Samsung SyncMaster XL30 review

Samsung obviously has high expectations of the 30in Samsung SyncMaster XL30, as the version supplied to us arrived complete with a dedicated colourimeter and a hood with which to block out extraneous light.

However, with a monitor of the sheer size of the Samsung SyncMaster XL30, the 130mm depth of the hood was less effective than some we've seen.

Setting up the Samsung SyncMaster XL30 was a physical challenge, as you can't rotate the display through the vertical plane, to simplify the insertion of the mains and display connectors. Even working at the rear of the display involves a certain amount of neck craning.

On the positive side, Samsung at least thought to place two of the four USB 2.0 connectors on the righthand side of the Samsung SyncMaster XL30's display, thus putting less strain on the user's neck. While we're on the XL30's physical attributes, we should say that you can't alter the vertical adjustment of the unit until a locking pin is removed from the stand, to which the display is attached when it arrives. Incidentally, the stand can be removed, and instructions for this are provided in the manual.

Once the Samsung SyncMaster XL30 is fired up, its sheer physical size might take a little getting used to.

Adjusting the settings of the Samsung SyncMaster XL30 is a slight departure from may displays. The buttons, well-placed at the bottom righthand corner at the front of the display, consist of the on-off switch, a button to toggle through a number of preset modes (sRGB, Adobe RGB, and so on), and a pair of buttons marked with up and down arrows that can be used to adjust brightness and contrast in Custom mode. They can also be used to select the user-defined calibration arrived at with the included colourimeter.