To the casual observer, it would appear that LCD monitors are simultaneously getting bigger and cheaper. While this may be true for some panels, there is a point where size and price don’t scale. Currently that point is in the range of 24″ LCD panels available. You have to shop carefully to find a panel that strikes a balance between price and performance.
Enter the Samsung SyncMaster 2493HM LCD panel. This is one of the latest entries into the market of 24″ HD ready LCD panels from Samsung, and it sports a whole host of interesting and promising features in a nice looking package. The 2493HM is housed in a gloss black bezel, and has some interesting aesthetic touches we’ll get into later.
Features and Specifications
Luckily it’s not all form over function, as the specifications are just as interesting. Here’s a quick rundown of the most important specs.
- Screen Size: 24″
- Resolution: 1920 x 1200
- Brightness: 400cd/m²
- Contrast Ratio: DC 10000:1 (1000:1)
The contrast ratio is one of those interesting new features I was alluding to. With these new lines of LCD panels, Samsung has implemented a dynamic contrast system. While the 2493HM has a static contrast rate of 1000:1, it can vary this rate based on what is displayed. It does make it difficult to pin down the actual contrast abilities of this panel, but hopefully it’ll turn out to be a benefit. Other highlights of the panel include a 5ms pixel response time, built in down-firing speakers, and a triple input interface (HDMI/DVI-D/D-Sub). Full features and specifications can be found on the product home page.
As for pricing, the Samsung SyncMaster 2493HM can be found for between $400 and $420 USD. This means that generally the 2493HM is sitting in that sweet spot between the ultra cheap 24 inch LCD panels, and the much more expensive pro-sumer level displays. This is typical of Samsung’s mainstream LCD displays, as they tend to be better apointed than the bargain basement panels, but not quite as feature rich (or using different panel technology) as the more expensive LCDs out there. Does the 2493HM break the mould, and show that it has both looks and brains? Well we’ll have to find out.
What’s in the Box?
Samsung has included with the SyncMaster 2493HM pretty well everything you’ll need to connect and configure this panel. A power cable is of course included, as is a DVI and a VGA cable. They also included an A-B USB cable to allow you to connect the built in USB hub. There’s also the assorted collection of paperwork, and a CD containing drivers and software.
The software package included with this panel is Samsung’s standard MagicTune suite. This utility allows you to access and configure all the OSD settings without ever touching the front controls. There’s also some minor calibration tools, and some profile management. I still relied on the OSD for most of my tweaking.
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Visual Inspection
The Samsung SyncMaster 2493HM is housed is a style of bezel becoming much more common amongst consumer electronics; the piano black fingerprint magnet. Though it does smudge easily, the gloss black finish on the 2493HM does look rather striking. The entire base and stand is done in this finish, with a small silver accent strip on the bottom between the speakers and the controls.
The base itself is fully adjustable. With it, you can adjust both tilt and height. You can also rotate the screen a full 90 degrees. The base of the…base even has a lazy Susan in it, so you can swing the screen around wildly up to a full 270 degrees.
The controls for the Samsung 2493HM are also high on aesthetics, but their practicality is questionable. There aren’t any physical buttons, rather a touch sensitive area lies underneath the label for each function. This is a major short coming though. I’ve used touch-sensitive monitor controls before and the problem with the implementation on the Samsung 2493HM is that they don’t have and type backlighting. As it stands, the buttons are a dark grey silk screen on a glossy black finish. This makes them extremely difficult to see under any but the most perfect of lighting conditions, and even more impossible to use. Some actual buttons would have been a better choice, or even a simple LED backlight when touched would have quelled my concerns.
Connectivity
When it comes to connectivity, the Samsung SyncMaster 2493HM has pretty well every option you could want in an LCD panel. The main connection block on the rear of the panel features (from left to right) an HDMI port, DVI port, VGA port, audio in, and audio out. The 2493HM is fully HDCP compliant, so you should be able to play high definition content from a player or game console over the HDMI port. And each source is seperate and selectable using the front controls, so you could use this computer to view any combination of 3 devices, be it game consoles, stand alone players, or your computer. Power is provided by a standard plug to the left of the main connections (not pictured).
A nice little addition to the host of inputs offered on the Samsung 2493HM is the small USB hub on the side of the spine of the LCD base. The hub sports two ports, and is fully USB 2.0 compliant. It’s uncertain as to whether or not this hub draws power off the main power for the panel, or if it runs unpowered. I probably wouldn’t recommend hooking up any high powered devices to these ports. That being said, you could use them for an easy access place to plug in a USB flash drive or some sort of input device. Even a keyboard and mouse would be good fodder.
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Testing and Use
To test the Samsung SyncMaster 2493HM LCD panel, we used it in a variety of real world scenarios and tried to apply an objective opinion to a somewhat subjective process. The panel is connected to my standard test bed, which includes a ZOTAC GeForce GTX 260 AMP! Edition video card, and has Windows Vista Ultimate 64-bit installed. Unfortunately, our standard suite of test patterns (which comes in application form) is incompatible with 64-bit versions of windows. Luckily we had enough tests waiting in the wings to put this panel through its paces.
