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Samsung SyncMaster SM-2232BW Pebble 22″ Widescreen LCD Monitor Review

Samsung SyncMaster SM-2232BW

This was my first venture into the 22″ monitor market, and I was determined to get myself a monitor which performed well. I was planning to buy the Samsung SyncMaster SM-223BW however the SM-2232BW happened to catch my eye, and it was on special offer, making it the same price as the SM-223BW. Lets get stuck in, and take a look at the specification:

Specs:
- Viewable Area: 22” Widescreen (1680×1050 Resolution)
- Interface: Analog / Digital
- Response Time: 2ms
- 16.7M Colours
- Contrast Ratio: 3000:1
- Viewing Angle (H/V): 170°/ 170°
- Brightness: 300cd/m2
- 3 Years On-Site Warranty with Samsung

The widescreen aspect ratio (16:10 as opposed to more traditional TV aspect of 16:9) makes for a large viewable area, without being stretched or cramped. As with most 22″ monitors, the SM-2232BW comes with both DVI and D-Sub connections, it also has an in-built power supply which helps reduce under-desk clutter.

The SM-2232BW boasts an impressive 2ms response time and 3000:1 contrast ratio, however this is aided by the MagicBright technology (the base contrast is closer to 1000:1) and as such is not a patch on a true 3000:1 ratio, but nonethless it provides a worthwhile boost. The brightness is rated at 300 cd/m2 which is standard for monitors of this size, however the SM2232BW has the edge thanks to Samsung’s MagicBright.

There is also a 3 Year on-site warranty should things go wrong.

Setup:
Out of the box, it was (as most monitors are) simple to put together, however I was a little nervous about the amount of force required to seat the hinge, which consists of a ball and socket type fitting with some lugs for guidance (and no doubt to restrict the tilt). After having carted this monitor around and subsequently dismantled and re-assembled the stand many times - I have to confess that I still feel nervous when dismantling the hinge. Neverthless the stand is somewhat more forgiving than with most monitors.

Plugging in for the first time, I was suprised by how bright and intense the colour was, compared to my old 19″. The OSD menu is fairly standard for Samsung, with the buttons themselves being hidden away along the bottom edge. Samsung provides their own gamma correction and colour profile software, however after getting nowhere useful with it, I elected to set the monitor manually from the OSD, which can be a mite confusing at the best of times. I also can’t help thinking that they’ve overdone it with the options - there are 5 settings for the brightness of the LED around the power button. If you’re using the DVI connection, you’ll find some of the settings are disabled - however after a bit of fiddling with the brightness and colour tone, I was able to get a nice warm, pleasing tone.

Day-to-Day use
For viewing web pages, documents and other hum-drum activities the colours are strong and the contrast stark, when image editing, it copes well with mid-tones and subtle tones.

The quick 2ms response time means that there is no hint of ghosting in games or movies, and it handles halftones and darkness well - incidentally there are separate MagicBright settings for Internet, Movie, Game, Sport - however I find that my one custom setting serves all purposes, and besides, who wants to go fiddling around with the brightness every 5 minutes.

Conclusions
Overall it is a very good monitor, however since it has identical specifications to the cheaper SM-223BW you are paying an extra £30 for the glossy black bezel. The SM-2232BW is infinitely better looking, and I defy anyone not to be impressed with it’s looks, it’s a shame that the bezel is lacking a height adjust, however this is usually the reserve of 24″ and above monitors. If you are on a tight budget, then I would advise you to go for the cheaper SM-223BW however they are both very good monitors.

Samsung has managed to occupy a large sector of the market, whilst still maintaining high quality displays - The SM-2232BW is a monitor which looks great, in every sense.

The SM-2232BW currently retails for around £225.