Samsung SyncMaster BX2240 review

At least the SyncMaster is practical. Both the stand and screen have a matt finish, so they’re not reflective. The stand also raises or lowers the screen by 100mm and can also rotate to portrait mode. On the rear, the ports face backwards, so it’s easier to connect cables than on displays which have the ports parallel to the screen.

There are VGA and DVI interfaces, as are cables for both in the box. Buttons are on the bottom edge of the screen and the menu is easy to navigate. There are all the usual settings, plus gamma and the unusual MagicAngle. The latter alters the contrast to improve viewing angles – Samsung gives the odd example of ‘when lying down’. MagicEco lets you set how much extra power saving you want to achieve, and reduces brightness accordingly. Given the low standard brightness of the BX2240, we can’t imagine many people using this.

One of the buttons cycles between Custom, Standard, Game, Cinema and Dynamic Contrast modes. Dynamic Contrast mode can improve quality for certain types of application, but it isn’t much use for videos, as the brightness lurches noticeably when switching between bright and dark scenes. Standard mode is fine for office work, but we preferred to tweak the brightness and contrast manually to make the screen a little brighter – making whites look less grey.

Apart from the height-adjustable stand, the BX2240 has no other extras – there are no speakers built in and no USB ports. At this price, though, that’s acceptable. You can buy cheaper 22in monitors with this resolution, but you’ll struggle to find one with height adjustment. If this is important to you, the BX2240 is good value. If it isn’t, buy the BenQ G2222HDL.