Introduction
The 27" LCDs bridge the gap between 24" and 30" monitors. Let's begin with why anyone (provided being on the market for a 24"+ LCD) would consider such a monitor:
1) They provide larger screen size than 24" yet keep the same res of 1920x1200. This way a) they don't obliterate graphics subsystems unlike 30" monitors with the massive res of 2560x1600 do. b) They're easier on the eyes: quite a few people find text on 30" difficult to read because of the small Pixel Pitch. On 27" LCDs one can read small text without having to sit too close to the huge sized monitor.
2) Needless to say, those monitors are perfect for multimedia and gaming applications. So you'd like a monitor larger than 24" but don't want to go straight to 30" because of cost or the reasons stated in 1).
The main competitors in this category are the Dell 2707WFP and the recently released Samsung SyncMaster 275T. After careful research I've chosen the Samsunc Syncmaster 275T.
Specifications
Display Type: Flat panel display / TFT active matrix
TFT Technology: S-PVA
Diagonal Size: 27" - Widescreen 16:10
Dot Pitch / Pixel Pitch: 0.303 mm
Max Resolution: 1920x1200 @ 60hz
Color Support: 8-bit (16.7 million colors)
Response Time: 6ms (GtG)
Brightness: 500 cd/m^2
Contrast Ratio: 1000:1 (Typical), 3000:1 (Dynamic)
Viewing Angles: 178/178
Inputs: 1 x DVI (HDCP), 1 x VGA, 1 x S-Video, 1 x Component, 1x Composite 4x USB ports
Features: HDCP, Extended Color Gamut, Picture in Picture, , MagicColor, MagicBright 3
Display Positions Adjustments: Tilt, Height, Swivel
Operational Power Consumption: 130W
Standby Power Consumption: 2 Watt
Retail Price: 1299 Euros
Looks/Ergonomics/Build Quality
The 275T resembles Samsung’s smaller monitors like SyncMaster 215TW and 225BW, yet it is considerably larger and thicker. It's all black, including the base, and is of high quality without being very heavy.
The stand allows adjusting the height of the screen (from 11 to 19cm from the desk to the bottom edge of the picture; the stand can be fixed in the bottom position with a wire pin if necessary), tilting it, and rotating it around the vertical axis. You can do all this adjustments by applying little force, yet the base is quite sturdy and the monitor never vibrates or moves even when I punch the desk lol. Portrait mode is not supported but it's not needed since a screen this size would be excessively tall in Potrait mode.
Most of the connectors are placed at the back: power (the power adapter in integrated into the case), analog and digital inputs, two video inputs (Composite and S-Video), a integrated USB hub input, and two of the hub’s four ports.
The second group of connectors is on the left side: a Component (YPbPr) video input and two more ports of the integrated USB hub. The only thing that is missing here is a HDMI connector, but it is electrically compatible with the ordinary DVI, so one can be attached to the other via a simple adapter. The monitor’s DVI input supports HDCP.
The monitor’s controls are in the bottom right of the front panel. They are discreet and barely interfere with the bezel's "clean" look except for the Power button which is larger and embellished with a cute-looking chrome metallic ring.
The monitor’s Power button is highlighted with a blue LED. Its brightness is low and the LED is not distracting in darkness. Anyway, the option to disable it altogether would be welcome.
Menu
Quick access is provided to switching between the MagicBright modes (one user-defined mode, five modes with preset brightness/contrast values (Internet, Text, Game, Movie, Sports) and a dynamic contrast mode, adjusting brightness, switching between the inputs, enabling/disabling Picture-in-Picture mode, and to the auto-adjustment feature. It is good Samsung does not try to squeeze all the control functions into four buttons. Most of frequently accessed features are available with a press of a button without your having to enter the onscreen menu.
Selecting the input is the first menu item, but you will hardly use it from the menu just because it’s easier to press the Source button than to select the input from the list, especially as the 275T can identify which inputs have signal sources connected and does not browse through unconnected inputs when you are pressing the Source button. Thus, if you’ve got only two sources, a PC via DVI and a cable TV decoder via S-Video, each press of this button will switch between these two inputs rather than through all the inputs the monitor has.
The monitor has excellent image quality out-of-the-box and the presets work relatively well in most cases (but not that well in others). Of course users of a monitor of this class would want to be able to dial in our own settings to get the best IQ possible. And the monitor gives more than enough options to do so: Among other settings, I can mention gamma adjustment (with a step of 0.1), saturation and hue adjustment by 6 color coordinates and 7 color temperature settings (Warm2,Warm1,Normal,Cool1,Cool2,Cool3,Cool4).
