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Michael J.

Michael J.

Joined on 04/03/10

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Product Reviews
product reviews
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Most Favorable Review

Good value, with caveats

Acer B236HLymdr Dark Gray 23" 6ms (GTG) Height&Pivot adjustable Widescreen LED Backlight LCD Monitor IPS 250 cd/m2 100,000,000:1 (1,000:1) Built-in Speakers
Acer B236HLymdr Dark Gray 23" 6ms (GTG) Height&Pivot adjustable Widescreen LED Backlight LCD Monitor IPS 250 cd/m2 100,000,000:1 (1,000:1) Built-in Speakers

Pros: 23" 1080p IPS, all the stand adjustments including portrait mode, price! Nothing else gives you features like that at this price point of around $150-160. The stand is pretty sturdy but not really like what you see on professional Dell / NEC / etc. offerings, but what were you expecting at this price? Overall build quality is pretty decent, and the bezel is fairly thin and non-reflective, which is good. They throw in a VESA mount and speakers (supposedly? I never tested those) too. Expect all the perks of a modern IPS panel. With custom timings, 72 Hz and 75 Hz can be run at 1080p without skipping frames. I didn't try higher. Handling of colors and gradients seems to be pretty good. Contrast is pretty decent but nothing amazing.

Cons: Unfortunately... See that 6 ms response time listed for an IPS panel? Say hello to massive reverse ghosting. As a result, if you see these kinds of things, absolutely don't use this for fast-paced twitch gaming. In fact, it could be fairly noticeable on some panning shots in movies and other content too. Other Acer monitors had an option to disable the pixel overdrive in the service menu, but I'm not seeing it here. I don't have a calibrator, but this was definitely a bit greenish out of box. Nothing a little adjustment can't mostly fix, even with just the OSD. I think it looks like it covers sRGB or so, but that's just with the naked eye and guessing. My sample had a bit of backlight bleeding around an edge too. It's noticeable definitely in dark scenes in say movies even with brightness turned down. Like most monitors, it uses PWM control for backlight dimming, for whatever that's worth to you. I can't see it with the naked eye, but I can see the signs of it with my cellphone camera.

Overall Review: To access the service menu, turn the power off. Hold the left button while turning it back on. Then go to menu (third button from left) and select the new "F" that popped up. It lists the chip as RTD2281RW and the panel as LM230WF3-SKL1. Date: 20130307, Version: 0.04. You can turn off the Acer splash screen in here and make more fine-tuned RGB adjustments. Now, TFTCentral's database lists the LM230WF3-SLK1 as eIPS, but I'm not entirely sure. I searched around, and I saw some products like LG 23EA53V-P and LG 23ET63V that supposedly also use the same panel... and those are listed as AH-IPS. I've seen eIPS monitors before, and in my experience this Acer's matte antiglare panel coating seems a bit less grainy. It might actually be AH-IPS. That's my best guess, anyway. For the user that doesn't much care about the drawbacks, this Acer B236HL is a pretty good value. Recommended but with caveats. 4/5