Thread: Samsung SyncMaster 743NX Monitor

The Samsung SyncMaster 743NX topped the performance and design charts. In the brightness tests it was clearly ahead of the rest of the pack. In the DisplayMate tests too, it scored a lot of points. The primary colors of red, green and blue were slightly off though, as was the color temperature, so if color accuracy is extremely important, this monitor isn't the best. The monitor looks very nice, with the glossy piano black finish Feally standing out. Unfortunately, the control menus are accessed via touch-sensitive buttons. We've complained about this in the past, and we still don't like them.

Since they aren't backlit, you really have no idea which button you're touching, and the complete lack of tactile feedback means that, basically, you randomly touch the panel and hope fervently that you manage to navigate through the menus. The monitor, like others in the test, comes with only a VGA input. The lack of DVI isn't too much of a problem in this segment, and all the manufacturers seem to agree, since none of the monitors have this input. The high price was the only thing that prevented this monitor from winning, and it came in second.



Zenith's V17B had excellent color reproduction. This was the only monitor to score five out of a maximum five on the color tests. The color temperature was also pretty close to the ideal score of 6,500 K. The outer shell of the monitor isn't of the highest quality. The plastics used feel cheap, and it does not look very nice. The panel inside is a high-quality one though, and that, coupled with the lowest price of all the seven meant that Zenith won this shootout. The menu system is slightly complicated, and the buttons underneath the bezel are fiddly, but you do get a pair of speakers thrown.