Samsung 2493HM Evaluation
The OSD options in general are similar to what we found on the Samsung 245T, though there are some differences. For example, picture-in-picture mode is missing and the options for color control are slightly more limited. Both of these changes are in tune with the "consumer" target audience. One change that we definitely don't like is the button style for the OSD. Put bluntly, we find the OSD buttons to be extremely annoying. There is no tactile feedback, and it can be difficult to see the labels against the shiny LCD bezel. Gateway gets around this by using blue LEDs to show you where the buttons are, but on the 2493HM we always felt like we were searching to find a proper place to "press". There were many occasions where we mistakenly pressed the wrong button. On the plus side, you don't have any buttons clearly visible on the front of your display, and once you have the display set up and configured properly you probably won't need to enter the OSD menus too frequently.
Samsung provides a couple "magic" options in their OSD. MagicBright is simply their name for the preset color/brightness/contrast settings, and there are seven options. Like all the other displays we've tested so far that feature dynamic contrast, we found the net result less than perfect -- color accuracy in particular is horrible when dynamic contrast is enabled (i.e. Delta E of over 12.0 after calibration). We stuck with the "custom" color setting for the remainder of our testing. You also get MagicColor, which again seems to enhance color rendering in contrast at the cost of color accuracy. Color Tone provides for other settings (cool, normal, warm, and custom) and then there's Color Effect where you can have the LCD render in grayscale or sepia tones. (Why you would want that is not something that is immediately clear.) There are also three gamma settings; mode 1 appears to correspond to 2.2 gamma, with modes 2 and 3 providing higher gamma levels.
There
are only two choices for aspect ratio control (listed under Image Size): Normal
and Wide. There is also an "AV mode" setting that enables or disables
overscan on certain resolutions. Again, why anyone would actually want to
enable overscan is beyond us. "Wide" usually stretches your selected
resolution to fill the entire screen, while "Normal" squishes things
into a standard 4:3 aspect ratio. Note that there is no 1:1 setting, so we say "yes"
in the chart below for situations where the chosen resolution fills the screen
properly without any work on the part of the user. Also note that in these cases,
the Image Size functionality is disabled. This means that the 2493HM will always have the wrong aspect ratio on 16:9 resolutions.
| Samsung 2493HM Resolution and Input Notes | |||
| DVI | HDMI | VGA | |
| 800x600 | Set to "Normal" | Set to "Normal" | Set to "Normal" |
| 1024x768 | Set to "Normal" | Set to "Normal" | Set to "Normal" |
| 1152x864 | Set to "Normal" | Set to "Normal" | Set to "Normal" |
| 1176x664 | AV Mode = Overscan to fill LCD more | AV Mode = Overscan to fill LCD more | - |
| 1280x720 | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 1280x768 | Set to "Wide" | Set to "Wide" | Set to "Wide" |
| 1280x800 | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 1280x960 | Set to "Normal" | Set to "Normal" | Set to "Normal" |
| 1280x1024 | Set to "Normal" | Set to "Normal" | Set to "Normal" |
| 1400x1050 | Always stretches to fill LCD | Always stretches to fill LCD | - |
| 1440x900 | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 1600x1200 | Set to "Normal" | Set to "Normal" | Set to "Normal" |
| 1680x1050 | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 1768x992 | AV Mode = Overscan to fill LCD more | AV Mode = Overscan to fill LCD more | - |
| 1920x1080 | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 1920x1200 | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Again, the scaling settings are limited as there is no 1:1 or proportional mode. Frequently the 2493HM scales incorrectly without manual selection of the correct scaling algorithm ("Normal" for 4:3 and 5:4 and "Wide" for 16:9 and 16:10). This is a concern with all three input types, though it's noteworthy that HDMI and DVI perform identically during testing. You can set up the "Custom Key" option in the OSD so that it will switch between the two scaling modes (or alternately use the custom key to cycle between the MagicBright, MagicColor, or Color Effect options). We couldn't enable the NVIDIA Scaling options on NVIDIA GPUs for whatever reason - the control panel always reverts to LCD control. (That occurs on some other LCDs, but they usually have better scaling functionality.) The "AV Mode" option seems odd - why would you want overscan? You can use it with 1176x664 and 1768x992, but it's better to use 720P and 1080P in the first place. You will need to disable it on many of the WS resolutions. On the plus side, the VGA auto centering/adjustment is relatively quick and accurate and remembers the settings after the initial setup.
 |
Image scaling did perform well at non-native resolutions, though we would have preferred the presence of 1:1 and aspect scaling as opposed to only getting "Normal" and "Wide". Now let's look at the color accuracy and gamut. Again, note that we disabled MagicColor and used the Custom setting on MagicBright and Color Tone.
