IPS panels are already taking away the stage from their TN panel counterparts mainly due to their rising advantages over the latter. They have a significantly better viewing angle, richer color reproduction, and are already catching up on response time performance as time goes by. Clearly, IPS is firmly becoming the norm when it comes to display devices.
IPS panels, though have tons of advantages, are significantly pricier compared to TN panels that is true, but it wont stop ASUS in their tracks to offer something quite surprising considering that they usually charge an extra when it comes to almost everything. The display that I am talking about is the ASUS VX239H. An inexpensive 23 Incher, “frameless” IPS panel based monitor coming from the guys at ASUS. Inexpensive is indeed the word for this panel, as it retails for only 7, 999 Pesos. Moreover, it is an AH-IPS and is specifically designed by LG.
FEATURES & SPECIFICATIONS:
UNBOXING & BUNDLED ACCESSORIES:
The ASUS VX239H came in a tall yet slim eco- friendly packaging with a carrying handle. It’s easy to transport and it kept the display protected from bumps and bruises. Trust me I accidentally bumped this almost everywhere while lugging it back to home.
The packaging consists of 2 part polyester foams sandwiching the display between them. The accessories are well packed at the side of the foam and has their own protective covers. Nothing to dislike.
Paper works includes a quick start guide, and ASUS’ VIP Member Notice pamphlet. Because you know, VIP stuffs.
The power adapter is rather small and boxy, compared to other manufacturer’s implementations which is nice. It has a fairly long cable and has a 3 point port for the power cable that goes to the outlet.
Display output cables consists of the VGA, and HDMI cables. This display is supposed to include an HDMI-DVI cable and an MHL cable but the region dictates the addition of those. There is also an included audio cable if you wish to use the on-board speakers even without an HDMI cable.
DESIGN & BUILD QUALITY:
Out of the box, the ASUS VX239H sure looks classy in Black. The VX239H’s design actually reminds me of its pricier predecessor, the MX239H with a frame that is just 0.8mm thin; exposing most of the display’s panel which is not really border-less. Speaking, the panel itself features a matte finish which should be great if there are multiple light sources behind you, eliminating reflections, and ultimately, distractions.
As opposed to the matte finish of the front, the back of the display features a glossy piano Black appearance along with the ASUS logo. There are no VESA mounting holes here so mounting this on a VESA platform is a no-no.
The ASUS VX239H is really thin at 14.5mm sideways, but I have seen thinner displays such as my LG E2290. Doesn’t really matter actually, since I prefer the panel’s performance over beauty. – By a small margin
The stand looks like a sundial and actually adds another point for the display’s elegance. It is made out of plastic though.
A subtle amount of branding is located at the lower most part of the display. At this angle, we could also see the perforations for the stereo speakers.
The menu buttons are located at the right side of the display with oddly arranged navigational buttons. Speaking, the buttons weren’t really “buttons” at all but are sensors built between protruding rings so you could get a feel that what you’re touching is an input device. This could work well if implemented at the front of the display but our experience shows otherwise. More about it later.
The I/O ports are located at the back of the panel, along with a Kensington Lock and perforations for the onboard speakers below. The ports consists of 2x HDMI/MHL, a VGA port, 2x Audio Ports, and a port for the power adapter. Overall, connectivity is looking good.
With an elegant design, something must be given up, and that is the panel’s limited amount of ergonomic adjustments. You can adjust the display’s viewing angle horizontally, and vertically, but you cannot rotate the panel itself, nor tilt it sideways.
Overall, the design and build quality is what I have expected from ASUS. It is solidly built, and is oozing with design goodness. I can see that this display wont have any problem blending in well to your desk.
SOFTWARE & MENU NAVIGATION:
The display’s menu has five default settings and it looks like it’s not that hard to use or navigate (or is it?). First thing that will greet you here is the Splendid sub menu that should help you set the display’s settings with minimal user intervention through presets. We find the Standard and sRGB mode suitable for our taste. Next up is the Color menu where you should be able to adjust the display’s brightness, contrast, saturation, color temperature, and even the skin tone adjustments. The Image menu is where ASUS’s VividPixel and ASCR (Dynamic Contrast Ratio) are found. Some of the settings here will be greyed out depending on the Splendid Profile that you have set. Lastly, we’ve got the Input mode and System Setup settings.
The menu houses some other nifty stuffs but we find the QuickFit Virtual Scale useful. It has its own button so enabling it is just a click away. What this feature does is that it basically shows a live scale preview of some of the most commonly used paper and photo sizes. If you are heavily working with documents and image processing tools then this is a life saver.