First we simply turned on the computer, and used the desktop to tweak and configure the display. Samsung includes with all their display a feature called MagicBright, which gives the user a choice of which preset modes for contrast and brightness they want to run the display in. This includes the dynamic contrast mode. Unfortunately for consistent testing, we couldn’t use dynamic contrast. So we set the 2493HM to default settings, and started firing up test screens.
The first round of test screens consisted of the primary colours, white, and then black. This is to test for both dead pixels and colour uniformity. No dead or stuck pixels were present in each of the colours and shades. As for colour uniformity, the 2493HM is a TN based panel (click here for more info on panel types) with a CCFL backlight. These two factors can affect colour uniformity more then most other aspects. With that being said I can say that all colours appeared uniform across most of the panel surface, with the very top edge appearing brighter then the very bottom edge. This is typical of a TN panel, and is a result of how viewing angle affects this technology. Still the colours were very uniform, with very little backlight bleed through.
The black test was a different story, as the 2493HM reminded us that is was still a TN based panel. There was some bleed through from the backlight, and the black screen wasn’t completely and totally dark. Still it was minimal, and seemed to be greatly reduced from some of the cheaper panels I’ve seen. Having said that, these sorts of black level anomalies may make calibration with devices like the Colormunki impossible due to subtle inconsistencies in black levels. If your main use for this monitor is strictly graphics and print work, I would look to something that isn’t of the TN variety. There are other reasons as well, which we’ll go into.
Movies and Multimedia
Being a TN panel, the Samsung SyncMaster 2493HM is perfectly suited for some multimedia functions. The low pixel response time ensures that when watching video there isn’t any ghosting or image bleed. However, when it comes to graphics work, these panels may not be the best. TN panels only reproduce 6-bit colour, and upscale to 8-bit. This is barely noticeable in video, but graphics work really highlights this shortcoming. The 2493HM suffers from this like any other 6-bit panel, and we were able to confirm this from some colour gradient test screens. Once again, Samsung’s technology reproduces close to 8-bit colour, but graphics professionals may want to spend the extra scratch to get a true 8-bit LCD.
Gaming
As I noted above TN panels still excel at multimedia functions, and that includes gaming. The Samsung SyncMaster 2493HM is no different. The 5ms pixel response time of this panel allows for fast movements through the most hectic of games without any ghosting. The colour gamut of the display is good enough for most titles. There’s also one added benefit; the HDMI port and selectable source means you can plug in your favourite HDMI enabled game console to this panel and switch between work and play with ease.
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Final Thoughts and Conclusion
So where do the previous few pages leave us with the Samsung SyncMaster 2493HM? Well let’s run it down. The 2493HM is a TN based panel that sports a 1920×1200 based resolution, 5ms pixel response time, and a dynamic contrast ratio of 10,000:1. While being technically apt, it’s also aesthetically pleasing, with a gloss black finish. Pricing wise, it can be found for only slightly more than most low end panels.
The price to performance ratio is where this panel shines. Being a TN panel, the SyncMaster 2493HM is best suited to gaming and multimedia applications. The 5ms pixel response time ensures that everything on screen is smooth, and the contrast ratio and brightness makes for some crisp output. The OSD gives you access to full range of configurable settings, should you need to tweak settings further to make sure what you displaying is displayed properly. And you get a large selection of things to display, with a selection of three different inputs.
The biggest perk of the SyncMaster 2493HM is also it’s biggest drawback; being a TN based panel. Due to the use of this technology, the 2493HM isn’t quite able to display a full 8-bit colour palette. Samsung has ensured that it does a better job than most other panels, but it’s still not going to do it for those that do a lot of professional graphics work. The 2493HM also suffers from not being able to reproduce true black – another drawback of TN technology – but once again this is greatly reduced by Samsung’s engineering choices. These issues are mitigated by the fact that this panel is fairly inexpensive. Due to manufacturing costs compared to other technologies, panels in this price range are generally always TN based. The one final gripe that isn’t inexcusable is the lack of definable front controls. They need to either be distinct buttons, or have some sort of lighting to highlight which “button” is which.
In the end, the Samsung SyncMaster 2493HM is an extremely strong monitor. It seems to be positioned in the right price range for it’s performance. The flaws pointed out, thanks to Samsung’s engineering choices, aren’t the holy terrors they would be on lesser panels from one off manufacturers. This is a solid choice of display for any gamer, and a good multifunction display for those short on space. It’s a Samsung panel, through and through, and definitely a recommended product.
Pros
- Great value
- Lots of connectivity options
- Smooth video and gaming playback
- Aesthetically pleasing
Cons
- Front controls extremely difficult to read
- TN panel not suitable for pro graphics work
Overall Rating: 8.5/10.0
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Samsung SyncMaster 2493HM 24 Inch LCD Monitor
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