Samsung 2443 impressions

[fishrule]

Hey guys, just got my Samsung 2443BW from Newegg today, and I must say I am mighty impressed. For a TN panel it has pretty good viewing angles, a good response time, and good color accuracy when calibrated. Its nice to see its still possible to get good 16:10 monitors. The swivel function works very well, and is as smooth as can be, so I don't have any complaints about the stand. Backlighting is almost completely uniform, which was an extremely pleasant surprise for me.

All I can say is I am in love, I will try to get some pictures of it posted later.

 

[Saiyajin]

Your timing is perfect. I was thinking about buying one myself after narrowing down the limited 1920x1200 offerings out there, but I still have some questions.

-- In case you own an Xbox or PS3, can this monitor do proper 16:9 scaling (with black bars on the top and bottom) instead of stretching the picture? I downloaded the user manual and there's supposed to be an "Image Size" submenu within the "Size&Position" menu in the OSD. According to the instructions you can set the incoming signal to "AV" to access 4:3 and 16:9 modes. Have you tried this feature yet?

-- How are viewing angles in landscape mode? This Youtube video shows the monitor in portrait mode, and it doesn't seem to have much tolerance, although I am far more interested in the horizontal position.

-- How good are the blacks and the lightbleeding? If you can take a picture it would be great.

-- Is the screen finish matte or glossy? How sharp and legible is the text?

-- Can you calibrate decently with the supplied "Magic" software or did you use a colorimeter?

-- Is the brightness manageable to work comfortably for several hours? I keep mine at 20 but it's a 250 cd/m2 screen. The 2443bwt is 300 cd/m2.

Those are my concerns for now. I would really appreciate your feedback.

Thanks !!

 

[jvsfms]

I've had a 2443BW for at least six months and am reasonably pleased (for a TN). Unfortunately, I'm not qualified to comment on most of your questions

I'd say that (roughly) the screen starts to darken noticably (in landscape mode) once you move 30 degrees from center ... just a rough guess. I -think- that it has a matte finish with a little bit of "dirtyness" on white screens. I don't notice any "sparkle", but I may not be sensitive to such things. I've currently got my brightness/contrast at 76/87, which may give you an indication of what kind of newbie I am .... (I often wear the Gunnar spectacle which tones things down).

 

[fishrule]

- I own an Xbox but this monitor only have VGA and DVI connectors, I don't see an HDMI plug on the back. So I cannot comment on how it works with consoles. If I change to a lower resolution in games it simply fills up the screen, I do not see black bars.

- Landscape mode viewing angles are fine, just like jvs said, about 30 degrees. Portrait is pretty bad, like 5 degrees.

- Blacks are very good, there is very little lightbleed. I will take a picture later to show.

- The screen is matte, with Cleartype on I consider text to be fairly sharp.

- I calibrated with a Colorimeter. I did get a pretty good calibration by eye though before I broke out the Colorimeter. (Using Windows 7 built in calibration).

- Brightness has not bothered me.

The Magic software is garbage, don't touch it with a 10 foot pole.

 

[NCX]

Can you post contrast measurements after calibration, color temperatue, Gamma and Delta E values please?

When taking a picture of the back light bleed turn off all the lights and display a black image. Make sure you dont set the cameras exposure to high and ahve the flash off.

 

[Naitachal]

I'm currently considering this monitor too, I'm after a 24" 1920x1200 and all I seem to see is this and the HP ZR24W posted everywhere.. as a gaming monitor, how would you say this stands up to the HP? Are there any other offerings we can compare?

 

[Saiyajin]

- I own an Xbox but this monitor only have VGA and DVI connectors, I don't see an HDMI plug on the back. So I cannot comment on how it works with consoles. If I change to a lower resolution in games it simply fills up the screen, I do not see black bars.

- Landscape mode viewing angles are fine, just like jvs said, about 30 degrees. Portrait is pretty bad, like 5 degrees.

- Blacks are very good, there is very little lightbleed. I will take a picture later to show.

- The screen is matte, with Cleartype on I consider text to be fairly sharp.

- I calibrated with a Colorimeter. I did get a pretty good calibration by eye though before I broke out the Colorimeter. (Using Windows 7 built in calibration).

- Brightness has not bothered me.

The Magic software is garbage, don't touch it with a 10 foot pole.

Thanks a lot for your input. Are you having trouble with your vertical angles in landscape mode? Some reviewers say the picture isn't good even looking at it from the center, with colors on the top being richly saturated while on the bottom pale and washed out. My current monitor is a 21.5" TN and I notice colors break easier on the vertical shift than horizontally, but I do get a clear, even picture if looking from the center.

It's good to know this monitor responds well to a colorimeter. I guess there's no way getting around it... I will have to buy one regardless of the LCD model I end up with.

If you have a few minutes to spare, please take a picture of a black screen to judge the light bleeding.

Lastly, any trouble manipulating the stand? I saw a different Samsung model yesterday at a store, one without height adjustability, and boy was it a pain to use. The base would screech everytime I tried to tilt it back and forth making it hard to position at any angle. The plastic it was made of felt flimsy and cheap, making the whole thing wobble applying little force. Is the "HAS" stand featured in the 2443 well constructed?