X-bit labs

22" Monitors Roundup: Part 1 (page 11)

Category: Other

by Oleg Artamonov

[ 08/12/2007 | 08:53 PM ]

Quick access is provided to the MagicBright feature (a selection of preset modes with varying levels of brightness, contrast and color temperature, but, as opposed to LG monitors, without changing color saturation or the gamma compensation value), to the brightness setting, to switching the inputs and to the automatic adjustment of analog signal.

This is a standard Samsung menu. It is handy and user-friendly. You can also use the MagicTune software, available for Windows and MacOS, to control the monitor from your PC.

By default, the monitor’s got 100% brightness and 75% contrast. To achieve a 100nit brightness of white I selected 50% brightness and 46% contrast. The brightness is regulated by means of pulse-width modulation of the backlight at a frequency of 150Hz.

Color gradients are reproduced perfectly at any settings. The monitor has a standard color gamut, like most other currently available models.

The gamma curves diagram looks good. The curves do not deflect much from the theoretical curve and lie in a dense group.

The color temperature is set up well for white and light-gray but grows up much on the darker halftones. This is in fact the same problem as with the LG monitors, just not so conspicuous.

The monitor lacking response time compensation, you can’t expect a high speed from its matrix. The average speed is 17.2 milliseconds GtG; the maximum is 35.0 milliseconds. This monitor is surely not for gamers who play dynamic games.

The contrast ratio hits the 400:1 mark just as we’ve seen with the above-described models. It drops twofold when the monitor is set up for low brightness.

The good point of the SyncMaster 225BW is its strong ergonomics. This is one of the few 22” monitors that offers screen height adjustment and does not hide the control buttons away from the user. Moreover, comparing the 225BW with the above-described models from LG and BenQ, it proves to be the only monitor whose preset modes (the MagicBright feature) do not distort the reproduction of colors but only change the level of screen brightness for switching quickly from work to a movie or game.

The rest are mostly problems. The monitor is based on a slow matrix that is much slower than RTC-enabled models. Its color temperature setup is sloppy, too.