Samsung SyncMaster FX2490HD review

With its chrome-effect stand and dark maroon bezel, this 24in is a stunning looking monitor. It’s actually an LED HD TV, but Samsung says it’s primarily a computer monitor. This is odd, as all the features you’d expect from a modern TV are present: a well-designed remote control, a seven-day EPG and interactive services via the Red Button. There’s also picture-in-picture support, so you can keep an eye on the match while you work on a document using the PC input.

The only disappointment is that there’s no support for Freeview HD.
On the rear panel are two HDMI inputs, a VGA interface, a Common Interface slot (for pay TV including Sky Sports), plus headphone and optical S/PDIF outputs. There are proprietary connectors for component video and Scart inputs, mainly because there isn’t room for the full-size connectors. Convertor cables are included in the box, though.

A large, glossy panel covers all the connectors to keep things neat. However, this means you have to remove it to insert a USB flash drive for media playback. There’s support for photos, music and a wide variety of video formats including MKV, AVI, MP4 and VOB.
Menus look far slicker than any computer monitor we’ve seen, and there’s a huge number of options. Apart from TV-specific settings such as creating a list of favourite channels, there are controls for adjusting sharpness, tint, flesh tones, white balance, black levels, dynamic contrast, shadow detail, gamma, colour space and more. In fact, the sheer number of options is bewildering and overkill for most people.