Here's a modified review of my Asus VK246H from Dec 2008 / Jan 2009. The original thread is as follows and also includes an expanded DVD playback quality section at the very end:
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/54250-3-asus-vk246h-review-final-update
Additionally, this review is written from an average gamer / user point of view. Otherwise I would have used much more stringent standards regarding color accuracy and uniformity and I would rated this monitor much more harshly.
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I can also write a review regarding the NEC LCD2690WUXi and Planar PX2611w if anyone is interested. However, both are no longer in production, but new Planar PX2611w can still be purchased online.
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-Brand: Asus
-Model: VK246H (this review also applies to the VW246H)
-Graphics Card: Nvidia GeForce 9600GT
-Screen Size: 24"
-Maximum Resolution: 1920 x 1080 @ 60Hz
-Contrast Ratio: 1000:1 (constant) / 20,000:1 (Dynamic)
-Brightness: 300 cd/m2
-Response Time: 2ms
-Connectors: D-Sub, DVI, HDMI
-Input Lag: less than 2ms
-Other: Built-in webcam, 2w integrated speakers
-Overall Recommendation: Great for gaming, good for videos
Introduction
This is a review of the Asus VK246H 24” LCD monitor with a resolution of 1920 x 1080; aspect ratio of 16:9 (same as HDTVs). This monitor is similar to the ASUS VW246H, but has a built-in webcam at the top-center of the monitor. I have no need for a webcam, but the “VK” model was actually cheaper after all the discounts have been applied.
The box the monitor came is quite slim measuring 25-3/8” wide, 18-1/2” tall and a mere 7-1/8” thick. The box has a plastic handle which allows for easy transport. The weight of the entire package is 17 lbs. The monitor itself is around 12 lbs. The Asus seems to be fine, I noticed no damage or blemishes to the physical monitor.
Included items in the package:
- The monitor (duh!!!)
- Power cord
- DVI-D cable
- VGA cable
- Speaker cable
- Monitor base
- USB cable for the webcam (will not be reviewed since I will not be using it at all)
- Very basic multi-language quick start guide (English is covered in a mere 5 pages)
- ASUS “VIP Member Notice” – basically a warranty card.
Being such an inexpensive monitor (currently $230), it is no wonder that the entire casing and the stand is made from plastic. The front half of bezel is shiny plastic, fingerprints doesn’t seem to be an issue. However, I’m sure dust will love it. The monitor comes with plenty of stickers already attached and the entire front bezel is taped to prevent scratches. The base is made of lightweight plastic and very easy to install. It took less than 30 seconds to install the base to the monitor; the inside flap of the box has a graphic that shows you how to do it. The base it is wide enough to give the monitor sufficient support; a hard tap to the monitor will not cause it to tip over. The base only allows you to tilt the monitor; hey can’t expect too much from an inexpensive monitor.
The OSD Menu
The onscreen display menu is pretty basic as well as the controls. The buttons are as follows starting from the right corner.
1. The Power button is the right most button on the monitor and has a little blue dot light to indicate the monitor is on, not distracting at all.
2. To the left of the Power button is Input Selection button to choose between DVI-D, HDMI and VGA.
3. Brightness button comes next and doubles as the Increase button.
4. To the left of the Brightness button is the Menu button.
5. Next is the Sound button doubles as the Decrease button.
6. Lastly, the left most button is the “Splendid” button.
“Spendid” is provides 5 preset settings for different scenarios. Each “Splendid” setting is a different combination of Brightness, Contrast, Sharpness, Saturation, and ASCR (dynamic contrast on/off) options. The listed modes are Scenery, Standard, Theater, Game and Night View. Since this monitor has dynamic contrast each of the modes has a certain baseline contrast level. More on these modes later on.
Pressing the Menu button brings to you to the Splendid tab so you can scroll up/down and choice the best for your tastes. The next is the Image tab which lists all the options mentioned above. I will assume all are fairly easy to understand so I won’t explain anything other than the fact that Sharpness doesn’t seem to affect anything (images or text), unless the monitor is not being used at it’s native resolution. The Color tab allows you to change the color temperature (red, green, blue), and skin tones; useless unless you like to see people with more reddish or yellowish skin tones. The next tab is the Input Select (DVI-D, HDMI and VGA). The last tab is System Setup which includes Volume, OSD Setup, Language, Information, All Reset (to reset all your changes) and lastly Aspect Control which is grayed out when using native resolution. This option only become available when using less than native resolution.
