MONITORS
ISSUE 381|COMPUTER SHOPPER|NOVEMBER 2019 79
INTHEBADold days before LCD screens
became affordable,your monitor was the
biggest thing on your desk. It was acouple of
feet deep and weighed as much as asack of
potatoes. By comparison, most modern LCD
monitors are positively skinny,but even these
can still have space-hogging stands. That’s
where the Samsung Space Monitor comes in.
It’s amonitor forpeople who hateclutter,
with an arm that cleverly minimises the
amount of space the screen takes up on your
desk. It’s not the first time amanufacturer
has done this –Dell’s U2717DAisamong a
handful of examples to have come and gone
over the years –but the Space Monitor looks
to be the most elegant so far.
SNAP HAPPY
The Samsung Space Monitor comes in
two sizes. There’s a27in model with a
144Hz, 2,560x1,440 panel, and alarger,32in
model with a60Hz 3,840x2,160 display,
which we tested. Both models utilise vertical
alignment (VA) tech, have the same looks
and space-saving design.
Unlike traditional monitors, which sit on
the surface of your desk, you have to mount
the Space Monitor using aclamp that
attaches to the rear of your desk. This clamp
still occupies asmall, semi-circular area of
desk space,but it’s minimal compared with
anormal screen.
Better still, the hinged arm that links the
screen with the desk clamp offers ahuge
amount of flexibility.Ifyour desk is backed
up against awall, the design of the arm is
such that it will sit flush when it’s not in use,
taking on the appearance of asmall,
wall-mounted TV,with all cables tucked
neatly awaywithin the arm itself.
When you need it, it can be effortlessly
pulled towards you and, despitethe unusual
design, you still get between -5° and 20° of tilt
and 184.7mm of height adjustment. And,
throughout the monitor’s design, it’s
refreshing to see Samsung has retained
minimalism as an ethos. The three-sided
bezel-less frame minimises the monitor’s
silhouette, while its textured rear panel and
frame ensure it looks great from any angle.
There are some limitations here,however.
Youcan’t, forinstance,haveitsitting at its
peak height when it’s fully extended, nor
can you pivot or rotatethe display. It’s also
worth checking whether your desk is
compatible.While the clamp will fit desks
SAMSUNG
SpaceMonitor
★★★★★
£408•From http://www.amazon.co.uk
VERDICT
Samsung͙scleverdesignminimisescluΞer,
butitcomesѱithsub-parimagequality
and asteepprice
up to 90mm thick, it will only work if there are
no impediments to the clamp underneath,
which some designs can have.
Also worth noting is that there are only
two ports to choose from: Mini DisplayPort
and HDMI. The lack of full-sized DisplayPort
or multiple HDMI ports might be aconcern
forthose using multiple sources, but it at
least ensures that cable mess is kept to a
minimum. Indeed, Samsung is positively
encouraging cable minimalism by including
acombined HDMI and DC power cable in
the box.TO BE IMPRECISE
Assuming your desk plays nicely with it and
you’re happywith the limited connectivity,
it’s an easy design to live with. It’s pretty
simple to operate, too. Although there are
no controls at the front, the clickable joystick
at the rear means accessing and navigating
the monitor’s OSD is an absolutedoddle.
Considering how much effort Samsung has
put intothe design of the Space Monitor,
we’d have expected the same attention to
detail and care to have been
taken over image quality.
Unfortunately,Samsung
doesn’t factory-calibratethe
Space Monitor,and colour
accuracy suffers as aresult.
Out of the box, achieving
an average delta-E of 2.55
and apeak of 4inNormal
mode (tested against
sRGB) isn’t disastrous,but you can do better forthe money–with
the Iiyama ProLiteXUB2792UHSU, for
example.Toour eyes, the Space Monitor
also looks washed out, and it took fiddling
with the gamma settings to sort it out.
This tweak, however,makes colour accuracy
even worse,forcing the average delta-E to
4.19 and the peak to 7.08 (again tested
against sRGB). And, while the monitor’s
sRGB gamut coverage sits at 99.2%, the
gamut volume misses the mark at 126.9%.
Sure,itmight not have afancy clamping
stand, but the ProLiteXUB2792UHSU costs a
fewpounds less, has wider sRGB gamut
coverage (if only by 0.4%) and is vastly more
accurateinhow it re-creates colours.
The Space Monitor’s peak brightness of
340cd/m2 is fine but not overly impressive,
and neither is brightness uniformity,with a
deviance of around 18% in each corner,
meaning pictures won’t appear as accurate
near the edges as theydoatthe centre of
the monitor.What’s more,with the refresh
ratecapped at 60Hz, no low-input-lag mode
or FreeSync/G-Sync options, the Space
Monitor lacks attractive features forgaming.TABLE MANNERS
Samsung’s attempt to rekindle interest in
footprint-minimising monitors is
commendable,and the Space Monitor
excels at that particular task. Design-wise,
it’s the best-looking solution forthose
wanting to declutter their desks.
Even so,the Space Monitor doesn’t
entirely convince.Image quality leaves
much to be desired, which is ashame
given the obvious designer-leanings of the
monitor’s appearance.
That’s not to saythe Samsung Space
Monitor fails entirely,just that it’s aimed at
alimited group of individuals: not those
seeking the best image quality,nor the
fastest gaming panel, but those whose sole
desire is elegant minimalism.