SyncMaster 275T

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Thinking of getting a big monitor? Then try out this 27in monster from Samsung. It has a native resolution of 1920x1200, so it can display full high definition content (1080p) with ease (albeit with 120 lines of resolution left over, so you'll still get black bars above and below the picture), plus it's perfect for lining up multiple documents and application windows side by side. The large size of the screen, coupled with the high-definition resolution, make it viewable from a distance -- icons and text aren't too small on the screen, so it's a comfortable monitor for most desktop setups. It can even be used as a TV thanks to its component, S-Video and composite connections, which allow you to plug in a digital TV set-top box or an HD gaming console.

Pros

  • Excellent black level, Greyscale and colour reproduction; No hint of ghosting; Very wide viewing angles

Cons

  • Has a large dot pitch, Text and curves suffered from a lack of sharpness, Some gamers may want a higher resolution than 1920x1200

Bottom Line

All things considered, this monitor is very easy on the eyes. Its colour reproduction was excellent, it didn't suffer from any motion problems and it was viewable even from the most obtuse angles. It's well worth considering, if you can afford it, and not only can it be used as a computer monitor, it can also be used to plug in gaming consoles, a digital TV set-top box, or even a VCR.

Would you buy this?

  • Price

    $ 1,999.00 (AUD)

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As for its picture quality, the 275T is hard to fault. Its default brightness, contrast and colour settings produced vibrant colours, bright whites and rich blacks -- we didn't even have to venture into the on-screen display menu. In DisplayMate's greyscale tests, none of the grey levels suffered from discolouration, and there were even tones between each grey level on the scale. The black level test showed all the dark levels of grey on a black background, while the black background was even darker than the darkest level of grey. Likewise, the extreme greyscale test showed every single dark level of grey on a black background and every single light grey colour on a white background. Fine colour details and shadowed areas were not lost on this monitor, which translated to excellent performance in our photo tests.

The colour ramp test in DisplayMate showed clear tonal differences between brightness levels (from darkest to lightest) for primary and secondary colours, but the brightest level of red looked a little too saturated. Even so, the vibrant colours made our photos look great and games also benefited from the rich colour reproduction.

With a pixel response time of 6ms, the monitor isn't prone to ghosting during fast-paced (or even slow-paced) gaming, and we didn't notice any ghosting or streaking during gaming sessions in FEAR, nor when running 3DMark06 and watching movies. For watching DVDs, the screen is adequate, but many movies will look blotchy and poorly defined. This is because the resolution of DVDs is 720x576, and this has to be scaled up to fill the 1920x1200 screen. High definition content, such as digital TV, will look good on the screen, but this will also depend on the quality of the source content that the TV channels broadcast.

For a big monitor, its uniformity was almost excellent. We noticed only very slight hints of darkness in each of the corners. The screen also has impeccable viewing angles where it can be viewed almost perfectly from any angle. However, because it has a large dot pitch (0.303), its image isn't quite as clear as smaller monitors with the same native resolution, which have a smaller dot pitch. Text suffers a little from purple fringing and curves aren't perfect, but it's not overly noticeable.

All things considered, this monitor is very easy on the eyes. Its colour reproduction was excellent, it didn't suffer from any motion problems and it was viewable even from the most obtuse angles. It's well worth considering, if you can afford it, and not only can it be used as a computer monitor, it can also be used to plug in gaming consoles, a digital TV set-top box, or even a VCR.

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