Asus PA238Q review

Will the IPS technology behind this panel help it differentiate itself from the TN hordes?

Reviews
By Jeremy Laird
published

TechRadar Verdict

It's been a long time coming, but the (very nearly) perfect PC monitor has finally arrived. Buy one.

Pros

  • +

    Fabulous IPS panel

  • +

    Clean, bright LED backlight

  • +

    Affordable pricing

Cons

  • -

    Just a whiff of edge bleed

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Fed up with cheap and not-always-cheerful monitors based on TN panel technology? Then get a load of the new Asus PA238Q.

At around £235, it's pricier than your average 23-inch TN screen. But, joy of joys, it's got an IPS panel.

IPS stands for in-plane switching and just so happens to be the finest panel technology known to man or beast. That's why Apple, for instance, exclusively uses IPS in its iPhones and iPads. It's simply the best when it comes to colour accuracy and viewing angles.

As it happens, colour accuracy is a big part of the remit for the Asus PA238Q.

It's pitched as a low-cost screen for graphics professionals. However, Asus is also claiming 6ms response times, which makes for a tantalising all-round package. Could this affordable, colour-accurate screen also be killer for games and at the movies?

In order to find out, we made use of the freely available LCD test suite available at www.lagom.nl/lcd-test/. Test pages for everything from white saturation to contrast, viewing angles and even pixel response are provided.

Armed with these objective metrics and our own experience, we're able to deliver the definitive verdict on the Asus PA238Q. So, how does it fare?

Jeremy Laird
Contributor

Technology and cars. Increasingly the twain shall meet. Which is handy, because Jeremy (Twitter) is addicted to both. Long-time tech journalist, former editor of iCar magazine and incumbent car guru for T3 magazine, Jeremy reckons in-car technology is about to go thermonuclear. No, not exploding cars. That would be silly. And dangerous. But rather an explosive period of unprecedented innovation. Enjoy the ride.