Verdict: Quirky panel size, same old TN image quality.
With prices tumbling and screen sizes swelling, has there ever been a better time to pick up an LCD monitor? It's doubtful - after all, it was only a few years ago that an LCD panel bigger than 20in was considered exotic. However, the downside of large TFTs becoming easily affordable is the ocean of similar and mediocre screens available. Picking your way through the myriad of affordable 20- and 22-in screens with near-identical spec lists can be a chore. When a product that's slightly out of the ordinary - such as this oddly sized 21.6in screen - arrives on the scene, it's worth paying attention.
Samsung's new SyncMaster 2253LW sports a number of image enhancement technologies that promise to lift it above the norm. This is especially relevant given that this monitor uses the cheaper TN+Film panel technology rather than something more high-end, such as a PVA or IPS LCD panel.
One of its features is MagicBright3, which is Samsung's latest version of the dynamic contrast technology that's becoming increasingly popular. The basic idea involves on-the-fly adjustment of the backlight - the brighter the image data sent to the SyncMaster 2253LW, the higher the backlight setting. The result is a staggering 8,000:1 claimed contrast ratio.
Complementing the dynamic contrast is Samsung's MagicColor technology. The marketing spiel purports further image data analysis and by-colour enhancement in order to produce more vibrant, saturated colours. Elsewhere, the specifications are par for the course for a monitor of this type, price and size. The 1,680 x 1,050 native resolution, 300 cd/m2 brightness and 2ms grey-to-grey pixel response are predictable, as are D-SUB and DVI (with HDCP support) display inputs, 16.7 million colours (courtesy of dithering) and the tilt-only chassis.
Unfortunately, once fired up, it quickly becomes clear that the SyncMaster 2253LW's image quality tends towards the mundane. Anyone with a healthy interest in panel technologies will instantly recognise this monitor for what it is: an affordable TN unit. Colours are slightly washed-out and watery, while the overall image lacks the depth and solidity of more expensive PVA and IPS alternatives.
Enable the MagicBright3 and MagicColor options, and the situation scarcely improves. MagicBright3 is a tool that crushes the backlight to absurdly low levels when a dark scene in a game or movie is rendered, only to clumsily reignite it when the merest dash of light penetratesthe image data. The fact that the SyncMaster 2253LW's panel offers fairly good backlight occlusion (as indicated by the 1,000:1 static contrast ratio) for a TN monitor only makes MagicBright3 even more pointless.
Similarly, the principal effect of MagicColor is to transform the dull but moderately accurate default colour balance into a gaudy, oversaturated mess. Overall, these enhancements don't offer much benefit, and are a reminder that there's only so much you can achieve with a basic TN panel.
Objective image quality testing and calibration only backs this up. Much as you'd expect, there's evidence of compression at the top end of the colour scale as well as the white scale. The SyncMaster 2253LW copes a little better when rendering blacks and darker shades, so if you exclusively play shadowy games and watch horror films then you might not notice the deficiencies of the screen too much. Colour and image quality purists have probably turned the page by now, but just in case they haven't, we also have to report banding on colour gradients and some minor flicker in the pixel walk test. These faults are nothing to worry about unless you're running an image-based business, but they're further indication that this isn't a quality screen.
Ignoring the fancy extras of SyncMaster 2253LW and treating it as a standard TN monitor, we saw reasonable results in our game and video tests. The screen was fairly vibrant when displaying the highly saturated colours of Crysis, for instance. The dusty desert vistas in Call of Duty 4 also looked realistic, although they lacked the sharpness and clarity of more expensive panels. The TN panel's strength is the quick pixel response time - we saw little in the way of unwanted motion blur.
Samsung has also avoided the inherent narrow viewing angles of TN technology. There's little evidence of the off-centre colour inversion in dark tones that typically affects this panel type, which is a boon in movies.The backlight is fairly even and only exhibits occasional traces of bleed around the edges of the panel.
Conclusion
Compared with many popular 22-inch models, the SyncMaster 2253LW isn't cheap or festooned with useful extras - it lacks an HDMI input and a height-adjustable stand, for example. The glossy-bezelled chassis is attractive, but the missing 0.4in of screen area over a 22in screen is apparent, while MagicBright3 and MagicColor fail to deliver tangible benefits. As such, we have to refer you to the Elite list rather than recommend that you buy this screen.
