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1,920 x 1,200 TFTs

Is your monitor giving you tunnel vision? We put 6 TFTs through their paces, looking for a wider horizon.

Samsung SyncMaster 245B

Manufacturer:Price:
£351.31 inc VAT
Reviewer:Review Date:
James MorrisOct 2007
Quality32/5064%
Features17/2568%
Value22/2588%
Overall
71%
 

Verdict: Inexpensive and responsive, but image quality is mediocre and the Iiyama B2403WS is cheaper.


Samsung's SyncMaster 244T was one of the first TFTs to challenge Dell's dominance of the high-end widescreen TFT market. With its overdriven PVA technology, it offered image quality that only much more expensive S-IPS panels could beat. However, it also suffered from the lag that's characteristic of overdriven PVA. This considerably reduced its appeal for gamers.

The SyncMaster 245B is the spiritual successor to the 244T, but costs around half the price. At first glance, it seems to be a slight improvement, with a 5ms response time instead of 6ms. However, it uses a 6-bit TN panel instead of an 8-bit S-PVA model, so it doesn't have the 500cd/m2 brightness of its predecessor. This has a significant effect on dynamic range too.

Although illumination is uniform across the screen, we found that viewing angles were very narrow. The contrast needs to be set quite high to keep whites white. Even then, when we examined the panel using DisplayMate, shades of grey disappeared in both very bright and very dark regions.

Although our Blu-ray movie showed reasonable colour balance, the dynamic range was poor, with disappointing black levels. Our sequence from 'The Return of the King' was similarly below par. Subtle differences in hue weren't discernible, and the limited dynamic range meant that we were stuck with the option of making everything either too bright or uniformly dull.

Gaming performance was a little more commendable. Some detail was still evident in Prey's darkest areas, although scenery textures weren't tremendously vibrant. Need for Speed: Carbon was also acceptably colourful. However, one area in which the TN panel is superior to S-PVA panels is responsiveness, as the 245B is nowhere near as laggy as the 244T. Although you lose a lot in image quality, you gain a little back if your gaming calls for split-second reactions more than gorgeous vistas.

Overall, Samsung's SyncMaster 245B is a poor replacement for the 244T. It may have improved on the latter's problem with lag, but in terms of image quality, it's a very poor relation. The extremely low price makes it a value contender, but with Iiyama's E2403WS significantly undercutting it, the SyncMaster 245B failed to distinguish Samsung this month. We'll have to look forward to the forthcoming 245T instead.


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