Amazing LCD monitor for any use
Pros:
Great color and brightness without blurring
Cons:
Monitor stand feels a bit flimsy
The Bottom Line:
Great performance LCD monitor with nice added features of MagicBright3, MagicTune, 8000:1 contrast ratio, 5ms response time, HDCP, and programmable shut-off. Most bang for your buck!
|
|
Overall Rating:
|
 |
|
Author's Review
This is one amazing monitor that delivers true color with amazing clarity and brightness. Whether you're watching a movie, playing your favorite game or simply surfing the internet, this monitor performs to your highest expectations. With a contrast ratio of 8000:1, this monitor has the brightest whites and the darkest blacks I've ever seen on an LCD monitor. Reading text almost hurts your eyes because of the high contrast. And colors just pop off the screen. The simple styling of the glossy black frame and the buttons hidden underneath makes this monitor look good even when it's off. I highly recommend this monitor.
Picture
Out of the box the colors look great, for most people you wouldn't have to adjust anything. With the amazingly high contrast ratio of 8000:1, text on web pages are displayed with stunning clarity and the colors just seem to pop out of the screen. Since most websites use a pure white background, with the brightness of the monitor at 300 cd/m2, it is almost blinding when viewing from normal distances. When compared to Dell LCD monitors, this Samsung monitor delivers whites a few shades brighter. Samsung developed the MagicBright 3 technology to provide a means to quickly adjust the brightness/Contrast of the screen for the particular activity you are performing. The different modes include: Text, Internet, Game, Sport, Movie, Custom and Dynamic Contrast. It can be a hassle switching back and forth between modes if you are someone who surfs the web and plays games a lot. You may want to consider using either the Dynamic Contrast or a custom mode.
Watching movies or playing fast action games on the Samsung 2253LW is wonderful with it's fast 5ms or 2ms Gray-to-Gray response time. I tested this monitor to see how well it performs with video by playing Terminator 2 and Lord of the Rings movies and there was no blurring with fast motion. It was very impressive to say the least. I did however notice some noise in the color or a slight pixelation but I think it was because I was playing at full screen, full resolution with a regular dvd. I'm sure I would not have seen this if I was playing a blue-ray disk.
Resolution
The native resolution of this monitor is 1680 x 1050. This means, for the best clarity and performance you should set your display properties screen resolution to match that of the monitor's native resolution. If you have not done so, the monitor is nice enough to remind you with an on screen popup message.
Base
The base of this monitor is the only downside of this monitor. You cannot adjust the height and there is very limited range on the tilt. The swivel is decent but at times can feel a bit wobbly considering the very narrow neck. The one good thing about the base is how easily it assembles. No tools are required. When attaching the base to the neck it uses a built-in screw much like how tripods are attached to cameras, there is a guide nub and a latch screw.
Accessories
Samsung is nice enough to include both analog and DVI cables with this monitor.
Additional
This samsung monitor also comes with four screw holes in the back for wall mounting, a very nice addition. This is probably the initial intent for this monitor considering the base appears to be an after thought.
