The Best Colour Reproduction At A Great Price – The Asus PA238Q 23”

We can’t believe the performance this monitor offers for the price, normally you would pay over twice this much for this kind of colour accuracy. Asus calibrate the monitor in manufacture so you don’t have to buy a calibration device to get the kind of color accuracy photographers need.
The 23” IPS display offers 10-bit colour depth, a nice wide colour gamut (100% sRGB), great contrast ratio and all the connectivity you would expect from a good monitor.

Specification Highlights

• 1920×1080 (16:9 aspect ratio) full HD resolution
• 1000:1 static contrast ration
• 250 cd/m2 brightness
• HDMI, D-Sub, DisplayPort, DVI-D, plus USB
• 10-bit colour depth
• 100% of the Adobe sRGB gamut
• Delta-E of less than 5 out of the box
• Colour temperature adjustment options
• Response time of 6ms
• Fully adjustable for more comfortable viewing
• Great value IPS monitor

 

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This Asus leaps out at you as soon as you notice it’s an IPS panel well under £300. IPS panels offer the best performance for photographers and graphic artists. They offer great colour depth, accuracy and a wide colour gamut. Another bonus of IPS panels is they lose very little image quality when viewed from angles up to nearly 180°.

The Asus PA238Q is no different. In fact, designed with the graphics professional in mind it covers 100% of the sRGB gamut allowing it to display a wide range of colour. Covering the sRGB spectrum is useful in a photographer’s monitor as it’s the colour range often used by digital cameras, other hardware and software.

Some professional photographers might prefer their monitor to cover more of the Adobe RGB spectrum. While the Asus PA238Q has a very good range of colour some product tests have shown it to be slightly lacking in the red area of the spectrum.

The 10-bit IPS panel is capable of displaying 1.07 billion colours meaning that there is smoother graduation, less banding between colours and increased colour accuracy than monitors with 8-bit colour depth. All these qualities are highly desirable for colour-critical work as they contribute to a better quality picture.

The only thing you need to consider with 10-bit depth is whether your hardware and software is compatible. If not, you won’t be able to utilise the full 30-bit colour.

Asus realise not everyone is familiar with how to properly calibrate a monitor so they’ve done it for you. This monitor comes factory calibrated to a high standard and Asus promise a delta-E of less than 5 out of the box. Asus even provide you with paperwork detailing the calibration results. In fact some units have produced a delta-E average of less than 2 with just the factory calibration meaning the colour variation is unperceptable to the human eye

The gamma is also spot on at 2.2 from the default settings but can also be adjusted to Apple’s default gamma value of 1.8.

This is one of the the Asus PA238Q’s deal clinchers, especially for amateur photography enthusiasts. The high factory standards make this monitor accessible whatever you level of technical understanding.

If you do prefer to manually tweak your monitor or want to achieve even better results, the Asus PA238Q has six axis colour and gamma adjustment.

This monitor also has colour temperature adjustment options. The default is 6500K, but there is the option of adjusting the screen to colour temperatures of to 5000K, 5500K or 9300K. The setting you choose will depend on your ambient light, 5500K is bright daylight with lower for florecent or incandecent artificial lighting. These options are accessed through an easy to use menu operated from the front of the monitor.

There have been some reports of back light bleed, how much variance in backlight levels a monitor has varies from unit to unit but we’ve heard from a few users who’ve experienced light leakage, particularly in the lower left corner. The Asus PA238Q’s high contrast ratio and excellent levels of black detail do virtually compensate for this though.

If you plan on using your monitor for more than just photo editing, the 23” 1920×1080 full HD screen is also great for watching movies and gaming. IPS panels can suffer from slow response times, rendering them less suitable for gamers. However, recent advances mean that monitors like the Asus PA238Q can offer decent response times of 6ms. Times like these are adequate for all put the most ardent gamers or perfectionists.

As you might expect from a monitor aimed at graphics professionals, the Asus PA238Q is fully adjustable offering landscape and portrait positioning and smoothly swiveling and tilting to accomadate all viewing positions. The stand and bezel are plain but strong and sturdy.