Though the software offers some goodies, navigating through the VX239H’s menu is more of a pain in the arse rather than an easy task. Sensor based inputs for displays wont really cut it I must say since it doesn’t feel substantial to use. The labels wont help much either, since it’s hard to read even with a good ambient lighting. The lack of substantial feel to the input just infuriates me. – Thing’s too sensitive too. Arrrggg!
DISPLAY PERFORMANCE:
IPS panels do offer huge advantages over the standard TN panels and that is evident with the ASUS VX239H. Color reproduction with this display is great, and viewing angles are outstanding; meaning that almost everywhere you look at it, there will be no visible contrast shifting on the panel’s wide area.
Testing out the VX239H with PassMark’s Monitor Test should provide us more insight about this display’s performance. We ran some sample tests and we found out that the grey-scale performance of the display is somewhat compressed. Meaning that there is little difference between the darkest of the Grays and all out Black. RGB test shows that the Green is a bit over-saturated which is thankfully, could be easily remedied by almost any software display calibration tool or via a display driver’s control panel.
Gaming with this monitor is fluid enough with zero noticeable blurring and or ghosting. I am surprised at first but since this is an AH-IPS based panel, response time has been considerably improved compared to the first generation of IPS panels. However, as we continue our tests, we noticed quite a small amount of back-light bleeding around the lower left area of the panel. It is not a game, nor a movie corrupting experience though which is alright. Speaking of cons, the onboard speaker of the VX239H sounded like it’s just an after thought. The audio performance is rather lacking and could use a little bit more punch in the lower end of the spectrum. However, we are not going to complain much about the speaker’s performance since for the price, it is a welcome addition. Power consumption wise, the VX239H consumes a maximum of 22W at full load, and almost nothing at standby mode.
VALUE & CONCLUSION:
The VX239H is a sleek, AH-IPS based display panel from ASUS that showed great performance across the border. We fancy its design and build quality, along with its panel’s performance that offering great color reproduction, good response time, and wide viewing angles. For an AH-IPS based 23″ display, this is already a solid deal.
Like any other products out there, the ASUS VX239H also has its own downsides. Back-light bleeding is unfortunately present, but good thing that it is minimal. Speaker/audio performance could be better but as I have said earlier, it’s already a welcome addition for the price. Now what I really hate about this display is the menu navigation, specifically the touch sensitive buttons and its layout. Sometimes I just want to poke the damn sensors but alas, my patience still got the better of me.
Price wise, with an SRP of 9, 990 Pesos, the VX239H really surprised me. ASUS set an example with the VX239H that performance and quality could still be achieved without digging deeply into the pocket. I highly recommend this one to those who are still bound under the spell of TN panels. Great visual investment for the price, indeed.
THE VERDICT |
PROS:
|
CONS:
|
ASUS VX239H
-
PERFORMANCE - 7/10
7/10
-
BUILD QUALITY - 8/10
8/10
-
FEATURES - 7/10
7/10
-
AESTHETICS - 9/10
9/10
-
VALUE - 9/10
9/10
Summary
ASUS set an example with the VX239H that performance and quality could still be achieved without digging deeply into the pocket. I highly recommend this one to those who are still bound under the spell of TN panels. Great visual investment for the price, indeed.
Would you mind posting your settings? I’m using it for my xbox 360 so i can’t use a calibrating tool but the overexposing of green is anoying the hell out of me. Great review tho so many thanks!
Thanks bro. As for the settings, you could calibrate them easily at your GFX card’s control panel software. If you’re willing to play with the monitor’s own menu, try these instead:
Mode: Scenery
Brightness: 70+
Contrast 70+
Saturation 60+
Color Temperature: User
*Red 80+
*Green 70+/-
*Blue 90+
i think i found the best settings it looks like good
mode: scenery
brightness: 90
contrast:80
saturation 50
color temperature : user
red :90
green 80
blue 95
Thanks for the input, brother!
Keep em coming folks! The more settings you publish here, the more will know. :)
Thanks man! I adjusted it a bit and i now got it on:
Standard:
Brightnesss 76
Contrast 83 (will probably lower it a little bit but grey become yellow-ish then)
Saturation 50 (greyed out)
Color Temperature: User
R: 95
G: 91
B: 99
I used AVS 709 MP4 files on my Xbox. Will try out Scenery but its clipping black
Always here to help. :)
Thanks! Great settings..
I have since adjusted my settings using my iphone 5s as the comparison. Both screens now look identical in games. I use:
Mode: scenery
Contrast: 85
Brightness: 94
R 91
G 91
B 96
Saturation: 38
Sharpness 30
And xbox 360 setting on standard color.