Color gamut is the lowest of any of the tested LCDs today, coming in at 75% of Adobe RGB 1998. As a consumer display, however, this shouldn't be a major problem - sRGB has a much smaller color space, and the 2493HM gamut is fine for normal use. There are two sides to the color accuracy story. On the one hand, calibrated color is pretty mediocre, with an average Delta E of 1.8 and several colors in the 3.0 and above range. The uncalibrated colors on the other hand score almost the same as the calibrated colors, with an average Delta E of 2.4. That puts the 2493HM in second place among tested LCDs for uncalibrated color accuracy.
To Samsung 2493HM more or less lives up to its billing as a consumer LCD. It doesn't have all the high-end features that we find on displays like this Dell 2408WFP, but the default color accuracy is quite impressive and you also avoid the input lag that we measured on all the S-PVA panels. Online prices start at only $450, including a 3-year manufacturer warranty. Outside of demanding image professionals, we think the 2493HM is a great choice for a display that provides accurate colors at an extremely attractive price. Depending on whether you prefer glossy or matte finishes on your LCD panel, it's really a tossup between the Gateway FHD2400 and the 2493HM.
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Bolas - Friday, July 31, 2009 - link
Anand,Any chance of a 30" monitor roundup for those of us wanting to buy an extreme HD monitor to go along with the new high end gaming computer we're buying around Christmas time?
I'm not sure which is best between the stuff currently on the market (or things coming out in the near future, say by Christmas). I've heard of:
Dell 3007WFP
Dell 3008WFP
HP LP3065
Gateway XHD3000
Samsung Synchmaster 305T
Apple Cinema 30"
Am I missing any 30" monitors currently available? Which is the best, regardless of price? Which is the best in terms of bang-for-the-buck? Which is "future-proof", with good connectivity? I plan to use it to play Starcraft II and Warcraft III and maybe some Everqeust.
I just turned 40, so as part of my mid-life crisis, I'm buying a high end gaming computer, probably a CyberPower Black Mamba or a Digital Storm of some kind, depending on how the stock market does.
Basically an overclocked Core i7 with three-way or quad SLI. My computer budget is $4000 to $6000, not including monitor price, and I can get a nicely configured Cyberpower for about $5400 last I checked. But what to use to display all that computer goodness? I figure to spend $1000 to $2000 on a 30" monitor, but which one?!?
Thanks!
-Bolas
szore - Tuesday, June 23, 2009 - link
I bought this for about $269 free tax and shipping and I love it for gaming.jpp - Monday, September 15, 2008 - link
Hi,First of all a big thank you for these reviews - they are top notch.
I'm currently trying to decise between the Samsung and the Dell. I'm not into gaming, so latency doesn't bother me. Nor for that matter do the plethora of inputs both provide - I'll just be using with the one DVI input at native resolution.
Living in PAL country, I would be delighted if either of these monitors do 50Hz FR. I doubt it very much, but thought it worth asking. I know that my large Samsung 405T wasn't specified at 50Hz, but it is able to do it natively nevertheless which makes for judder free PAL DVD and FTA TV program watching on the screen.
So, apart from this probably undefined/untested aspect, which would be the better choice, given as I say that I am not interested in gaming?
I bring this comparison up here as this review does not list the Samsung in its comparison table. The Dell was the editor's choice, but the Samsung was reviewed after this 24in line up, so I was wondering if it could be included somewhere in the ranking?
Thansk again for the tremendous effort that goes into the testing and reporting.
Phil.
jpp - Monday, September 15, 2008 - link
As I can't edit my previous post, just a correction wrt the timing of the 2 reviews.The Samsung review was done before the 24in panel review, yet it's not listed in this review. That seems a bit odd and I was wondering why that is the case?
billingsgate - Monday, May 26, 2008 - link
I can't find reviews anywhere of Eizo LCD monitors. Eizo has a great reputation, but that's all I seem to be able to go on. A salesman gave me a really good pitch for the Eizo FlexScan S2401W. It's a Samsung TN panel (he claims), but somehow being an Eizo it's much better for color quality than any Samsung in the price range. It seems to be a good candidate for balancing accurate color and minimum input lag. But I can't be sure, since I can't test it in the shop for any of those things, plus the shops where I live are all little cubby holes in computer centers, with minimum choice in each shop, so it's impossible to do any side-by-side comparisons between Eizo, Samsung, NEC, etc., since they're never together in the same place.Any thoughts on Eizo's (relatively) budget line of FlexScans?
