SyncMaster 226BW

On looks alone Samsung’s latest SyncMaster would win any test hands down. The glossy black bezel and neatly punctuated silver piping looks superb and, importantly, plays easy on the eye when watched for long periods.

And you will watch for long periods, as at 22 inches and with a native resolution just short of full HD, it’s capable of just about any conceivable designer need. In fact, the 1,680x1,050 screen is the best sub-£600 screen we’ve seen and, although it has to scale down for full HD and up for 720p, its results when working with video are superb.

A quoted grey-to-grey response of 2ms and 16.7 million colours proves the panel as an 8-bit TN, which for the price is a laudable accomplishment. The viewing angle suffers somewhat as a consequence – at 160 degrees horizontal and vertical – but if you’re going to cut corners then that’s where to do it.

The contrast ratio of 3000:1 proved good for video and graphic work, although the OSD is a little clumsy and needs fine-tuning, especially for graphic work where the Color Tone presets wreck any calibration setting you may have struggled to nail down.

The sharpnesss options are again a touch clumsy, but bearing in mind the 226BW is aimed solidly at gamers and home media users, we can forgive Samsung for this. You’ll find the need to tweak the OSD, but the final picture will be well worth the hassle.