Physical Dimensions
The monitor is roughly 16-1/2” tall, 22-5/16” wide, and 2-3/16” thick (excluding the base). The height is measured from the bottom of the base to the top of the webcam. The base itself is more or less circular with a diameter of about 9”. The base only raises the monitor 2-5/8” above the table. There is no height adjustment or swivel, and for get pivoting. Like all basic monitors, the Asus does have tilting. On the bright side, you can buy a 3rd party stand since this monitor complies with the VESA 100mm standard. I will probably do so in the future to get height adjustment.
Sound
This monitor has speakers however they do not face forward. Instead the speakers are located behind the monitor and they face upward. The sound emanates from the exhaust grid where heat rises out of the monitor. There is nothing spectacular about the speakers, they are just 2 watts and they sound rather flat, hallow and there is no bass. The speakers are good enough if you are in a pinch, but even $20 for a pair of speakers will outperform what’s included with the monitor. I would not bother setting the volume to be higher than 50 since distortion can occur (depending on the music).
Image Quality
As mentioned in my first post, this monitor uses a TN panel which can only produce 256k actual colors. Using temporal dithering (pixels flashes between multiple colors) the monitor can reproduce up to 16.7m colors (at least that’s what the manufacture claims). This newer method of dithering should allow for better color gradients which should reduce color banding errors. Dynamic Contrast (called ACSR) is reported to be 20,000:1. The claimed 2ms response time should mean there be very little ghosting.
1. Backlight Bleeding
This monitor exhibits some slight backlight bleeding across the top of the screen which is noticeable when looking at a black or dark background. When viewing a black background in a darkroom I can easily tell that the backlighting is not uniform throughout the entire monitor. I noticed slight patches of lighter areas across the monitor; however during normal usage this mostly un-noticeable. A bit more irritating annoyance with my particular Asus VK246 is the faint blue glow at the bottom of the screen just to the left of the Asus label. It is about 1” wide, it is not noticeable under normal circumstances even with a black background because the Windows XP taskbar is blue itself. Even when the taskbar set to auto-hide I did not notice it initially because there is still a thin blue line at the bottom of the screen when the taskbar is hidden. However, once I spotted the blue glow I can spot it very easily no matter what the background is (unless it is blue). I first noticed it when playing Fallout 3 to put this monitor thru its paces. There is another blue glow area about 1.5” to the right of the Asus label; this patch of blue glow is also about 1” wide, but is much less noticeable than the patch to the left. Meaning I need to pay attention to see it whereas I can spot the blue glow to the left with just a casual glance.
2. Color
I did not like the default colors of the monitor and it seems very difficult for me to adjust the monitor to my liking even after fiddling around with the OSD for well over an hour over the course of my brief ownership. Maybe it is just me, but I found balancing the right combination of Red, Green, and Blue is a bit tricky and also balancing the right amount of Brightness and Contrast. I see some “crushed blacks” where the very lowest shades of black all looked like the same “black”. My more expensive monitors don't really have this issue, but they are 3x and 6x more expensive than the Asus. When dealing with white saturation, it is also kinda difficult to find the right balance of Brightness and Contrast to notice subtle changes in grey and white.
With regards to color banding, I do not really notice any issues at the moment so it seems temporal dithering is doing what it is supposed to be doing. In the past TN panels had issues displaying underwater scenes properly due to subtle colors changes caused by sunlight shinning down into the water, movement of aquatic animal life, and the water they displace when they swim. That led to color banding and image artifact issues (where the monitor could simply display blocks of colors because it could not blend together the right colors to create the color that is supposed to be displayed). Unfortunately, I do not have any footage of an aquatic environment like the Blue Planet documentary series. Movies like Jaws and Deep Blue Sea do not count since Jaws is relatively old and the transfer from film to digital format is that great. Deep Blue Sea has CGI involved so that’s out.
3. Viewing Angles
Like all TN panels this monitor has limited viewing angles. Simply moving your head can cause colors to shift. Using a white background and turning my head I can see the white starting to shift to light gray with maybe a hint of yellow involved; basically it looks like the contrast level is changing and I can see some subtle color changes as well and at worse I can begin to a low level color banding when sink tones are involved. For the average user the shift is not too bad from left to right.
