Samsung SyncMaster P2370 review

We're used to seeing style and quality from Samsung's TFT range, but it's not without its affordable options. The SyncMaster P2370 has all the usual design flourishes, but offers a Full HD 23in panel for a very reasonable £172.

It does so by making a few key compromises. Firstly, the power supply has been removed from the body and placed in an external laptop-style brick, which will need to be tucked out of the way to avoid sullying the good looks.

And second, the range of inputs has been stripped down to the bare minimum: there are no integrated speakers to power, so on the rear all you'll find is one solitary DVI port.

The design is as gorgeous as we expected, though, and that power brick thins the main monitor itself to an astonishingly skinny profile. The wide 30mm bezel is tipped with a small transparent trim, giving the P2370 a ghostly appearance, while the black base attaches to the body via a fancy glass neck.

We initially struggled to find the controls, but a few prods near the power indicator brought a touch-sensitive dashboard glowing to life. It's a nice stylistic touch, but as it fades out again after a few idle seconds it proved a little annoying during setup.

We switched to Normal colour and lowered both the brightness and contrast slightly to try to give a little more depth to the washed out picture.

It worked to a certain extent, but the P2370 is very much weighted towards the top end of the spectrum: the lightest of greys was distinguishable on a white background, so highlights looked great, but the blacks weren't as impressive.

In our gradient tests there was only a thin sliver of black at the bottom end, so shadowy areas in our test photos and images were far lighter than usual.

This means lots of detail can be seen in dark scenes, but it doesn't help to produce a rich, vibrant picture - certainly not to the quality of dearer Samsung monitors. But that's the point of a TFT such as the P2370: it's more Samsung's idea of a no-frills, budget alternative which retains the all-important styling.

The 1,920 x 1,080 resolution will appeal to movie lovers - note that the 50,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio proved intensely irritating, so we turned it off - so entertainment junkies on a budget should add this Samsung to their shortlist. Purists, however, may want to shell out a little more to guarantee quality.

Author: David Bayon