Tech

Wednesday 14 December 2011

ASUS VS247H Review


As LED backlit panels become mainstream, prices for these displays drop drastically. Asus has now launched one of their entry-level LED-backlit displays for the masses. The VS247H is priced under the Rs.12,000 mark and offers all features you'd expect from displays, these days.
Controls located at the bottom of the bezel
Controls located at the bottom of the bezel


Design and build quality
Gone are the days when monitors would appear drab to look at. Like many monitors being manufactured nowadays, this monitor is very stylish as well. It features an all black design with a glossy finish. One may tend to find a lot of residue due to this gloss design ASUS has used on it. The bezel is very sturdy and when pressed, only a slight amount of distortion is noticed on the LCD at the side. The entire monitor is made of plastic and is quite light in weight.

Denotations for the controls are located at the bottom right hand of the bezel and the controls are located on the underside of the monitor. These buttons feel quite sturdy and have a slight rounded feel to them. This makes pressing the buttons comfortable. Those who like monitors with a simple minimalistic design will find this an attractive looking monitor. On the other hand, this has a fair amount of style to appeal to most people as well.

The base looks stylish with the textured design
The base looks stylish with the textured design


Connectivity options for the ASUS VS247H are located at the back. The display options for these include ports for DVI, HDMI and D-Sub. In the crevice, where these ports are located, a 3.5 mm audio jack is also housed. One can connect a pair of headphones to it while watching movies, listening to music, playing games, etc.

The stand has a chrome finish, which adds to the style factor the monitor. The stand is rounded and one can attach it to the base by using a single screw. The base which is circular has a textured design that looks good. The stand is not the best we have seen. When the monitor is attached to the stand a lot of wobble is noticed. This wobble is present even while pressing the controls at the bottom of the monitor. Summing up the design and build quality, the ASUS VS247H is stylish and sturdy, but the stand is something we were not too pleased with.

Features
The ASUS VS247H is a LED-backlit LCD display that supports a resolution of 1920x1080. Although it’s one of the cheaper models available, it comes with all the basic connectivity options one would expect from a monitor priced in the Rs.11,000 range. For example, there are three display ports - one for DVI, HDMI and D-Sub. We used HDMI as the input source, while reviewing the monitor. There’s also a 3.5mm analog audio port using, which users can connect their external speakers or headphones.

In terms of the the user menu and OSD, there’s a lot to play around with as well. Press the Menu button and all of the advanced settings show up. There are the usual set of display presets for night viewing and gaming present. sRBG and standard modes are also present, so more advanced users can tweak the settings as per their liking or requirements.

Connectivity options found at the back
Connectivity options found at the back


While there is a dedicated input source button, the same feature can also be accessed through the user interface. An eco-mode that dims down backlighting is also present. This could be handy, if you’re using the display in the dark as well.

If you’re using a pair of headphones and there are no volume controls on it, you can choose to use the volume controls on the display. We feel that this is too cumbersome for everyday use, though. The user interface is simple to understand takes no more than a few minutes getting used to.Performance
To gauge the performance of the ASUS VS247H we ran the Spyder 3 software, DisplayMate test and other video playback tests. We used a Spyder 3 Elite to calibrate the monitor, before we went ahead and ran each of the tests. The brightness and contrast levels were set first, after which the colours were adjusted to get them to the required colour temperature. Once the display was calibrated, we calculated the actual contrast ratio of the display and we learnt it to be 603:1, which is still pretty impressive.

While running the DisplayMate test we noticed that in the Optimum Gray-Scale and Optimum Contrast test the greys, whites and blacks reproduced well after the Spyder settings were implemented. The darkest greys and the brightest whites were properly reproduced and there was no green tinge noticed, which is usually found on other displays in the dark grey band. Black levels are really good and from the second block onwards, the blocks became visible. Colours appear a bit vibrant and this is due to the tweaking of settings while running the Spyder software. In the reverse video contract test, we observed that all colours appeared to be accurate across all three bars.
The Spyder3 Elite scores
The Spyder3 Elite scores


No moire patterns were noticed while running the background interference check. While checking for glare, we noticed that at the sides of the display there were minor backlighting issues. There was also a slightly bluish band visible at the bottom. Of course, these are only visible on a blank display. With content playing on the screen, this may not be visible. This was noticed in all the tests we ran. Standard screen colours such as yellow, green and red appear saturated, but other colours reproduced accurately. During the colour intensity scales tests, all blocks were clearly visible. In the colour bar test pattern, we noticed that there was a white seam between the green and pink bars, while the edge between pink and red appeared soft.

While running videos, we noticed that colours rendered well and one would surely enjoy watching videos or movies on it. Once the monitor was calibrated, we noticed that colours overall appeared saturated. Video playback looks fine - there’s no sign of any blurring or shadows visible. Colours look rich and gradients appear smooth without any kind of patchiness or banding.
Glossy black bezel makes the monitor stylish
Glossy black bezel makes the monitor stylish


Verdict
The ASUS VS247H is an impressive piece of hardware. It’s priced at Rs.11,900, which isn’t really a lot for a display that handles colours so well, has decent backlighting and all the basic connectivity features you’ll need. You could easily use this with a gaming console and a PC at the same time. Our only real complaint is the stand - it could have been sturdier. If you’re looking to build a new PC or upgrade your old display, this would be our recommendation.

No comments:

Post a Comment