Sure it's only 6 bits, but all TN monitors are. You want something way better expect to pay hundreds more.This monitor has great color, sharpness, and brightness. The whites are as perfect as your going to get in a TN.The green in grass is exactly right, not too blue, not too bright green.Skin color is perfect (at least for the average Caucasian colors). The reds are, you guessed it, red!Not magenta, not orange, just red!I can't find a fault with any color or shade. At the same time I bought this monitor I also purchased a new Dell e248wfp and let me tell you, the Dell is a piece of junk.The reds are magenta, the greens have blue in them, even the sharpness is all wrong. That Dell looks sharper but it's actually over-sharpened.On the Dell very small text looks horrible and winds up having ghost color around it. I can tell it's just false sharpness processed by the monitor because I have a program that has very small dots in it. These dots are even smaller than the dots at the end of sentences (even 8 font).Anyway, the Acer has no problem making these tiny dots and text very clearly.Also, the Acer makes movies look sharper than the Dell.That's another clue the Dell is using false sharpening.So the Acer makes things as sharp as they really are while not adding fake sharpness that distorts text.I wanted to like the Dell because overall it is about $70 cheaper (I got it with partner discount and now I have to pay to ship it back).I spent at least 10 hours messing with the Dell's settings trying to get it right but gave up.In the end the Dell's right side looks slightly magenta while the left is slightly blue. Can't fix that or the off colors (others have mentioned those problems as well).
Back to the Acer.Some people gave it negative points because the colors look muted.Trust me, your video card can add plenty of color but your video card can't make a monitor display colors correctly if the native tn panel is not made to do them right.I guess some dopes think skin is magenta, it's not.You need red to make a good brown as well, another thing Dell could not do. The Acer was also knocked because the colors appear muted.Truth is with the aid of any video card you can make the Acers' colors flourencent if you wanted to.You can always turn up the color on the Acer but you can't turn down the color on the other monitors.Adjusting color on monitors is actually like adjusting the brightness, the amount of color is the same but not as bright. If a monitor has too much default color turnind down the color makes the image too dark so then you have to turn up the brightness which can leave the display looking foggy or cloudy.I now actaully see muted default colors like on the Acer as being a benefit and not a negative (gives more adjustability).I guess the people at Acer were way ahead me on that understanding.Another thing is the black is very black.It's the Acers high contrast that allows that.
One of the monitors options I really like are the eColor presets ("e" button on the monitor). They are actually very useful.This monitor can get very bright (nice WHITE bright, not blue or magenta) but can be set lower for normal viewing.Then, using one of the "e" button options, set to something like "Photo" for crisp and bright picture editing.This works much better and easier than you think it would. Mine came with HDMI, DVI, and VGA inputs.I used DVI for awhile then decided to try VGA.After running movies and text I can say VGA appears as good as DVI even on colors. Mine had one stuck pixel (red).It is about 1/4" from the bottom 3" from the left. I never notice it unless I am looking for it.There is no way I'm returning this monitor for just that.It has proven its self to be far too good a monitor to pass on because of that.
Whelp, that's my review.I hated picking on Dell but never tried any of the others (samsung, V7, Benq) and don't feel I need to either.There is just no way they could be any better than this Acer and I would probably just find faults with them (I don't want to write a lot of bad reviews but now feel I must comment on the Dell site about that lousy monitor).
One thing is I noticed was the monitor did not want to wake up after shutting the pc off (light on monitor goes amber).This was using a DVI connection.I had to turn the monitor off then back on again.This is the one nit about these, they don't always wake up easily. Maybe it doesn't do it using VGA?
I don't work for Acer. I didn't receive anything for writing this except the pleasure of reviewing a product that turned out to be a real winner and hoping to save someone from making a poor monitor decision.Buy the Acer and enjoy!
Click Here to see more reviews about: Acer P241WAid LCD Monitor
Product Description:
Excellent monitor performance: This flat-panel LCD 24- widescreen features WUXGA (1920 x 1200) pixel resolution and 400cd/m2 brightness. High contrast ratio: With a superb 3000:1 contrast ratio, colors will appear brighter and more life-like. Speedy response time: With an amazing two-millisecond response time, moving images appear more realistic. Digital inputs: This display offers dual digital D-sub and HDMI inputs, DVI connection available on select models. Contemporary design: The sleek look of this flat screen monitor is sure to complement any room.
