Acer 22" WSXGA+ LCD Monitor 5 ms D-Sub, DVI X223Wbd

Pros: Once tweaked, it has great color balance and brightness. Turn the brightness to full, the blacks stay convincingly dark. Nice bright whites too Sharp display and well worth the price, but the cons are a let down. Overall looks better than a Dell 2007WFP side by side if you get over the cons.

Cons: The viewing angle is really bad. You can see the screen at wide angles, but there is a noticeable shift in blues and reds from higher and lower viewing angles that are even within your normal viewing area if you sit 2 feet away from the monitor. This problem mostly goes away if you sit 3-4 feet away from the monitor, but up close it's almost a deal breaker, at least for artists. (which is a shame, as the color is great) Sit back and it will work just fine for art, just be aware of checking color balance.

The response time is also not 5ms, but neither ares most monitors that claim they are. Based on the flashing square test (below) it seems sluggish going from full black to mid greys. The response time for dark grey to white and brighter are largely okay, but full black to anything is pretty slow. I tested it with Halflife 2 and it ran smoothly for me, but it might be noticeable to some gamers. Ghosting was acceptably minimal. Slight top and bottom edge bleed on black screens

Overall Review: I did side by side comparisons between this, a Dell 2007WFP, and an 23" Apple Cinema Display. This tool helped: http://www.lagom.nl/lcd-test.

I needed to crank the brightness, and increase the red by 10 to fix a slight bluish/green in the default white balance. It claims 2500:1 contrast, but it was only slightly brighter than others. They make up for it in blacks, which seem much darker given the brightness of the whites.

Compared to the Dell Ultrasharp, it was brighter, had a better white balance, more vivid colors, and more neutral greys. The Dell, however, has no viewing angle problems, and excellent response times, showing an overall higher quality. The Acer is better for general computer use, movies, and media. The Dell for art and games.

Compared to the Apple, it is clear why the CD is so drool worthy, Apple was better in every way. Yet the Acer was almost as bright, vivid, and sharp as the Apple. The CDs white balance, and control of subtle color was better

Pros: Great price and delivery as usual. Monitor works as expected with either connection. The menu is easy to navigate and use, contrary to some opinions. The stand has limited vertical adjustment, but horizontal and pitch are a bit better than average.

Cons: Arrived with a dead pixel right in the center of the screen. NewEgg has a 6 pixel return policy (for an RMA to be authored). 6 pixels?!? I'm annoyed to think we should tolerate such lax QC standards from either NewEgg or Acer. 6? Not a chance. I work with graphic applications and multi-media presentations. However, after the run around from Acer, looks like I'll have to settle for my one dead pixel in the center. Good luck to others on getting a good one.

Overall Review: 6 pixels? First unsatisfactory outcome of NewEgg purchase ever. Usually an RMA is not an issue. I paid for a 100% functioning monitor, not 99.8%. Is there a certain amount of damage or defective merchandise that it's OK to sell?