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ZDNet / Syncmaster / Review

Samsung SyncMaster 2333SW 23-inch LCD Monitor

By Alex Kidman, CNET.com.au on April 7th, 2009 
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Overview

Samsung's attractive "cream" monitor has a lot of upside, once you get the annoying base unit snapped on.

Editors' rating:

8.0/10

RRP:

AU$549.00

The good

  • Excellent display characteristics
  • Nice design

The bad

  • Awkward monitor stand
  • Full brightness can wash out images

Design

The SyncMaster 2333SW is part of Samsung's "cream" series of LCD monitors. It's the top of the range 23-inch model, joined by the slightly cheaper AU$449 21.5-inch 2233SW and AU$399 20-inch 2033SW models. They're designed to look rather like little TVs, with piano black finishes augmented with a clear plastic trim that runs along the lower side. The monitor sits on top of a solid plastic base — which we'll come back to shortly — and features control and power keys that run down the lower right-hand side of the monitor. Unlike a number of larger monitors, the bezel isn't too prominent, which has the nice benefit of keeping your eyes focused on the screen itself.

Features

The 23-inch panel at the heart of the 2333SW is a 16:9 panel with a top resolution of 1920x1080, which makes it 1080p compliant, although you'll have to deliver that content via DVI, as it lacks an HDMI port, something we're seeing more of across premium LCD monitors these days. D-Sub is also supported for older monitors. Samsung rates the 2333SW with a dynamic contrast ratio of 20,000:1 and a slightly more realistic average ratio of 1000:1, response time of 5ms and brightness of 300cd/m².

Performance

Setting up the 2333SW proved to be something of a challenge. Like many monitors, the base and screen come as separate parts, and you've got to pop the two together, unless you wish to either wall mount or lay the 2333SW flat on your desk. We've seen plenty of ways to attach bases, from slot-style chunks of plastic to heavy metal screws, but the 2333SW takes a different tack, with a chunky ball on the base of the monitor that pops past a rubber seal on the base. As we found, getting the ball to push past the seal — even at the angle the instructions told us to — was no easy task. Once it's in, it should certainly stay in for a good long time, but be prepared to sweat (and possibly swear).

While we're in the groove of looking at things that don't work all that easily, the side mounted buttons all have the same shape and very little to let you know which button to use. The 2333SW has nice logical menu layouts, but they're somewhat undone by the unclear buttons.

We found the 2333SW to have excellent display characteristics, whether it was in the more rigid DisplayMate tests, or simply by running games, video and photography past it. However, our only caveat is that it's well worth toning the brightness down just a touch. We found that at full brightness there was a slight tendency for washed out images and a bit of backlight leaking through on the edges of the monitor.

Specifications

Display
Monitor size (diagonal) 23 inch
Max resolution (pixels) 1920 x 1080 pixels
Claimed viewing angle (vertical) 160 degrees
Claimed viewing angle (horizontal) 170 degrees
Brightness 300 cd/m2
Contrast ratio 20000 :1
Pixel response time 5 ms
Functionality
Technology LCD
General
Dimensions (H x W x D) 415.7 x 557.3 x 218.6 mm
Weight 4.7 kg
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Talkback

A very good monitor. Dick Smith Power House had a special the other week when I got mine for $298. A bargain.

peters111peters111 April 28th, 2009
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I am buying this monitor tomorrow from a local computer store in Northeast Ohio. The regular price is $199.99, but they are selling it to me for $174.99! What a deal! Plus, I have a $50 gift certificate.

Has anyone had problems with blinking or any other issues? I heard of two cases of that.

ajv6795ajv6795 April 11th, 2010
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