X-bit labs

Dual-Display Monitor: Samsung SyncMaster 2263DX Review (page 8)

Category: Other

by Oleg Artamonov

[ 05/05/2008 | 02:13 PM ]

The mini-monitor’s color gamut is small, much smaller than the standard sRGB color space. The two coincide more or less in blues, but greens and reds look faded on the UbiSync 7. That’s not a surprise for me as I’ve seen similar results in our tests of photo frames which seem to use the same matrix type.

You can easily imagine how red and green look on the UbiSync 7 because matrixes of a majority of modern notebooks have about the same color gamut.

You shouldn’t worry about the reproduction of halftones: the gamma curves lie close to each other and to the theoretical curve. Take note that the monitor has no problems reproducing the entire range of halftones, from darkest to lightest.

The main drawback in the monitor’s color reproduction is that it yields very cold colors. The color temperature is above 10,000K, the UbiSync 7 producing a bluish picture in comparison with the companion monitor. Many users prefer a color temperature of 6500-7000K, after all. Unfortunately, it is impossible to correct the color temperature of the mini-monitor’s image.

Interestingly, the UbiSync 7 has a higher specified response time (30 milliseconds) but a lower real response time than the 2263DX! Its response time average is 13.3 milliseconds (GtG) with a maximum of 25.9 milliseconds. This only shows how distant the ISO measurement method is from reality. The mini-monitor is formally slower only because its matrix is not fast on the black-white-black transition although it performs the other transitions just as fast as full-size modern monitors do.

The screen brightness varies from 14 to over 160nits. This is lower than with full-size monitors but more than enough to display some information under normal ambient lighting. You are not going to watch movies under sunlight on this 7” screen, are you?

Thus, the UbiSync 7 is not inferior to full-size monitors in most parameters except for the size of the screen. It has a good resolution (sufficient for its screen diagonal), high brightness and adequate color reproduction. So, the UbiSync 7 can be used to display not only text, but also graphical information, even photographs and video. The flexible fastening system allows placing the mini-monitor in any place convenient to you. You can place it on your desk or attach to your full-size monitor. Finally, the mini-monitor doesn’t need a graphics card – one USB port is all that it needs.