On the big screen: Samsung has unveiled its latest response to the current challenge facing laptop-computer designers — how to get the smallest, lightest machines with the biggest, brightest screens possible. The truth is, getting both is not going to happen. Designers are overcoming this problem by hooking up a full-size monitor to laptops, as the practical benefits of a netbook screen of around 8-inches are limited. Using an extra screen has a number of benefits. For example, you can work from both screens at once or watch DVDs without having to strain your eyes.
Hooking up a second screen is not quite as technologically seamless as you might think, and so screen-makers have been working on minimizing the effort that users have to put in to make them work. Samsung claims that its newest external monitors, the SyncMaster LD190G and SyncMaster LD220G, both of which are aimed at laptop users, do just that.
The company says its UbiSync technology allows users to create a multimonitor setup that can be operated without a fancy graphics card or complex software installations. The 190G is an 18.5-inch LCD monitor with a resolution of 1360×768, a contrast ratio of 1,000:1, a response time of 5 milliseconds and brightness of 250cd/m2. The larger 220G is a 21.5-inch model with otherwise similar specifications.