AOC's budget IPS technology may look
nice, but does it suit the user?
The emergence of relatively inexpensive IPS
technology has led to a wealth of decent sized monitors becoming available. The
good range of colors, better viewing angles and better designs means that the
budget monitor has entered a new phase of performance that was once only the
realm of the $464-plus breed.
AOC's l2367Fh is such a monitor; an
extremely good example of a 23" screen that looks a lot more expensive it
is. It's near borderless display runs at a native 1920x1080, with a 5ms
response time, has a non-reflective, matte anti-glare coating and a dynamic
contrast ratio of 50000000:1, which makes for superb detail when running HD
content.
AOC
I2367Fh review
There are two HDMI inputs, a VGA input,
power input, and an audio and headphone input around the back all placed within
easy reach to plug and unplug when necessary, but there's also the on-screen
controls located to the rear, around the right-hand side, which make it a
little awkward to feel around and find the right button.
What surprised us was just how light and
thin this monitor is. Measuring in at only 11mm, the screen looks like a slight
breeze would cause it to flex, but it's made of sterner stuff and can take a
surprising amount of heavy-handedness before it feels like it's beginning to
give. Weighing in at just a tad over 3kg, this is one of the lightest budget
monitors we've tested for quite some time but, again, while it feels light it's
remarkably sturdy.
The monitor comes with a curved mount,
which is screwed into place on to the base. The mount itself can be used as a
makeshift stand, without the base being attached, but doing so would expose the
metal of the mount to the desk. Once in the stand, the l2367Fh is capable of
being tilted forward by about five degrees, and backward by around 15°, but
there's no way to swivel or adjust the height. The 1787178° viewing angles make
up slightly for the lack of ergonomic design, but there's no option to wall
mount or pivot the monitor so you're stuck with a desktop display.
There
are no USB ports, nor a USB hub included with the monitor, which is probably
down to the overall thinness of the panel and the wish to keep the unit within
a certain price range
There are no USB ports, nor a USB hub
included with the monitor, which is probably down to the overall thinness of
the panel and the wish to keep the unit within a certain price range. However,
the addition of a couple of USB ports would have meant this monitor scored much
higher. The 2W internal speakers provide an adequate squeak, but they lack
anything resembling decent bass or enough volume to fully enjoy a movie or a
game. However that could be rectified, via the rear audio ports, with a set of
external speakers or headphones.
The AOC l2367Fh provides an excellent
picture for a $224 model. The screen presets are good enough to use
out-of-the-box and you won't go far wrong when gaming with its 23"
display. However, the weak speakers, lack of USB or DVI, lack of height or
swivel adjustment means that despite the picture quality, the overall scores
are significantly less than if AOC had included these features. The major
concern is the ergonomics; while the IPS technology does compensate for having
no height adjustment, you have to question how much comfortable using this
monitor would be, and whether it would suit someone who works all day at their
screen.
The
screen presets are good enough to use out-of-the-box and you won't go far wrong
when gaming with its 23" display
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Details
§ Price:
$224
§ Manufacturer:
AOC
§ Website:
www.aocdisplay.com
§ Required
spec: VGA, HDMI, PC, Mac compatible.
§ Specification
§ Panel
type: IPS
§ Monitor
Size: 23"
§ Visible
Screen Size: 58,4cm
§ Screen
Format: 16:9
§ Brightness:
250 (typ) cd/m2
§ Contrast
Ratio Dynamic: 50.000.000:1 (DCR)
§ Contrast
Ratio Typical: 1000:1
§ Pixel
I Dot I Pitch: 0.265 (H) x 0.265 (V)
§ Display
Area: 509.76 (H) x 286.74 (V)
§ Viewing
Angle: 1787178° (CR 10)
§ Response
Time: 5 ms GtG
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