W
HILE IT’S EASY to get distracted
by the latest high–end, high–price
4K and 5K displays, most of us find
it better to place something more humble
on our desks. This applies even more when
you’re setting up a home office, and the
price of 24–inch HD–level displays has
reached very affordable levels. We selected
four monitors at the 24–inch level, as well
as a 22–inch and 27–inch model, and put
them through their paces to see which
comes out on top once cost, build and
performance have been taken into account.
Price is an important factor here, but it
is still important to select a display that will
do a good job. Never forget that you will be
staring at your screen far more than any
other bit of technology that you own. Well,
possibly apart from your iPhone, but that’s
a discussion for a different time.
The ergonomics of a display are also
important, from the initial setup — which
proved to be quite easy with all five of the
devices we tested — through to the
methods of adjusting them, both in
physical terms (monitor tilt and so on) andin how they can be fine–tuned for best
display quality. It’s easy to overlook these
things, but they do make a difference to
your ongoing satisfaction.
We test the color accuracy of displays to
gain an objective understanding of their
capabilities. If you’re looking for something
just for surfing online and using standard
productivity software, precise color
rendering won’t be your prime concern,
but you should still aim to avoid displays
that struggle to show things accurately.
These five displays all did a good job (and
achieved very similar scores) considering
their price range, so they’re all worth your
consideration in that respect.Things to consider...
Everything you need to know before getting started
1DISPLAY HEIGHT
Having your monitor positioned
appropriately — with your eye level roughly
a third of the way from the top, facing
straight on to the screen — helps with
posture, but it also helps you see color and
contrast accurately. This is particularly
important with VA—based LCD panels, but
it’s good practice for all displays.2
INPUT TYPES
This is a world of acronyms, but the
different display connector types all have
their own advantages and disadvantages.
VGA is strictly old–school and should be
avoided unless you have no choice. HDMI
is fairly universal, but DisplayPort can
drive screens at a faster refresh rate. If
there are two DP sockets, you candaisychain from one screen to another for
extra screens. USB–C is an “all in one”
connection for data as well as display.3USB TYPES
If your Mac has USB–C then it makes
sense to get a display with this as an input
type. If not, then if you want to use the
USB hub in one of these displays you’ll
need a USB–A to USB–C cable. The USB–A
ports in these are only for ‘downstream’
connections with peripherals.4
COLOR SPACES
Adobe RGB and sRGB are two color
“spaces” that help show color consistently.
sRGB is not as wide as Adobe RGB, but it’s
the de facto online standard so it’s vital a
screen can display this at or near 100%.How we
tested
These are budget–
friendly displays, but
they should still do a
good job. We used a
Datacolor Spyder5Elite
colorimeter to check
a number of factors,
particularly color
accuracy. On–screen
controls are often
difficult, so we explored
making adjustments
with these, and we also
considered the range
and ease–of–use of their
physical adjustments.HIGHER...
EIZO COLOREDGE
CS2420
eizo.com
From $859
Where image quality
and precision is
paramount and price
isn’t an object, Eizo’s
ColorEdge CS2420 is
a great, if costly, option....OR LOWER?
BENQ GW2470HL
benq.com
Around $110
If price is critical then
the BenQ GW2470HL is
worth considering. It’s
a couple of years old
but still a good wallet–
friendly option.Image rights clockwise from left: Samsung, Eizo, BenQ. maclife.com DEC 2019 53Tough testing, trusted ratings
As well as price, display and ports, you need to
assess a monitor’s physical adjustment options.