ASUS VC239H Review

The ASUS VC239H is notable for being a reasonably priced 23″ IPS screen. IPS, or in plane switching, is the technology behind the screen, it was developed to provide superior viewing angles and colour reproduction when compared to the more common, but cheaper, TN panel type. I typically recommend 24″ and bigger screens, but this isn’t that far behind. It’s also a good looking screen, so at this price I think there will be many people looking for a monitor just like this one.

Let’s take a look in some more detail.

Build Quality

There are some things to like about the VC239H, for example the thin bezel around the top and side borders makes this a very sleek looking monitor. If you are looking for a reasonably priced near borderless display then you’ll be impressed by the circa 1mm thick border around the edges. Ideal for a multi monitor setup.

On the other hand, I’m not such a fan of the clunky stand, I don’t think there is anything particularly elegant or practical about it. But each to their own, you may be more forgiving than I am. The matt screen is also prone to finger marks but once you get it in position that shouldn’t be an ongoing problem for you unless you have a habit of pointing things out, it’s less of a problem when the screen is on.

Monitor setup is done via a set of controls on the under side of the lower bezel, these are real buttons which personally I prefer to touch sensitive type inputs which don’t always register. More premium monitors can come with a joystick control or separate control module but you don’t get that here of course.

You can hook up a PC or console using the HDMI port, there’s also VGA and DVI if you’re that way inclined. A headphone socket is also included for when you want to hookup those headphones.

Performance

The ASUS VC239H features an IPS panel which provides high quality colour reproduction. This is a big plus for the monitor, IPS often means a high price tag but the ASUS is still in the lower price bracket. The viewing angles are also top notch as to be expected, the IPS quality really shines through here.

IPS screens tend to be less responsive than the cheaper TN panels but a 5ms response time means that it is very much suitable for gaming. Note that some users have noted minimal back light bleeding, chances are you won’t get this or be bothered by it but it’s worth a mention.

You also get the GamePlus feature which is normally only found at the ROG Swift range. How useful this is to you I can’t say, FPS gamers might like the cross hair feature but you’ll have to toggle it through the menu system.