Samsung SM2494HM 24-inch Widescreen LCD TFT Monitor (HDMI, DVI, USB, Gloss Black)

Not so fast Mr Mags !!

Everything fine until you start editing photos.

I expected a narrow viewing angle, but this is just unacceptable.

Adjust yourself in your seat by just a few inches and the brighness and balance of a photo shift enormously.

Even nodding your head with a fixed posture will give the same effect, it's that bad. Side to side it's tolerable, its the up/down that kills it.

These things are not sp noticeable for general apps, and its otherwise a good monitor, but for photo-editing its apalling.

I have to use a very fixed posture for photo-editing and am therefore just about to replace this with a (albeit much more expensive) monitor. I have had it 5 weeks - really dropped a cod on this one.

I also found that greens are a bit yellowy - down to low colour gamutt I have found out today.

Screams of "get what you pay for", but I have other TN panels that are fine for desk PC work so I never expected things to be this bad.

What's scary is that on-line reviews rate it pretty high - some mention the viewing angle issues, but understate it.

Not tried DVD/movies, so can't comment on those.

Before I go, note that I calibrated this with a hardware colourimeter, so its not because of poor settings.

As a final point, I think if you are serious about graphic work, you just need to accept you must pay much more for a monitor.

Very highly rated by techie magazine PCPro [5* and on top of their A List until the new Iiyama ProLite E2710HDSD toppled it], this monitor seemed a perfect replacement for my works Dell 2007WFP 20" monitor that is used for photo-editing and image analysis. This Samsung 24" monitor offers 1920x1080 resolution compared to my 20" Dell's 1680 x 1050. The Samsung's bit depth is 16.7 million colours, suggesting proper 8-bit colour per pixel [24-bit colour RGB] rather than the inferior `dithered' 6-bit [16.2 million colours]. Response time of this Samsung is quoted at 6ms compared to my Dells lamentable 16ms, suggesting it's far better for video & games. The monitor comes with a mains lead, VGA cable, DVI cable, jack speaker cable, USB2 cable, set-up pamphlet and a software/driver install CD [so only an HDMI cable is missing from the set].

I hooked up the new Samsung 2494HM via DVI to my Dell Precision 490 PC, and after a fair bit of fiddling with the on-screen menu the screen colour&brightness looked fine. However I was immediately struck with the poor viewing angles when sitting in close, about 1 foot away, as I tend to do. This is no doubt due to the budget twisted-nematic (TN) LCD display, although other TN budget [Iiyama] 22" monitors I use aren't quite as 'poor' for viewing angles as this Samsung - but in other respects this Samsung has a larger and superior quality display. Our superb works £450 BenQ FP241W 24in monitor [1920 x 1200 6ms response] is in another league though - for both build and image quality. Being over 50, I tend to sit close to my monitor and wear reading glasses. When sitting close up to this Samsung, move the head a tad too close or to one side and the screen edges dissolve into a blur. I don't get this at all with my old Dell LCD display, and as I frequently share the monitor view with a colleague this is a pain when demonstrating a photo or some software technique. In fact this problem has led to me rejecting this Samsung [I passed it on to a grateful colleague with an older 19" monitor] and I went back to my trusty 20" Dell. Being a works computer I don't play games, and I view time-lapse video rather than films on the screen. In addition, the unresponsive touch-[in]sensitive screen setup `buttons' aren't great, but they get there in the end. You can physically switch off the monitor via a well hidden switch at the rear [by the mains in], plus there's the typical 'stand-by' [touch-sensitive] switch on the front.

The fast-response, true 16:9 HiDef wide-screen of this Samsung is great for viewing DVD video films though and it gives a clear generous workspace for general PC chores - providing it's just you at the screen or you and the mates sit well back from it [3 feet or so]. There is some ghosting that might annoy gaming perfectionists [where a 2ms response time would be preferred], but overall the screen seems to suite game playing as well. Looking at the small-print of on-line reviews I see the likes of "The only minor blips were black levels and some iffy viewing angles - this may not be one for editing photos, but videos looked punchy and full of detail." So be aware of this when buying, if this is of prime importance for you [and this might mean spending more money, perhaps around £400+ for the likes of the highly rated 1920 x 1200 Dell Ultra-Sharp U2410 or the HP LP2475w]. This Samsung 2494 monitor has useful features including a twin USB hub, stereo internal speakers, screen rotation for horizontal and vertical viewing, a solidly built tilt and raise-lower stand, plus versatile HDMI, VGA and DVI inputs. Sadly the optional monitor screen setup and desktop rotate software was incompatible with my PC/graphics card. But otherwise a good looking, well made monitor with a large desktop, clear display and useful features.

I should add that others in my workplace are really impressed by this 24" monitor, some even saying 'wow' when they see it [in our land of 19" monitors this one is King] - but they tend to sit two feet or more away from it, which I think is the secret to this monitors charms [and they don't do Photoshop CS4 photo editing stuff much]. The pixel size is usefully quite large with this 24" display, making viewing icons/text from this distance no problem. A few of my more techie colleagues do agree with my criticisms, although often only noticing the negatives after I point them out.

A great monitor to use, just ensure your video adaptor is capable of supporting it. The optimum resolution is 1920x1080. If you feed this monitor with less it throws a (deletable) warning message. I tried it with a Dell 3100C which has a maximum resolution of 1680x and the image will not fill the screen correctly. It works great with my Asus M2NPV-VM motherboard and gives so much more room when using programs like Sony Vegas Movie Studio and when browsing Google Earth!