Samsung S24C650: Image Quality

It’s fair to say that Samsung has nailed the design and ergonomics of the S24C650, but what about image quality? For the record, Samsung quotes a static contrast ratio of 1000:1, a 5ms response time and a peak brightness of 250nits: all fairly standard. It’s also worth pointing out it uses one of Samsung’s AS-PLS panels, not the VA or IPS derived panels seen in most rivals.

Out of the box the Samsung S24C650 looks crisp, clean and bright. We have no complaints about its rendering of text, while the viewing angles are very good: more than good enough for business monitor.

Indeed, this is true of the monitor as a whole. Putting it through its spaces using our X-rite i1 Display Pro, we were a little dismayed at first to discover a colour temperature of 6,924K that’s a fair way off the 6500K (D65) ideal we’d like. Of course, it’s not such a critical issue on a monitor designed mainly for office use, but it’s still a shade disappointing. With tweaking we managed to hit 6514K using the following colour settings: Red, 53; Green, 50; Blue, 42.

Contrast and brightness are good, however, hitting a decent 1167:1 and 262 nits respectively. More impressive, however, is the colour accuracy. After our tuning, the S24C650 has a DeltaE of just 1.27 (lower is better). Anything below 1.5 is very good indeed and beats the BenQ GW2760HS (1.96) and LG 29EA93 (1.76), and neither are bad themselves.

The results of our uniformity tests, which measure both the brightness and temperature consistency across the panel, are more mixed.

Colour temperature (white point) consistency is pretty good, though the top-right segment is on the edge of acceptability.

But the brightness (luminance) test shows the top edge is noticeably dimmer than the rest of the screen. For most people this won’t be critical and it’s not bad for a monitor at this price, but it’s a shame all the same.

It’s a slightly mixed story, then, but overall we have to stress this is still a very good monitor. The actual accuracy of colours is excellent, while the viewing angle and brilliant adjustable stand make the Samsung S24C650 well-suited to its intended audience. We’d prefer it if it came better calibrated out of the box, but anyone this effects with either: a) know how to fix it and b) be looking at more expensive monitors.

Should I buy the Samsung S24C650?

If you need a proper office monitor, it’s as a good an option as we’ve seen in recent memory. The key here is the excellent stand and design, which is unobtrusive and flexible. The neat USB hub in the base is a thoughtful nice-to-have, too, and what few image quality issues exist are minor and will affect very few.

Verdict

The Samsung S24C650 is a well-designed and thought out monitor and slavishly delivers exactly what people need from the real work monitor. It’s easy to recommend.

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