X-bit labs

24" LCD Monitors Roundup. Part II (page 17)

Category: Other

by Oleg Artamonov

[ 04/28/2008 | 11:40 AM ]

Color gradients are reproduced ideally.

The monitor has very good (for a TN matrix) viewing angles. When viewed from below, the top of the screen gets darker, but without color distortions.

The color gamut is standard and similar to other models that use ordinary backlight lamps.

The average uniformity of white backlight is 2.6% with a maximum deflection of 16.4%. For black, the numbers are 2.2% and 12.1%, respectively. Surprisingly, all the TN-based monitors in this review have uniform brightness although judging by the viewing angles the NEC AccuSync LCD24WMCX surely uses a different matrix than the others. Perhaps the relatively high price of 24” models in comparison with 22” and smaller ones allows the manufacturers to pay more attention to the assembly, setup and quality assurance processes, which results in more stable parameters.

The gamma curves don’t look good at the default settings. The characteristic bend in the top right part of the diagram means that the contrast is set too high.

At the reduced settings the color curves are almost ideal.

The response time is no good really. The response time average is 13.9 milliseconds (GtG) with a maximum of 24.2 milliseconds. I still can’t understand the reasons, except for marketing reasons, why the manufacturers cannot make 24” TN-based monitors with Response Time Compensation.

The color temperature is very good. The temperature dispersion is within 500K in every mode. You don’t often see such a result from a TN-based monitor.

The contrast ratio is high at 400:1. The monitor’s max brightness is lower than that of the other models in this review, but sufficient for any possible application.

Like all modern monitors from Samsung, the SyncMaster 2493HM features MagicBright technology, a few factory-set modes you can switch through quickly by pressing a button on the front panel.

The Text mode is indeed not bright just as you need for working with text under good ambient lighting (you should set the monitor up manually for working in text applications under mild evening lighting). There is also the Internet mode with a slightly higher brightness – you can use it for viewing photos and even for movies and games. The other three modes differ in color temperature and yield maximum brightness.

The monitor’s color reproduction has the same problem in "bright" modes as at the default settings: the contrast is set too high. This doesn’t affect the image much, though, especially if compared with the above-discussed monitors that used to lose a large share of lights when you enabled one of such factory-set modes.

Highs:

• Uniform brightness
• Good color reproduction setup
• Appealing exterior design
• Appropriate setup of MagicBright modes
• User-defined MagicBright button

Lows:

• Slow matrix

Recommended usage:

• Text-based applications (documents, Internet, etc)
• Viewing and simple editing of photographs
• Movies and games that do not require a fast matrix