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It’s a sure sign that the long heralded convergence is upon us when we have to wonder how best to describe what we are reviewing. The Samsung SyncMaster 730MP could be viewed as a PC monitor with a built in TV Tuner but equally it could be said to be a TV that you can also use with a PC. We’d go with the former as your average TV doesn’t have a resolution of 1,280 x 1,024. This also makes it compatible with high definition sources.

Looking at the 730MP there are clues that it is more talented than the average PC monitor. Aside from the Samsung logo in the middle, the brown bezel is adored with logos for Virtual Dolby Surround and BBE Digital, which are enhancements over the standard stereo speakers located on either side of the panel. These are far larger than the small speakers normally attached to LCD panels, which makes sense for device intended to function as a TV. They also have the effect of making the panel seem wider than it actually is. However, much to our disappointment when we first took the panel out of the box, the panel only has a 4:3 screen ratio. While this is still the norm for PC monitors. I personally wouldn’t buy a TV that wasn’t widescreen, even at this size.

The speakers are finished in silver and taper in slightly. This gives the panel a sophisticated look and certainly this display is smart enough to use in the bedroom or kitchen. The panel has Vesa mounting holes so it can be connected directly to a wall. However, as soon I hooked this up to my PC for testing I encountered a usability issue. Compared to most PC monitors, the Samsung has a very low stand. It can be angled forward but not back, which meant that I had to place it on a box to get it at eye-level, which detracts somewhat from its smart image. Perhaps Samsung see this being used mostly as a TV.

Round the back you’ll find a raft of connection options that would make the average TV green with envy. For the PC you get a choice of analogue D-Sub or DVI connections. You also get RCA composite, S-Video, component and an RGB capable SCART socket. In fact, the only connection not here is HDMI. Also round the back are connectors for the integrated analogue TV Tuner and the FM tuner. There’s also a headphone socket, though this might have been more conveniently placed at the front. The good news is that according to the spec sheet, the DVI port is the High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection (HDCP) ready, so it will be able to display Sky’s High Definiton broadcasts starting in 2006.

However, the 730MP's talents don’t end there. Round the side are memory slots for all the major formats – SD/MMC, Compact Flash, (Type I and II), Smart Media and MemoryStick. The best thing about this is that content can be played from these directly, without a PC having to be involved at all. For some reason Samsung has chosen to dub this WiseView.

The good news is that WiseView isn’t just a gimmick and works well. I slotted in an SD card with numerous images and it picked up most of the contents without issue. WiseView is perfectly intuitive but you can’t use the TV fascia buttons to navigate the menus so you have to be careful not to lose the remote control down the back of the sofa. WiseView automatically detects content on cards and makes it available through Photos, Music and Movies icons. It found stuff located in folders straight away but you have to navigate using the All Files icon to locate stuff stored in the root of the card structure. We tested with JPEGs, MP3s and AVIs and all could be played directly from the card. However, disappointingly it couldn’t do anything with an MPEG file. Low resolution images were automatically stretched to fill the screen, which inevitably look grainy, but higher resolution pictures looked fine. Sensibly, the card slots aren’t limited to use with WiseView and if you hook up the USB 2.0 hub, the card slots also all appear in Windows.