Samsung SyncMaster 2693HM LCD monitor

A Full HD monitor featuring HDMI and boasting an attractive frame, Samsung's SyncMaster 2693HM combines excellent image quality with great looks. A 5ms response time and impressive colours make this suited for a wide range of uses, including gaming.

The 2693HM looks stunning. It features a gloss black bezel, with a chrome strip running along the bottom of the frame and a round base. The glossy surface does attract fingerprints, but a quick wipe keeps it reasonably clean. The flexibility of this monitor is excellent — the 2693HM can be raised, tilted, swivelled and rotated 360 degrees.

The touch-sensitive controls are a nice inclusion. We'd normally complain about the complete lack of tactility, but they are generally easy to use and add a touch of class to this monitor. You can adjust colour tone, contrast, brightness and position using these buttons. Unfortunately, one design oversight is the fact that you can't see them at night: there is no backlight on the keys.

The 2693HM has a maximum resolution of 1920x1200 and HDMI connectivity, so it's ideal for use with high-definition gaming consoles and Blu-ray players. At 26in, this is a large monitor and we'd highly recommend it for gaming. Of course, standard DVI and D-Sub ports for regular PC use are also available. The unit also includes two speakers, but like most monitors, they lack any sort of clarity at higher volume levels and aren't recommended for any serious use.

As previously mentioned, gamers should definitely be pleased with the 2693HM, largely thanks to a 5ms response time. During game testing we experienced minimal trailing and no noticeable ghosting issues, while testing motion revealed only minimal lag — certainly not enough to detract from the overall gaming experience. It is also well suited to watching movies; both Blu-ray and regular DVDs worked well.

Both colour and contrast are excellent. Colours are bright and clear, with accurate saturation levels and fine details. Contrast is similarly excellent, with a 3000:1 dynamic contrast ratio providing a great level of distinction at both the dark and light ends of the spectrum. We also really liked that the screen isn't glossy — under florescent office lighting, a glossy screen can cause annoying reflections. The 2693HM has a matte finish, meaning it is ideal for use in an office environment. Adding to this is clean text, with no visible aberrations when using it as a regular office monitor.

The 2693HM's vertical viewing angles are the only real downside to this monitor. They aren’t as good as we'd have hoped, though if you position the screen properly this shouldn't be too much of an issue. Horizontal viewing angles are excellent though, with no noticeable colour shift.