Like all other modern monitors from Samsung, the SyncMaster 2043WM supports MagicBright technology, i.e. a few factory-set modes with varying contrast and brightness you can switch between quickly.
The MagicBright modes are set up quite normally although the Text mode is going to be too bright even for daylight, let alone the mild evening lighting at home. That’s why I’d recommend you to set the monitor up manually for text-based applications and switch into a MagicBright mode for movies, games and for viewing photos.
The Text and Internet modes are all right in terms of color reproduction. The gamma curves are neat; both lights and darks are reproduced well.
In the Sports mode the color temperature parameter is set at Cool. As a result, the level of blue is somewhat too high. The problem is not big and will hardly be conspicuous when you are watching sports events this mode is meant for.
The previous model had problems with the Movie and Game modes in which it had a exceedingly high level of contrast, making lights indistinguishable from white. Fortunately, the 2043WM is free from this drawback. Its Game mode is set up neatly and lights are reproduced correctly.
The 5ms matrix cannot be fast. Its response time average proves to be only 13.0 milliseconds (GtG) with a maximum of 25.1 milliseconds. Take note that there is a threefold, rather than 20%, difference between TN-based monitors with specified response of 4 and 5 milliseconds!
So, the SyncMaster 2043MW is not as good as the 2043NW in terms of setup quality. This model is almost an ideal office monitor with its functionality and design, yet I had expected it to deliver a better color reproduction than typical office models. The 2043NW was taken from a retail shop while the 2043WM is a presale sample the manufacturer provided for us to test. Perhaps that’s why they differ in their setup quality, but I’m not sure.
Still, the SyncMaster 2043WM is not a bad product. It is quite good in comparison with many other monitors. I just expected something more from it after I had tested the junior 2043NW model.
Highs:
- Adequate setup of MagicBright modes
- Neat exterior design
Lows:
- Inaccurate color reproduction setup
- Slow matrix
Recommended usage:
- Text-based applications (documents, spreadsheets, Internet)
- Viewing and simple editing of photographs
- Movies and games that don’t require a fast matrix
