All widescreen LCD monitors are not created
equal, and unfortunately this leads to pretty confused looking consumers as they try to understand why identical screen
sizes can differ in price by hundreds of dollars. Put simply, the LCD technology behind the screen size
is the reason.
The most common LCD panel technology is called TFT/TN, for Twisted Nematic.
It's economical to manufacture and has a quick pixel response time, but
suffers from shallow viewing angles and often limited colour gamut. The trade
off with widescreen TFT/TN based LCD displays is that while the are
very affordable, sometimes looking at the center of the screen places you at an
angle steeper than that supported by the display. Once you exceed the
viewing angle, the outer corners of the display may have an
unattractive "tunnelling" effect. Ditto if you happen to lean back too far
in your chair, given that the vertical viewing angle is 160° degrees.
If you're willing to sacrifice viewing angles and superb colour
representation you can get a 22" display for not a lot of money... quite little
in some instances. Casual computer users and gamers often are, but in our
opinion professional computer users should never. If you work in the photo,
video, illustration, or content creation worlds, spend the $600 on a
great 22-24" LCD display built around an S-PVA panel. The Samsung 275T and 245T are great examples I've had first hand
experience with.
Okay, so the 22" widescreen Samsung Syncmaster 2243BW LCD display PCSTATS is
testing in this review is oriented towards budget and gamer crowds - that much
is clear. The Syncmaster 2243BW retails for the very affordable amount of $270 CDN, making it a tempting choice for a dual 22" display set
up.
The display itself offers users a 16:10 widescreen aspect
ratio display with a resolution of 1680x1050 pixels, so 1080p High Definition movies will be played back in a somewhat downscaled resolution at full
screen. Most normal people won't notice the difference, but purists of the HD 1080p religion will no doubt be as unsatisfied by this fact as PCSTATS is about the entire 2243BW. Moving along, the 22" screen has an anti-reflective non-glossy coating and
features a brightness rating of 300 cd/m2, contrast ratio of 1000:1 (dynamic
contrast of 8000:1) and the industry standard 5ms G-to-G pixel refresh
time. The LCD panel technology is a-si TFT/TN, pixel pitch is a nominal
0.282mm. While the Syncmaster's 22" widescreen format is certainly pleasing, the
viewing angles are an uninspiring 170° horizontal, 160° vertical.
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Samsung Syncmaster 2243BW 22" LCD Display |
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SPECIFICATIONS:
Screen
size: 22"
Brightness: 300
cd/m2
Contrast Ratio:
1000:1
(Dynamic Contrast Ratio:
8000:1)
Viewing Angle:
170°/160°
Interface: DVI,
Analog
Resolution:
1680x1050
Pixel Pitch:
0.282mm
Response Time: 5ms
(G-to-G)
Power Draw:
45W
Dimensions: 16x13.2x2.6"
VESA Mount:
100x100mm |
VIDEO/MEDIA:
Aspect Ratio: 16:10
HDCP: Yes
Video:
No
Audio:
No
USB2.0 Ports:
No
Backlight:
CCFL
Panel: a-si TFT/TN
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Includes:
DVI and Analog video cable, AC power cable,
driver/manual CD.
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Of those specs, the 1000:1 contrast ratio and 300cd/m2
brightness rating indicate the Samsung 2243BW will have suitably black
backgrounds and generally vibrant colours
at the native resolution of 1680x1050 pixels. The Syncmaster 2243BW is HDCP compliant over a DVI
video connection, but you can also connect it via an analog VGA cable.
The display does not have a built in USB hub.
Encased in a rounded edge all black chassis with narrow bezels around
the screen, the Syncmaster 2243BW offers 80mm of vertical height adjustment, 30° of panel
tilt, 360° of swivel and a panel that rotates 90° for quick portrait-mode viewing.
The 'Height Adjustable Stand' is removeable, facilitating 100mm VESA arm or wall mounting if desired.
The 22" Syncmaster 2243BW draws a moderate 45W power
when on, less than 1W in standby mode. It does
not have physical power switch to cut out down on phantom power consumption, the power supply is
self contained in the back of the screen. The backlight is CCFL.
Non-Haptic Control Keys
The Syncmaster 2243BW uses a novel touch
sensitive buttonless control panel. The control panel takes a little getting used to as there are no haptic indicators for any of the
button locations. In dark environments it is hard to navigate the OSD menu because the button icons
are embossed in a dark gray, so visually there isn't much contrast against
the black plastic to guide your fingertip to right spot.
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There are six control buttons on the face of the
Syncmaster 2243BW display. Adjacent to the power button is a blue
LED to
indicate panel status. The
buttons are touch sensitive, yet unfortunately there is no haptic indicator to guide your finger
to the correct spot. |
The all-black bezel is 13mm wide, and user controls consist of
six keys. A broad array of user adjustment is possible through
the
On Screen Display, and an illuminated status indicator is situated off to the far right corner
where it's not distracting. To curb potential theft the Syncmaster 2243BW has a Kensington lock receptacle
on the back.
Samsung's 2243BW LCD displays is Microsoft Vista compatible. The display comes with a software manual
on the CD which includes handy links to the support website. Supplied
are DVI and Analog video cable, and power plug.
Now that we've covered the basic specs, let's go in
for a closer look at this 22" LCD display...
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