Samsung LC24F390
Is it worth compromising for curves?
With a 24-inch curved VA screen just 11.9mm thick and a sharp 1,920 x 1,080 resolution, the Samsung LC24F390 looks gorgeous. Colour reproduction and contrast are a big step up from TN panels (though still 72% NTSC), and the curve only accentuates the wider viewing angles.
While the dynamic contrast ratios are only given as ‘Mega’, the base 3,000:1 ratio is still way above most affordable screens. Of course, there are some trade-offs, such as a slower 5ms response and a 250cd/m2 brightness. The other catch is that the LC24F390 only has a 60Hz refresh rate, which is pretty boring amongst its brethren.
It still lays claim to the ‘gaming’ title though, thanks to the inclusion of FreeSync. That said, it’s a screen for those who want to game casually, but also have a great quality panel the rest of the time without paying IPS prices.
Frustratingly, Samsung does not state the exact frequency range that FreeSync works for. In testing, we struggled to spot the switch to V-Sync (which is a good thing), and the screen gave a pretty good experience.
The minimalistic Samsung stand looks great, but only has basic tilt adjustment. The OSD is quite comprehensive (though the picture is hard to improve) and easy to navigate thanks to the joystick style input. The inputs are annoyingly lacking, with just a single HDMI, and VGA, of all things...
The screen is also available as a 21.5- and a 27-inch model, for $50 less and more, respectively.