Acer, Dell, LG, And Samsung: Four 23" LCD Monitors, Rounded-Up

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In our first LCD round-up of the year, we put four monitors thorough our benchmark suite and find some surprising results. Even if you're an enthusiast with cash to spare, paying more doesn't guarantee a better display. Our tests explain why.

Out Of Box Performance: Maximum And Minimum Brightness

Manufacturers have a habit of citing overly optimistic specifications for their displays. Take white luminance as an example. Instead of measuring every location and selecting the best figure, as some vendors do, we only take luminance measurements from the center of the screen. In addition, our contrast ratios are generated using black and white luminance values obtained at the same brightness setting. This tells you how bright of a white and how dark of a black any given display can reproduce at one consistent setting.

All of the monitors in this round-up fall short of their specified 250 cd/m2. Dell’s S2330MX leads the pack with decent black and white luminosity, though. While its contrast doesn't live up to the advertised 1000:1 ratio, Samsung’s S23A550H and LG’s IPS236V wind up being far more disappointing. Both are incapable of producing deep blacks, resulting in contrast ratios below 300:1. Acer’s S231HL Bid finishes in the middle. Its relatively poor white luminesce is countered by a deep black, yielding a respectable 732:1.

When you dial down brightness, Dell’s S2330MX turns out to be a surprising leader. Despite being a relatively cheap TN-based monitor, it’s capable of rendering a very deep black, resulting in a contrast ratio close to 1500:1.

Andrew Ku
42 Comments Comment from the forums
  • compton
    I thought the LG used not S-IPS but e-IPS, 6 bit + AFC. I actually thought it was almost identical to the CCFL backlit Dell U2311H (except the module is for LED backlight in the LG's case, not CCFL).

    I guess I was wrong.
    Reply
  • compton
    ^ I mean the panels, not the two monitors themselves.
    Reply
  • klyzet
    Im not sure if that input lag test is accurate.
    Why dont you guys test it the usual way? with a CRT monitor side by side running a timer (with ms ofc) and take some photos?
    Reply
  • illusiongamer12
    why no review a viewsonic monitor they have a 150$-180$ monitor with these same specs
    Reply
  • tlmck
    Also noticeably absent is the ever popular ASUS brand. I don't have one myself, but it seems a lot of people do. Would have been an interesting comparison.
    Reply
  • Eman25th
    Can anyone tell me why the prices haven't dropped? i bought my asus 24" screen 2 years ago for 178$
    Reply
  • acku
    9527531 said:
    I thought the LG used not S-IPS but e-IPS, 6 bit + AFC. I actually thought it was almost identical to the CCFL backlit Dell U2311H (except the module is for LED backlight in the LG's case, not CCFL).

    I guess I was wrong.


    LG's QA website.
    Reply
  • kyuuketsuki
    I own the LG IPS236V, and I find your numbers completely non-believable. The contrast ratio is not that abysmal, and it can reproduce decent (though not the best, I admit) blacks. Also, on a review of the IPS226V, while being the 22" model, it is otherwise identical, and DigitalVersus found it to have a contrast ratio of over 1000:1. I'm wondering where the huge disparity in numbers is coming from, and I don't think it's DigitalVersus mussing things up.

    Question: did you go into the Menu > Picture and change the Black Level setting to Low? It defaults to High for some unknown reason, and at that setting the blacks are indeed terrible. At Low, the blacks are much, much better, and the slight decrease in white levels isn't much of an issue given that this is an extremely bright monitor.
    Reply
  • kyuuketsuki
    Also, what was the Gamma setting on the IPS236V?
    Reply
  • acku
    9527539 said:
    I own the LG IPS236V, and I find your numbers completely non-believable. The contrast ratio is not that abysmal, and it can reproduce decent (though not the best, I admit) blacks. Also, on a review of the IPS226V, while being the 22" model, it is otherwise identical, and DigitalVersus found it to have a contrast ratio of over 1000:1. I'm wondering where the huge disparity in numbers is coming from, and I don't think it's DigitalVersus mussing things up.

    Question: did you go into the Menu > Picture and change the Black Level setting to Low? It defaults to High for some unknown reason, and at that setting the blacks are indeed terrible. At Low, the blacks are much, much better, and the slight decrease in white levels isn't much of an issue given that this is an extremely bright monitor.

    Gamma set to 2.2. We did set to low. And as you know we measure luminance (nits) not illuminance (lux). Maybe this unit sat in the review pool too long... Not sure, but those were the readings that we achieved.
    Reply