You can also select the position and size of the secondary window in PiP mode (there are two possible sizes and four possible positions – in the four corners of the screen). You can also configure how a 4:3 picture is going to be displayed. Unfortunately, the monitor cannot automatically recognize the aspect ratio (4:3 or widescreen) and you have to switch it over manually. The monitor remembers settings for different inputs independently.
Performance
The SyncMaster 275T uses new backlight lamps with improved phosphors which are commonly referred to as Wide Gamut Cold-Cathode Fluorescent Lamps (WG-CCFL). This endows the monitor with a color gamut much larger than the standard sRGB that a majority of LCD and virtually all CRT monitors offer. You can see that this gamut differs greatly from sRGB in the green area and coincides with it on red and blue. Note also that the 275T cannot match the color gamut of the SyncMaster XL20 with LED-based backlighting: the XL20 renders both green and red colors better.
Testing backlight uniformity using gray screen gave an excellent result: image has the same brightness across the display with no signs of yellow tint or contrast differentials.
There is only minor backlight bleeding at the bottom but it's only visible on a black screen with Brightness set high, so it's unlikely that you'll ever notice it under normal use.
The display manages a very nice black level at Brightness = 25 / Contrast = 50 while still maintaining vivid colours. Still doesn't reach the blacks of my trusty old CRT though :)
Work Performance
Working with text is a breeze, fonts are easily readable and sharp as well as graphical objects . The large desktop estate offered by the 1920x1200 resolution allows for working with multiple documents or 2 A4 pages side-by-side.
Image viewing and editing is where the monitor shines, colors are almost life-like thanks to the wide gamut on top of the 1000:1 contrast ratio. I did a side-by-side comparison with my previous LG L204WT (TN Panel) and the difference in overall IQ was striking. Furthermore, I didn't notice any grain or banding in pictures and color gradients while they were evident on the LG.
I measured the gamma using this handy applet. The dispay has a gamma value of 2.07 at default settings, altering the Gamma control from the OSD to +0.2 gave a Gamma of 2.21 which coincides exactly with the ideal 2.2.
Using DisplayMate v1.25 and Everest Ultimate Edtion monitor tests I couldn't find any fault, the 275T performed flawlessly in all of those. My previous LCD performed poorly in comparison..
Gaming Performance
I fired up CS:S, Episode 2, Quake4, UT3 to test if the monitor lives up to its 6ms (GtG) response time, which is really good for an S-PVA matrix. To my pleasure, I saw no ghosting at all even when specifically looking for it. I did notice however a fair amount of input lag and that might put you at a disadvantage in online gaming.
In general, the monitor is not as zippy as those 2ms TN panels but Image Quality is light years ahead. Dark areas show no signs of washout and highlights are perfectly reproduced without any loss of detail. Colors are vibrant without being over-saturated. Not to mention of course that gaming on a 27" at 1200p is a visual treat on its own. Outdoor areas on Episode 2 and Oblivion look so magnificient on this monitor it almost brought tears to my eyes.
The monitor also faired extremely well against FEAR's dark environments, where most LCDs I've seen fail in my opinion.
Movies Performance
I watched some 1080p trailers and, to keep it short, it was the second time that I had to pick my jaw off the floor after Gaming. Since my house is not big enough to accomodate a nice large HDTV I'm thinking of buying a blu-ray player and have this monitor double as my HDTV :)
DVD playback with PureVideo looked great too.
Dynamic Contrast works well and without being annoying like the constant shift of brightness other monitors do.
Conclusion
The Samsung SyncMaster 275T is a very nice monitor for those who like a large screen but don't need the large resolution of the 30" models. It is accurately set up from the factory, has no ghosting issues but it has some input lag. Offers oustanding Image Quality, a high contrast ratio, a wide color gamut, good viewing angles and all the inputs you'll ever need. Its only real disadvantage is the hefty price tag but you'll agree it's money well spent if you look at it yourself.
Judgement
Picture Quality: 9.5/10
Contrast/Black Level: 9/10
Viewing Angles: 9/10
Responsiveness: 8/10
Build Quality: 9.5/10
Overall: 9/10
I certainly haven't covered every aspect of the monitor on this review. If you have any particular questions feel free to ask
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Originally Posted by slayer305