The Asus PA238Q is equipped with an anti-glare coating that does a good job of removing reflections on the screen. Such coatings have attracted some negative attention, particularly on the Dell UltraSharp U2312, which distorts the image coming from the monitor. Thankfully the Asus PA238Q’s coating is much softer than the Dell’s and doesn’t affect the image quality anywhere near as much.

The Asus PA238Q is equipped with HDMI, D-Sub, DisplayPort, DVI-D and one upstream and four downstream USB ports so it offers great connectivity.

There isn’t really much negative to say about this superb, great value IPS monitor. Apart from the backlight bleed we can only complain that it doesn’t come supplied with an HDMI cable. That’s about it.

At 23” and 1920×1080 the Asus PA238Q hasn’t got the biggest workspace in the world (though it’s pretty damn good) but it has much more accurate colour reproduction out of the box than some of it’s larger, more expensive counterparts.

Hardcore gamers may want to chase lower response times but you will struggle to find a better monitor for photographers and other graphics professionals than the Asus PA238Q in this price range.

Pros

• Great value IPS monitor
• 10-bit colour depth
• Factory calibrated to a high standard
• Superb colour accuracy
• Wide colour gamut

Cons

• Professionals may want an even wider gamut
• Some backlight bleed
• Asus could have thrown in an HDMI cable

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Specifications

Display
Panel Size: Wide Screen 23.0″(58.4cm) 16:9
Color Saturation : 100%(sRGB)
Panel Type : IPS
True Resolution : 1920×1080
Full HD 1080P : Yes
Pixel Pitch : 0.2652mm
Brightness(Max) : 250 cd/㎡
ASUS Smart Contrast Ratio (ASCR) : 50000000:1
Viewing Angle (CR≧10) : 178°(H)/178°(V)
Response Time : 6ms (Gray to Gray)
Display Colors : 16.7M
LCD ZBD Warranty : Yes

Video Features
Trace Free Technology
SPLENDID Video Intelligence Technology
Color Space : sRGB (100% Coverage)
SPLENDID Video Preset Modes : 5 Modes (sRGB Mode/Scenery Mode/Theater Mode/Standard Mode/User Mode)
Color Temperature Selection : 4 Modes
Color Accuracy : Delta E ≦ 5
Gamma adjustment : Yes (Support Gamma 2.2/1.8 )
Color Adjustment : 6-axis adjustment(R,G,B,C,M,Y)
Picture-in-Picture
Picture-by-Picture
HDCP support

Convenient Hotkey
SPLENDID Video Preset Mode Selection
Auto. Adjustment
Brightness Adjustment
Contrast Adjustment
Input Selection
QuickFit

I/O Ports
Signal Input : HDMI , D-Sub, DisplayPort, DVI-D
AV Audio Input : HDMI 1.3
Earphone jack : 3.5mm Mini-Jack (for HDMI & DisplayPort Only)
USB Port(s) : 1 x upstream, 4 x downstream

Signal Frequency
Analog Signal Frequency : 24~83 KHz(H)/ 50~75 Hz(V)
Digital Signal Frequency : 24~83 KHz(H)/ 50~75 Hz(V)

Power Consumption

Power ON(Typical): < 33W (without audio and USB hub connection)
Power Saving Mode : < 1W
Power Off Mode : 0W (hard switch)

Mechanical Design
Chassis Colors : Black
Tilt : +20°~-5°
Swivel : Yes
Pivot : Yes
Height Adjustment : Yes
VESA Wall Mounting : 100x100mm

Security
Kensington lock

Dimensions
Phys. Dimension with Stand(WxHxD) : 548.8×495.7x201mm
Box Dimension (WxHxD) : 671x386x253mm

Weight
Net Weight (Esti.) : 5.5 kg
Gross Weight (Esti.) : 7.8 kg

Accessories
Cable tie
DVI cable
VGA cable
Audio cable
Power cord
DisplayPort cable
USB cable
Quick start guide
Support CD
Warranty Card