The SM181T uses a panel based on Samsung’s own PVA technology. This stands for patterned vertical alignment and increases the viewing angle in the same way as MVA, although Samsung claims a viewing angle of 170 degrees – the same as Super-IPS.

We found the horizontal viewing angle to be less than that of the Eizo screen, which uses the latter panel. Vertically, it did just as well, but this is a less useful measure. The only notable problem in the other real-world tests came in the 3D game test. The Samsung showed significant ghost images around fast-moving objects – an indication of slow pixel response times. The DVD movie showed similar artefacts, but not to the same extent.

The SM181T performed the colour and greyscale tests well. The only failure was in the colour spectrum, where red, green and blue overpowered cyan, magenta and yellow. The colour purity was also slightly suspect, but it coped easily in the colour combinations test.

The brightness of 250cd/m2 is surpassed only by Sony’s monitor, and the contrast ratio of 500:1 is similarly good. Only ViewSonic claims a higher figure, but this fails to translate into better overall image quality.
One factor that sets the SM181T apart is the stand’s ability to rotate almost 360 degrees due to a plate on the bottom of the stand.

$2,699 is a good price for an 18in TFT screen, although the BenQ screen is not far off in quality, and it’s significantly cheaper.