Absolutely horrendous controls, designed by a misguided lab-rat , I have an GE60 MSI Haswell gaming laptop and its screen is by far superior to this in every way. So much for IPS technology and all the misleading reviews. I couldn’t recommend this monitor to any one. So very disappointed
I agree with the controls, but you’re comparing the 23″ AH-IPS to a 15.6″ LED display. :)
hi leo whats the ideal settings for bf4 ps4.. can u help me, it will be appreciated
Hello bro. I am using the said settings for BF4 but that’s on PC, where I could calibrate better using my GFX card’s own color profiles. Here’s a tip though: Disable the vivid pixel mode since it overlaps some details. Sometimes, you’ll mistake a sniper for a bush from afar. HTH.
Hello Erik. You already have the monitor? Check out the comments below maybe their settings might help you fine tune yours.
Whats better this or the benq rl2455hm? for pc and console gaming
BENQ RL2455HM if you’re going to use it mainly for gaming alone. Otherwise, I’ll pick the ASUS one for daily use.
Can you be more specific about why pick the BenQ for gaming?
If you’re a competitive gamer, you’d want a faster response time, and TN panels for most part is still better than IPS ones when it comes to that feature. Less ghosting, better gaming experience.
I just got this monitor and am kind of disappointed that you don’t get to use the whole screen. Wala nga bezel pero meron naman around half an inch of screen space sa sides and top na hindi mo magamit. Ganun din, parang may bezel din.
Bezel technology for desktop displays has yet to be that innovative compared to phone displays.
akala ko may mali lang sa windows desktop settings ko kasi may half-inch space sa sides, nyemas ganun pala talaga yun.
nagmukha ding may bezel lol
lol, maybe in the next few years makakakita na din tayo ng hinahanap mo :)
Kamusta yung monitor mo? Madali daw masira to pero buhay pa naman yung sa akin. Nasanay na rin ako dun sa internal borders sa sides pati taas.
Im planning to buy this one vx239h.. so is it true na mdali tong masira? Ive seen some posts na may gustong baklasin to kc nga sira na, some are ngpapawarranty sa asus..
Everything breaks. Even how good the item is. Sometimes you get them in great condition, and sometimes, you get some lemons.
Kamusta yung monitor mo? Madali daw masira to pero buhay pa naman yung sa akin. Nasanay na rin ako dun sa internal borders sa sides pati taas.
frameless not bezel-less
I hope you realize they mean the same thing.
asus removed the “frame” like for example, picture “frame”
if you compare the old models to this one you’ll notice. It’s not rocket science
The bezel IS the frame. smh
i know what you meant, but you don’t get what im trying to say here
asus removed the PLASTIC FRAME, i know bezels are like BORDERS
gosh smfh
Does the border you’re talking about look like it’s .8mm to you?
“…with a bezel thickness of 0.8mm”
https://www.asus.com/
You’re welcome.
nvm it’s useless talking to a brick wall like you
Hahaha basag
Where can I actually buy this monitor here in Philippines for the said price of P7,999? Thanks for any reply.
Try CMK Cellphones, DynaQuest, and QLT South.
hi i just bought the monitor and im trying to find the best settings.i dont use it for console games just for a pc office works, movies and maybe some pc games and i have a dell desktop i5 3gz with ge force gt620 if they matter.
Where did you buy? Can you tell please?
hi.. great review.. but i was wondering if this monitor is still good now or is there a successor to this product..
Furthermore, what are your comments on the viewsonic vx2363smhl in comparison to this monitor..
Regards..
This will still hold itself up but the VC239H is a good successor with VESA mount – minus the sleek base.
I bought this monitor last week based on many reviews online including this, so far not impreesed by contrast and brightness also not impressed by response time in games and i am coming from a HP Compaq TN panel released 5 years ago having (2ms gray to gray).Also the image quality is not far behind after tweaking.
I am using this to play games mainly on PS4. I have to adjust the pictured settings every time for each game and still cannot find best settings.Only game mode preset gives you better details in games but image is washed out .
In the dak areas details are lost in SCENERY mode no matter better how you calibrate it.
I have my doubt response time being 5ms gtg because ASUS website says it has 5ms (GTGσ) which after searching the web equals to 14ms gtg .ASUS used the lower value to trick us i think (5ms GTGσ) otherwide they could have written 5ms gtg like they did for mx239h model and many other.
And yes I am disappointed .Viewsonic vx2363smhl was other option I had.
I’m torn between this one(vp239h actually) or the new dell p2317h. Any insight is appreciated.
The vp239h looks better as it has variable sync (i.e. supports amd free sync).. so movies n supported games will look smoother if u pair the monitor with one of the newer amd cards