In our dark-screen test, backlight bleed was noticeable on the top and bottom edges of the screen, suggesting that the display wouldn't be able to display deep blacks when playing a movie. The P2370 achieved a brightness score of 239cd/m2 -- only slightly lower than Samsung's claimed 250 cd/m2. Its tested contrast ratio was slightly above the 1,000:1 claimed by Samsung, coming in at a fairly close 1,064:1.
We used the P2370's movie preset to check out War of the Worlds on DVD and House of Flying Daggers on Blu-ray. With the DVD, we found the colour quality worse than expected, with slightly washed-out faces and a yellowish tint. Deep blacks -- a critical attribute for good movie playback -- eluded the P2370.
With House of Flying Daggers, we saw more accurate colour, but the deep blacks we enjoyed on the Dell G2410 were still nowhere to be seen. Also, picture sharpness wasn't quite as fine as with the G2410 -- subtitles looked slightly blurred. We found that the dynamic contrast preset worked best for watching movies. With dynamic contrast on, we only noticed the screen darkening in scenes where the screen was 90 per cent black or more, such as the end credits and during fades to black. Blacks looked darker and colours appeared slightly fuller.
We looked at the game Crysis on the P2370 under the game preset and saw a clean picture with no signs of ghosting during fast movement.
The optimal viewing angle for a monitor is usually directly in front, about a quarter of the screen's distance down from the top. At this angle, you're viewing the colours and gamma correction as they were intended to be seen. Most monitors are not made to be viewed at any other angle. When viewed from the sides or bottom, the P2370's screen appears to darken about six inches from the centre. When viewed from the optimal angle, we had no problems.
(Longer bars indicate better performance)
(Longer bars indicate better performance)
(Longer bars indicate better performance)
Conclusion
If you're looking for a stylish, low-price 23-inch monitor with very good performance, the Samsung SyncMaster P2370 is worth the money. The downsides are that it offers only one DVI connection, has a high black level when playing movies and a wobbly base.
The £250 24-inch Dell G2410 has better movie and overall performance, but it won't win any beauty contests. We also recommend the 23-inch Dell SP2309W, with its high 2,048x1,152-pixel resolution.
Additional editing by Charles Kloet
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