HP ZR24w

The ZR24w monitor is part of HP's Performance range and has a feature list that other displays can only dream of.  I'm sure some of you won't hesitate to make comparisons with other 24'' IPS screens with handy stands and great accessories like the Dell U2410 or the Asus PA246Q.  Can HP rival those two big hitters though?  It's time to find out ...

Build Quality and Design: it's all there, apart from the audio

The ZR24w has a height-adjustable stand mounted on a rotating base that also allows it to be pivoted round to portrait mode.  It has four USB ports (two at the back and two on the left-hand side).  The video inputs include VGA, DVI and DisplayPort inputs (see inset).  There's nothing to say about the audio as there isn't any: there are neither speakers nor a headphone jack. 

It's worth pointing out that an IPS display offers even colours across the whole surface of the screen with very wide viewing angles and none of the problems associated with TN technology.  This 24'' monitor has a resolution of 1920 x 1200 pixels, adding the extra 120 lines (around 10% more room on screen) which had almost entirely disappeared when 16:9 became a common aspect ratio and everybody switched to 1920 x 1080 pixel displays.

Colours: only brightness needs tweaking

It's always great testing monitors aimed at demanding professionals.  The biggest advantage is the extra attention that's given to making sure the colour reproduction is accurate so we don't have to spend hours trying to correct it ourselves.  The ZR24w doesn't get anything wrong, and has a deltaE of 2.4 straight out of the box.  The only thing we'd change is the brightness: by default, it's at 300 cd/m², which is rather a lot.  We used the OSD to turn it down from 100 to 35 to get closer to the value of 200 cd/m² that's normally recommended for a room with ordinary lighting.


The contrast ratio, on the other hand, was a little disappointing at just 760:1.  Unlike the display on the Dell U2311H or the U2211H, the ZR24w suffers from some of the usual weaknesses of IPS technology, including below-average contrast and higher energy consumption—70 W by default, down to 53 W with the lower brightness.

Responsiveness: a little too slow for gaming

This is the one area that this monitor really struggles: a ghosting time of 16 ms, even with OverDrive turned on, means that it won't be able to handle fast-moving objects that are the hallmark of video games.  It's hard to recommend the ZR24w to avid gamers.

Responsiveness
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The input lag won't hold you back though, as, although it's not quite zero, it's low enough to be invisible to the naked eye.