LED backlights creep into LCD monitors

LED-backlit LCD monitors are just beginning to appear on the market, and Samsung is throwing its hat into the ring with the debut of the SyncMaster 244ex. The 24-inch wide-screen display has a native resolution of 1,920x1,200 and is geared toward the most discerning graphics professionals.

This monitor is markedly smaller than the first LED-based LCD we saw earlier this year, the NEC MultiSync LCD2180WGLED, which weighed 40 pounds and wasn't adjustable. The 244ex looks like a regular wide-screen monitor: it's fully adjustable and weighs roughly 20 pounds--average for a 24-inch LCD.

The LED backlight is an instant-on backlight that requires no warm-up time to reach its color temperature or maximum luminance, and Samsung says that it has a 2 million-hour life cycle, so you'll get the most for your monitor money. The 244ex also doubles as a video display, supporting HDTV with composite S-Video and HD-component video inputs and analog and digital inputs for the PC.

Samsung hasn't released a finalized spec sheet or price for the 244ex, but I'm hoping it costs far less than the NEC's nearly $7,000 asking price.