 |
| LCD Display Tests |
Observations |
| Brightness and
Contrast: |
The Samsung
243T display showed good gray scale shading. The white scale
bars were clear and contrasted well with the black test background.
It was difficult to see a perceptible change between 1% and 2% black
test bars. Overall, the 243T's 500:1 contrast ratio translated into almost jet-black backgrounds
and brilliant white text which was great to see. Minute shading changes seemed
to be a bit of an issue, as the black shading test
bards blended together into an almost uniform gray
when viewed from more than a 45 degree
angle.
|
| Colour
Vibrancy: |
Colour vibrancy was excellent on the 243T. The
all white screen
faded into an off-white at more than 45 degrees again, but when
viewed centrally the brightness appeared to be uniform, which is good.
The red, green and blue test screens were very bright and the colour saturation was
excellent. There were no dull or broken pixels visible, which
should be expected from a display of this
expense.
|
| Colour
Shading: |
By displaying a primary colour transition from
solid colour to black, it is possible to see one how well the LCD
panel handles colour shading. Limited to 16.7 million colours, LCD
screens often suffer banding to some degree. The slight transition
from one shade to another can lead to a visible 'stepped'
appearance. The Syncmaster 243T fairs well here, though slight
banding was visible on the green screen test.
|
Resolution:
(native
and non-native) |
Resolution is excellent at the native
1920x1200. At a non-native 1280x768, dithering was acceptable
despite some slight blurring. If you prefer larger fonts or need to
run at a non-native resolution, the 243T will handle text
gracefully.
|
| Moire: |
When testing the Syncmaster 243T display on
its analog input, we saw no visible background noise in any of the moire
tests.
|
| Broken pixels, response
times and other evaluation notes: |
The 243T we
tested did not have a single broken pixel on it - a measure of LCD
panel quality we have come to expect when testing Samsung
displays. In our tests (at 60Hz) rapidly moving text up and down, no text
streaking was visible.
As we stated, the 243T did not prove ideal for
gaming due to the average (25ms) pixel response times. In our
response time test, the SyncMaster 243T showed minor distortion at
600 pixels per second movement and above, but nothing to write home
about. This may make gaming slightly less enjoyable than it would be
on a comparable CRT monitor, but it will not affect any other usage
of the
display.
| |
Final Words
Possibly
the most telling way to rate any given product
is by judging the level of enjoyment we derived from reviewing it. In
the case of the Samsung SyncMaster 243T, it's a clear smash hit
- and we can be pretty jaded about these things.
:-)
We did not experience any degree of frustration or disappointment while
testing the Samsung Syncmaster 243T display, and it was generally a joy
to use. Of course it's not too often PCSTATS
reviews a display with the specifications of this one... but we did catch
ourselves loading up favourite desktop backgrounds just to see how they would
look on the vast 1920x1600 real estate of the SyncMaster
243T.
Using the
digital DVI input, brightness, picture quality and sharpness were excellent across
the board. The only imperfections were a mildly less
than perfect rendering of true black shades in one of the monitor
tests, and a general blurring of the darker end of the scale when viewed
off-center. The rendering of the transition between grey and white was
excellent on this display. Colours were extremely vivid and saturated,
while remaining fairly even across the whole screen.
The build quality of the Samsung SyncMaster 243T is
also excellent. The stand is substantial and does not slip around when the
monitor is being adjusted. The pivoting and monitor rotation hinges work
effortlessly, making handling this heavy screen very easy.
When
pivoted to landscape mode, the SyncMaster 243T provides a great platform for web
surfing or document editing. The amount of screen real-estate you can devote to
web pages or documents is... impressive. The included Pivot Pro utility allows
for easy mode switching, and adjusts the screen resolution along with its
orientation. The only concern here is that the joints on the stand will
eventually loosen up leaving the weight of the LCD panel to slump forward. When pivoting the panel 90
degrees around, the movement is very free and easy, so this may
lead to 'rotational creeping' somewhere off in the future. A firmer joint would have
satisfied us on this point, as the last thing anyone wants
to see is 24" of LCD screen spontaneously shifting...
With a
sticker price in the region of $2700 CDN ($2230 USD), the Samsung SyncMaster 243T is a high end solution ideally suited
for commercial and demanding office applications, or consumers with a very deep pocket who demand
high resolution screen real estate for their computing needs. Gamers might not appreciate this
screen if they are fixated on pixel response times. Few LCDs compare favourably to CRT monitors for gaming.
There are
only a handful of 24" LCD displays in existence with the specs and quality
of this one, and if you are in the market for a high quality wide screen
LCD for computing applications, I do not think you will be disappointed with the
Samsung SyncMaster 243T.
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