Looking down at the monitor from a standing position the contrast shift is even more pronounced and it actually seems to negate some of the color banding I see, but overall images seems darker than they should be and have less details. Looking at the monitor from a small child’s prospective, looking up at the monitor, reveals the worse shift in color, contrast and brightness. This is only an issue for small children though as I really doubt most adults will be looking at this monitor from such a position.
4. Splendid Modes
As I mentioned before, the Asus VK246 offers Splendid which is similar to MagicBright found on Samsung monitors. There are 5 available modes and they can all be adjusted and reset to their default settings if necessary. Since the monitor has Dynamic Contrast, it appears a certain baseline level of Contrast and Brightness are assigned to each of the modes. This can then be adjusted upwards or downwards to the user’s liking. However, it is not possible to use one mode to mimic another. For example, initially I decided to adjust Night View Mode so that it would like more like Scenery or Standard; no dice. While all the adjustable Brightness, Contrast, Sharpness, and Saturation could be set to the same level, the “dynamic” Brightness and Contrast could not be altered. Also note that the same Color Temp is used for all modes so whether Cool, Normal, Warm, or User Mode is selected in the OSD, it will be applied to all modes. It would have been nice to be able to assign different Color Temps to each mode.
As a basis to look at colors and image quality from a gaming perspective I loaded Fallout 3 and Far Cry (the original) as a basis to judge overall image quality in games. I’m using Fallout 3 because it is the current game I am playing and Far Cry because the jungle offer a lot of bright colors and foliage. The two blue glows that I mentioned before at the bottom of the screen are very apparent in Fallout 3. In low light conditions or when the ground is relatively dark, I can easily see the left blue glow. In low light conditions I can see the right blue glow because it appears where the hand carrying the weapon is. The glows cannot be easily seen in a brightly lit environment.
Scenery Mode – This mode seems to offer one of the better balances of the four adjustable setting. This is the mode I am current using and it seems to add a good depth to colors in games. The colors are vibrant (actually a bit too much for me so I reduced Saturation a bit) and the level of contrast seems to bring out a decent amount of details in games. In Fallout 3 it brings a nice level of detail and “grittiness” to the game. Since the game takes place in a post apocalyptic era most of the colors in the game are grays and browns. There is a decent amount of saturation (I lowered it) by default so that it gave players that “pop” they are looking for I suppose. In Far Cry colors seems to be a bit over exaggerated, but otherwise I don’t find any faults with it.
Standard Mode – Colors are not as saturated as in Scenery. Brightness and Contrast are set a little higher so that colors seems to be a little washed out. This causes details to be lost because it seems like some of the depth is lost and it is apparent in both games. But overall, this also offers a good balance of the four settings since it is a bit more natural. I would decrease Brightness and Contrast a little bit though. Whether for gaming or web surfing Standard is a good choice, but I think Scenery is better.
Theater Mode – This definitely increases the Brightness and Contrast level; too much for my liking whether in a dimly or well lit room. Also, this mode also uses warmer colors so everything takes on a reddish hue in Fallout 3 which I do not like. On the other hand this mode doesn’t seem too bad in Far Cry, the green foliage looks greener, and the water looks quite nice. I suppose this game looks good because the game mostly takes place outdoors in a very sunny environment so the extra Brightness and Contrast seems to help in this situation. The reddish hue is not really noticeable as well. I am sure this will change once indoors as lighting conditions will be different.
Game Mode – Not sure why this is an option because quite frankly; it doesn’t really look good. In Game mode colors seem to be muddied and don’t seem to blend in very well with each other in both games. Green is definitely overstated in this mode and since Far Cry has plenty of foliage it makes it painfully more obvious. Perhaps some tweaking will make it better, but I think adjusting Scenery or Standard mode will be easier.
Night View Mode – Man, way too bright, by a long shot. Colors in Far Cry looks if they were neon. Imagine foliage that is glowing green from nuclear radiation. This make both games look like they were in cartoon land. This mode also brings out color banding issues and image artifact issues which are the worst traits TN panels have. Avoid using at all cost.
