Samsung SM2693HM 25.5" widescreen

Features & Build Quality

With the hallowed deboxing ceremony complete, the 2693HM makes a pretty low key first impression. But the closer you look, the classier it seems, particularly considering the £300-ish pricing. The silver accent panel below the lower bezel gives it a subtle but fairly effective visual lift, as do the the tight build quality and well-hewn plastics.

More significant is the high quality of the stand. It's offers adjustability in all the key planes – height, tilt, rotate and swivel – and is well engineered. In short, the 2693HM has a pleasingly high end feel.

That said, one downside of the relatively upscale build is the bank soft-touch image and input controls. They might be superficially sexy as a design feature. But in use they are infuriatingly recalcitrant. A set of old fashioned physical buttons with proper tactile feedback would be far preferable.


As for inputs, the bases are covered with VGA, DVI and HDMI interfaces. For the record, we should also mention the integrated speakers. As you might expect they're pretty pants and at best only good for use as a stop gap if your usual sound solution is temporarily offline.

Finally, and for many most importantly, is the question of panel technology. Given the the 2693HM's price point and size, there's really only suspect and that's TN+Film technology. However, before you therefore dismiss this monitor as a no hoper for image quality, remember that the most recent TN+Film technology has improved significantly and Samsung is one of the world's leading makers of actual LCD panels.


Samsung has also augmented the panel with a range of the usual image enhancements technologies – dynamic contrast and all that jazz – but our experience with such features does not inspire much confidence that they will be effective.

• Diagonal: 25.5 inches
  
• Type: TN+Film TFT LCD
  
• Backlight: CCFL
  
• Native resolution: 1,920 x 1,200
  
• Contrast: 1,000:1 (3,000:1) dynamic
  
• Brightness: 400cd/m²
  
• Pixel response: 5ms
  
• Viewing angles: 160/160 degrees H/V
  
• Inputs: VGA, DVI, HDMI (HDCP supported)
  
• Chassis adjust: Height, tilt, rotate and swivel
  
• Warranty: Three years