Samsung T220 review

This standard 22in monitor is the first we've seen from Samsung's new Touch of Colour range. It's undoubtedly stylish looking, with a clear plastic edge, a red stripe integrated into the black bezel and a touch-sensitive power button.

The T220's luxury looks don't extend to its features list, however. The stand has no height adjustment and sits only 73mm above the desktop, so you might need to place it on something to get it up to eye level. There's no USB hub and no speakers, either. We expected some small built-in speakers with such a sleek-looking monitor, if only to help alleviate desk clutter. There are DVI and VGA inputs, though.

The default settings on this monitor had a warm and yellowish tinge, along with the excessive brightness setting we've become used to with most monitors. After re-calibrating it to our liking, using the fiddly controls on the rear, we found it to be a capable display. Colours are fairly accurate although subtle transitions, particularly greyscales, are troublesome. For most tasks, though, short of serious photo-retouching work, it's fine. Response times are excellent, so gamers and movie buffs are well catered for.

Samsung claims this monitor has a dynamic contrast ratio of 20,000:1. It's an impressive- sounding figure, though we could see little evidence of it in our HD movie tests. We found the dynamic contrast control rather sluggish and heavy-handed in its efforts, with dark scenes suddenly dimming noticeably. We suggest that you turn it off and rely on the T220's native 1,000:1 contrast ratio instead.

It may be good looking, but there's little else to recommend the T220 over LG's Flatron L227WT, which costs £25 less.

Author: Seth Barton