Acer H233H

Acer's H233H is a 23'' Full HD monitor with a 2 ms TN panel.  If the name seems familiar, that might be because we recently tested the Acer H243H, a 24'' screen that managed to successfully combine accurate colours with great responsiveness.  With a few extra hardware options, it would easily have been a five-star monitor.

With such good pedigree, we're hoping that the 23'' will do at least as well as its big brother.

Hardware: DVI, VGA, HDMI and speakers

With entry-level and mid-range monitors, usability isn't always a top priority for manufacturers.  The H233H is no exception to this rule, and Acer seems to have only included the bare minimum of hardware features.  The classic trio of VGA, DVI and HDMI inputs are at the back, along with a line in connected to 2 x 1 Watt speakers.  There weren't any problems with the build quality though, and the glossy bezel doesn't buckle under pressure.  And unlike some monitors whose power supplies can squeak, the H233H was perfectly silent.

Great for gaming

Coloured   Transparent
Average ghosting over ten frames

The H233H has a responsive display with low input lag.  In practice, that means fast moving objects travel smoothly across the screen and that there's no noticeable delay when you're playing multi-player games.  Any monitor which combines these two points is a good choice for gamers.

Accurate colours without calibration

Default colours

Ideal colours Compare the Acer H233H to other LCD monitors in our Product Face-Off

Another feather in this 23'' monitor's cap is a deltaE which doesn't go above 2.5 without any need for calibration.  That means it displays  colours that will look accurate in the eyes of the vast majority of users.  'Accurate' colours aren't perfect colours though, and there are still some small problems, like the gamma curve that's too high or the slightly too cold colour temperature.

The H233H will be good enough for any enthusiast who want to do a little bit of work retouching their photos.  More demanding users will be better off with a monitor featuring a VA or an IPS panel, which don't suffer from the same problems as TN when it comes to displaying an even image across the whole surface, making them much better for detailed graphics work.

Our contrast tests revealed more average results: with a contrast ratio of 810:1, the Acer H233H is a long way behind the Samsung F2380's record.

Movies: Upscaling Problems

We're happy to report that the H233H does a good job of fighting blurriness in video.  However, it's still not  up to scratch for upscaling SD sources.  If you really want quality video, it's essential to make sure the upscaling is done your DVD player so it can send a 1080p signal directly to the monitor.