Acer SB242Y Hbi 23.8" FHD (1920 x 1080) Frameless Gaming Desktop Monitor | AMD FreeSync Technology | Slim and Stylish Design | 100Hz | 1ms (VRB) | Low Blue Light | Tilt | HDMI and VGA Connections
This review is for the SB220Q series (1920 x 1080) 75Hz. At $90 as of July 2020, all of the accolades this monitor has received and continues to receive are well deserved. Out of the box, the factory calibration is pretty poor, as it is with most TVs and monitors (I'll never understand why), but Acer's built-in menus give you a wide range of controls to tweak the picture quality to your liking. Here are some notable pros and cons after using this screen every day for the past three weeks:
feature:
- The colors can be very vivid and the clarity makes everything near and far nice and clear without looking overdone. Although the data sheet does not accurately specify the Adobe or sRGB color space, it does have an NTSC coverage of 72% (remember that the NTSC color space has the highest color rendering), which means that the sRGB coverage is close to 100%. This is normal for most monitors under $200 (note: the TechSpot unit we tested had about 93% sRGB coverage, with detail mostly lost in the green area, so your device's output may vary). 6-bit + FRC (8-bit equivalent) color depth is also the industry standard for entry screens, making it ideal for occasional use.
- The DCR (a non-standard contrast measurement for video) appears to be "100,000,000:1". 1 and 50,000,000:1 contrast. Note, however, that it still has a standard static contrast ratio of 1000:1 (a scale for still images), which isn't great, but perfectly acceptable for casual viewing, as only high-end ($400) IPS panels survive. Life is that 1500:1 is the maximum native contrast ratio IPS typically achieves.
~ A quick note on the "100,000,000:1" DCR number: There is no industry standard method for this particular measurement, so the number itself is mostly unhelpful marketing crap. But as you point out, this screen seems to be better than the other two screens with the same industry standard SCR.
- The pixel density of 102 ppi makes little difference in image quality up close compared to a 24-inch 1080p monitor at 92 ppi. On the other hand, the text looks smoother. This is a sheer advantage of the smaller 21.5-inch screen.
- The color adjustment menu allows you to adjust RGB and CMY levels, bias, hue, and saturation for better color balance.
- The Picture menu allows adjusting screen brightness, contrast, gamma and darkness ("black boost"), and provides blue light, Adaptive Limit (ACM) and an on/off switch for crystal clear clarity.
- Game menu contains FreeSync (for AMD GPUs) and Overdrive options
shortening:
- The edges are a bit thicker than I like (about 1cm higher at the top, left and right) which makes the frameless design more of a gimmick.
The viewing angle from top to bottom is much darker than looking directly at the screen.
- Despite having a good 100M:1 DCR ratio, blacks are still too bright to see anything with intensely dark scenes since the screen itself lacks HDR capabilities and contrast control areas, i.e. h. Local Dimming (to be fair, this is exactly as expected at the $90 price tag only as a guideline for people looking to watch TV/movies with this monitor).
- The Picture menu allows adjusting screen brightness, contrast, gamma and darkness ("black boost"), and provides blue light, Adaptive Limit (ACM) and an on/off switch for crystal clear clarity.
- Game menu contains FreeSync (for AMD GPUs) and Overdrive options
shortening:
- The edges are a bit thicker than I like (about 1cm higher at the top, left and right) which makes the frameless design more of a gimmick.
The viewing angle from top to bottom is much darker than looking directly at the screen.
- Despite having a good 100M:1 DCR ratio, blacks are still too bright to see anything with intensely dark scenes since the screen itself lacks HDR capabilities and contrast control areas, i.e. h. Local Dimming (to be fair, this is exactly as expected at the $90 price tag only as a guideline for people looking to watch TV/movies with this monitor).
- The Ultra Clarity option in the photo menu is just an on/off switch; It does not give you better control over the clarity of the application.
- Despite all the picture quality adjustment options available in Settings, whites are still on the warmer side of the color temperature chart. It's almost imperceptible just by looking at it on this screen, but with a cooler screen nearby you'll notice the difference. This is likely to be an issue with my particular unit as other reviews state their units have a more neutral or "near perfect" temperature.
— compared to most other budget monitors, which can tilt nearly 30 degrees, it only has a slight backward tilt of 15 degrees (which is tricky, as compromises are to be expected at $100 lower prices).
- The power button cannot be distinguished from the rest of the menu buttons (shape and space).
Overall, this is a solid choice if you're looking for a good budget monitor for viewing spreadsheets and Word documents, web browsing, or even light casual gaming. Of course, if you're a competitive gamer, photographer, professional editor, or content creator, you need to invest in a more capable monitor.
- 23.8-inch (1920 x 1080) ultra-slim monitor for home, gaming or office
- AMD FreeSync technology
- Response time: 1 ms Refresh rate: 100 Hz (via HDMI connection) | Brightness: 250 lumens | Pixel distance: 0.274 mm
- Ergonomic tilt: -5° to 15° | VESA mount compatible (75 x 75 mm)
- Connections: HDMI 1.4 port, VGA port (HDMI cable included)