering from Samsung expected to hit next year could be the answer all of us multi-monitor enthusiasts are looking for. We've seen USB displays before but never one as big as this. Samsung is displaying 18.5-inches of USB-only LCD (1,366x768, 1000:1 contrast ratio, 250 cd/m² maximum brightness and LED backlit illumination) at Computex and we're suitably impressed. Especially with the fact that power consumption measures in at just 6.5W.

Of course, how many of these you use depends on how many USB ports you have and one of these displays will take up two right off the bat. However, if the shortage of ports is your only problem, there's no shortage of USB hubs and adapters on the market. No word on price yet but we should know more when the 2011 release date draws a little bit closer.

  • AMDnoob
    Why hasn't USB as a display transfer medium gone mainstream? What are it's limitations? This must be 2.0 I'm assuming... WOW I just had a realization just now as I typed "2.0". How do you tell the computer to send the display info through the USB??? Do you need software to do this theN?
    Reply
  • requiemsallure
    if the response time was good, than i would say go for it.
    Reply
  • blasterth
    For a resolution of 1,366x768 24bit color and 60Hz you need 1510 Mbit/s. USB 2.0 gives only 480 Mbit/s, so some type of compression is needed to achieve display via USB.
    Another question is, will it be possible to have a PC without graphic chip and use this monitor as an output?
    Yes some sort of drivers will be necessary to run this monitor.
    Reply
  • i'm using the samsung u70 mounted to my shuttle.
    Reply
  • Gin Fushicho
    Very cool, but they should have waited for USB 3.0
    Reply
  • PLATTERMAN
    I see no use for it with a desktop, its a gimmick to me and nothing more and resolution is way less too. A Blu ray would look terrible.
    Reply
  • megahustler
    AMDnoobHow do you tell the computer to send the display info through the USB??? Do you need software to do this theN?Definitely. My guess is a driver that installs a virtual graphics card. Like some VPN software installs a virtual network card.
    Reply
  • lauxenburg
    AMDnoobWhy hasn't USB as a display transfer medium gone mainstream? What are it's limitations? This must be 2.0 I'm assuming... WOW I just had a realization just now as I typed "2.0". How do you tell the computer to send the display info through the USB??? Do you need software to do this theN?assuming... WOW I just had a realization just now as I typed "2.0". How do you tell the computer to send the display info through the USB??? Do you need software to do this theN?
    Not enough bandwidth/speed/latency in USB 2.0. You can get USB monitors but they are only good for basic stuff like productivity. Also, USB doesn't (as of now) have support for GPU video acceleration so don't even think of gaming on one or watching a movie.
    Reply
  • Pyroflea
    Cool idea, but USB 3.0 would have been a better choice, imo. Backwards compatibility would have made it the same product, but one notch higher.
    Reply
  • septentriones
    I can't wait to see someone with two of them and a gaming laptop set up in eyefinity. It would be expensive and excessive but completely worth it.
    Reply