silvajp - Sunday, May 25, 2008 - link
Today I bought a Samsung 2693HM for $600 - $50 rebate and I am blown away. It looks great - very bright and vibrant. I am wondering if it has the same low input lag as the 2493HM. The resolution is 1920x1200 so at 25.5" it's got bigger pixels which is just fine for my poor tired eyes.billingsgate - Thursday, May 15, 2008 - link
Can someone help me with a recommendation? After reading billions of reviews of monitors I am confused as hell? is there a "best compromise" LCD monitor for both color accuracy and least lag time?I am not a gamer. I am an animation professional, and I heavily use Wacom tablets for drawing, loose and freehand, with Photoshop, Flash, and various professional animation programs. I've always used a CRT monitor and never once have experienced any lag between my stylus movement and lines on screen. I do own a Compaq tablet PC, and when I draw on-screen, the lag is perceptible enough to make the drawing very unnatural and inhibited. I just can't draw freehand that way.
As my beloved, expensive flat screen Samsung CRT monitor is now dying after 7 years of heavy use, I'm in the market for an LCD. In my business I need both excellent color accuracy and zero or minimal lag time for stylus input. Where I live (Hong Kong) there isn't a single shop that would ever allow me to test such a setup, so it's a lottery for me. Plus, their in-store demonstrations for color "accuracy" are geared for Asian tastes, which is heavy HEAVY on oversaturated red (while westerners prefer oversaturated green).
After poring through all the reviews, particularly on this site, I can't even narrow down the choices to 4 or 5 candidates. The Dell 2408 looks amazing except for lag time. The Samsung XL20 (not widescreen, but I don't really care) looks great for color and no lag time, but it has a noisy fan (irritating!) and is a bit smaller than I want.
Can someone seriously help me to narrow the potential choices for something that has good or great color and minimal input lag? I won't ever use it for gaming or for TV or video viewing.
hjkelly - Thursday, May 15, 2008 - link
I'm in a similar spot - into editing photos and watching movies. I was almost set on the Dell 2408, but then I found out it has about four frames of lag, which wouldn't be fun for movies (or drawing with a Wacom tablet, I'm sure). I've finally settled on DoubleSight's DS-263N. If you want a quick summary, it's like an Apple Cinema display, but 26" and with a polarizer to get rid of the white haze at wider angles. It's also very fast, less than one frame's delay, I believe. It's around $700, but the catch is that it's hard to find in stock, so you'll have to be on your toes to get one. But isn't that just a sign of quality, really? =)JarredWalton - Friday, May 16, 2008 - link
Surely you know someone over there that can let you borrow an LCD to test out? Honestly, I don't think you'll experience problems with input lag - we're talking about 50ms or so relative to a CRT, so 1/20 of a second. What you've noticed on a tablet PC probably has a lot more to do with the lack of processing power and other differences. All you really need to do is find someone with an S-PVA 24" LCD and you can see if you notice lag. I can game fine on the 2408WFP - the lag is just barely perceptible at times, but not enough to cause me problems. But I'm not a competitive gamer.As for DoubleSight, their 26" LCD is about to be phased out apparently - I asked them for a review sample and they said it was at EOL. It may become even more difficult to find in stock shortly.
Anyway, I hear good things about a few MVA panels (that I haven't ever seen let alone tested), or if money isn't a serious concern just pick up something like the HP LP3065. For professional use, I have a hard time finding anything I would prefer to a nice S-IPS 30" LCD. And the 2560x1600 gaming resolution is nice as well.
billingsgate - Friday, May 16, 2008 - link
Actually, I don't know anyone with an LCD screen to borrow, other than my son's cheap one which is fine for gaming but not even close to being color accurate, so not exactly a good example. I can tell you that I tried a Wacom Cintiq tablet, which is essentially an LCD screen you can draw on. It was connected to a G5 Mac, so no lack of processing power. The lag on that was a fraction of a fraction of a second. But I kept finding my hand slowing down to let the line catch up to the stylus, which sucked all the spontaneity out of my drawing. In other words, for a "sensitive artist", even a small lag is noticeable. With the Cintiq I attribute it to the signal having to travel round trip on a USB connection. But I am now quite concerned about buying the wrong LCD and being stuck with it. This isn't the USA. Once you buy something and leave the shop, there is no such thing as returning it.So, to repeat my question: can you or someone help to recommend a shortlist of monitors that are both good to great for color accuracy, and minimal for input lag?