Absolute Gadget

Review: Samsung SyncMaster T240HD 24in DTV Monitor

Written by Rene Millman Tuesday, 25 November 2008 16:24

While PC monitor/TV combinations are nothing new in the world of displays, only a few have high-definition capabilities. So it's good to see Samsung going the Full HD (1080p) with its new T240HD display.

With full HD the monitor has a resolution of 1,920 x 1,200 in a 24-inch widescreen format. Meaning that you should be able to pipe the latest instalment of Heroes and see the evil Sylar in full glory. That aside, there is plenty of HD content available via the interweb.

The T240HD is basically a souped up version of the telly-less T240. It is also one to feature company's new Touch of Colour trademark red fringe at the bottom (see out Samsung Q210 laptop review). It has a lovely looking base on which it stands and a touch-sensitive power button and subtle power light.

Swivel and tilt on the monitor may leave some wanting for more adjustability.

{mospagebreak}While the colouring may not be to everyone's taste, that all changes when you see the back of it. For behind the screen is a ealth of connectivity choices. Two HDMi ports mean that you can hook up your PS3 and your Sky HD box without a hitch. Although with one of these hidden behind a flap, you may never find it. There is also D-SUB (VGA) and DVI ports, Component video and phono audio jacks. A 3.5mm audio input for PC audio and an optical audio output and a Scart socket completes the line-up.

The display itself is sharp enough when used in PC mode. There is a 10,000:1 dynamic contrast mode and a 5ms response time. On start up, the display is surprisingly neutral in tone, thanks to the monitor having to display TV pictures, it doesn't go for the blinding colours that some monitors go for.

The menus and settings are easy enough to navigate. The MagicBright pictures modes feature Entertain, Internet, Text, Dynamic Contrast and Custom modes. Internet mode tones down the picture for clearer reading of text, while Entertain turns up the brightness.

On the whole the screen does its best with a proper TV (i.e. Freeview) picture, although we'd really like to see new monitors employ some sort of upscaling technology to improve the sharpness of these standard definition pictures. If you want to use this for a second telly in the bedroom, it is just about acceptible, but you may find others more suitable for the task.

{mospagebreak}The display sports two 3W speakers which sound great when used for PC functions, but seem lacking when watching TV, movies or playing games. Adn this is despite the speakers featuring SRS TruSurround XT.

Some kind of picture processing on the monitor would really help dampen down the judder of a panning shot or the movement in games such as PES 2009.

That said, the TV fares better with HD content, which is something that many bedrooms may still be waiting on for a few years yet. At £400, it maybe a good idea to have something that doubles up on functions and adds a bit of versatility to the proceedings but only if you think you can afford it.

Rating: 8/10