To help us provide you with free impartial advice, we may earn a commission if you buy through links on our site. Learn more

Samsung SyncMaster FX2490HD review

Our Rating :
Price when reviewed : £300
inc VAT

Contrary to Samsung's claim, this is primarily an HD TV, rather than a monitor. With overblown colours and processing, images look far from natural. It's also far too expensive.

Specifications

24in, Freeview, analogue, 1,920×1,080 resolution, 3D: no, 2x HDMI

http://www.amazon.co.uk
[/vc_column_text]

Still, we were happy to note that settings are saved for each input. Also, we quickly realised we’d need them as none of the three colour presets were any good. Dynamic produces overblown colours and sharpness; Standard is too saturated and yellow-looking, and Movie is too washed out. Unfortunately, even after an hour’s worth of tweaking, we were unable to obtain accurate colours. Skin tones were always too yellow, and contrast wasn’t up to scratch. Moreover, we couldn’t remove the over-processed appearance due to a combination of sharpening, colour processing and noise reduction.

When watching our test Blu-ray movies, we immediately noticed a lack of detail compared to a good-quality LCD TV, and test scenes also looked grainier than usual. The colour problem remained; the only time we didn’t notice it was in cartoons where the vibrant colours were appropriate.

Samsung FX2490 Side

We had to tweak colours and contrast when connecting a PC via VGA, but no matter what we tried, we couldn’t achieve a sharp, properly scaled image when using a DVI to HDMI convertor. Overall, the FX2940HD isn’t great as a PC monitor.

Regardless of our gripes so far, there’s a bigger problem: price. The FX2490HD may have a TV tuner, media player, and a variety of inputs, but it’s around twice the price of a standard 24in display. Considering you can buy a better-quality 32in HD TV for similar money, the FX2490HD is poor value.

Pages: 1 2

Basic Specifications

Rating **

Physical

Viewable size 24in
Native resolution 1,920×1,080
1080p support Yes
Aspect ratio 16:9
HD ready yes
3D capable no
Contrast ratio 1,000:1
Brightness 250cd/m²
Speakers 2x 5W
Bezel (top/side/bottom) 22mm/22mm/36mm
Screen depth 34mm
Screen elevation 110mm
Stand size (WxD) 405x210mm

Connections

DVI inputs 0
D-sub inputs 1
HDMI inputs 2
SCART 0
S-Video input 0
Composite inputs 0
Audio outputs optical S/DIF out
Other headphone output, CI slot

Tuner

Tuner type Freeview, analogue
EPG 7 day

Environmental

Power consumption standby 1W
Power consumption on 29W

Buying Information

Warranty three years onsite
Price £300
Supplier http://www.amazon.co.uk
Details www.samsung.co.uk