5. Interpolation
As I initially indicated at the beginning, the Aspect Control option I the OSD is only available when using less than native resolution; forget about 1:1 pixel mapping since it is not offered at all. Thus, if you want to play an older game which does not support widescreen format, then it would be necessary to go into Aspect Control and select 4:3 mode so that images will not appear to be stretched; Diablo II would be such an example.
Decreasing the resolution to 1600 x 900 reveals a significant decrease in text clarity; it’s painful just looking at it. The Sharpness control in the OSD can help, but not much. Gaming wise, the decrease to image quality is not as bad as text quality, however game graphics do appear softer; which is no surprise. Bumping it up the resolution to 1680 x 1050 makes text look a little easier to read, but this is 16:10 aspect ratio, not 16:9 so everything will look a little stretched. My advice is to absolutely do not use less than native resolution in desktop mode. You have been warned!
6. Gaming
I noticed no ghosting while gaming on this monitor in both Fallout 3 and Far Cry. The exception is when I swing my mouse very rapidly from side to side like a wildman. Makes it kinda hard to hit your target though. Fallout 3 has native support for 16:9 aspect ratio resolutions and in Far Cry 1 1920 x 1080 was an option so no tweaks were necessary. Additionally, Galactic Civilization II had no issues with using native resolution as well. I noticed no perceivable input lag on this monitor. In fact, this monitor has been tested to have less than 2ms of input lag, by Prad.de; the link is as follows:
http://www.prad.de/en/monitore/review/2009/review-asus-vk246h-part12.html#Lag
Overall, playing games on this monitor is very enjoyable due to no noticeable ghosting effect and the very low input lag. Colors are a bit exaggerated and not very accurate in my opinion, but in games that does not really matter too much as long as the colors are not grossly off like displaying pink instead of red. The Scenery mode should provide most people with the kinda "pop" that they. If not, then there are 4 other modes however Game and Night Views modes are totally unacceptable to me.
7. DVD Playback (brief review)
I am using PowerDVD v7.3 for DVD playback and my HTPC has a ECS 9600GT that is passively cooled by an Arctic Cooling Accelero S2. While watching the various chapters I am sitting approximately 40" away from the monitor. The DVDs I am using to analyze the monitor are: The Dark Knight, Appleseed: Ex Machina, and Iron Man (last minute review). An extended playback analysis will be posted for each DVD later. I am sticking with using Scenery mode while watching the DVDs. I dislike the shades of color Theater mode displays.
The Dark Knight is a 2:35:1 aspect ratio movie, therefore watching this on any LCD monitor will result in black bars on the top and bottom of the screen. Unfortunately this means the backlight bleeding on top and bottom of the screen does shine through which is quite distracting. Watching The Dark Knight on an IMAX screen was great. Watching it on the Asus was not so great. There were a bit too many instances video artifacts and color banding for my tastes. These things don't occur throughout the entire movie but, it happens enough for me to only give a Fair rating as low light level scenes tends to bring out the worse in this monitor. I basically conclude that visual issues with the Dark Knight is due to compressing a very long movie with lots of dark scenery onto a dual layer DVD. I am confident that the Blu-Ray version of this movie will not have such poor visual artifacts since a dual layer Blu-Ray disc can store up to 50GB of data.
Appleseed: Ex Machina is a Japanese anime based on the Appleseed manga and it is completely computer generated. Since the movie is 16:9 aspect ratio, it fills up the entire screen which helps mask the backlight bleeding along the top and bottom. Overall playback is a better than The Dark Knight but it still suffers from some color banding here and there. In darker scenes the blacklight bleeding does appear a little bit, but at least it is brief and not constant like in The Dark Knight.
Since The Dark Knight performed so poorly, I decided to add in Iron Man as part of my review. This movie is also presented in 2:35:1 aspect ratio. Iron Man fared much better than the Dark Knight. Yes there were instances of the typical color banding and video artifact appearing on the screen, but they were far less frequent an thus less annoying. There were no issues with smoke and artifacts. It does pretty will in both dimly lit and brightly lit conditions. It was very pleasant watching Iron Man on this monitor.
Conclusion
Overall, I recommend this monitor (and the Asus VW246H) for anyone looking for an inexpensive 1080p monitor that is excellent for games and does a pretty good job for videos. Needless to say this monitor also does pretty well for office application and websurfing as well.
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