The Acer CB242Y is an inexpensive option if you simply want a good-looking and functional monitor for office use or for casual gaming. More and more display models are becoming better in both aspects, but pricing is still the biggest deciding factor since it limits or opens up the product’s capabilities. The Acer CB242Y is a good-looking monitor for all occasions, but what kind of performance numbers can it present?
Acer CB242Y Specifications
- Screen Size: 24 Inches
- Resolution: 1920 x 1080 FHD
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Panel Technology: In-Plane Switching (IPS)
- Refresh Rate: 75Hz
- Response Time: 8ms
- Contrast Ratio: 1000:1 (Static)
- Brightness: 250 cd/m²
- Built-in Speakers: No
- Stand: Height – Yes
- Stand: Tilt – Yes
- Stand: Swivel – Yes
- Stand: Pivot – Yes
- VESA Compatibility: Yes (100 x 100)
- Connectivity: HDMI 1.4 x 1, VGA x 1, 3.5mm Jack x 1
- Dimensions with Stand (WxHxD): 21.30” x 14.92” x 9.17”
- Weight: 9.48 lbs
Design and Features
The Acer CB242Y is a minimalistic model, but it has some resemblances to the modern gaming variants in the brand’s extensive portfolio. The device has a matte black chassis all over which looks clean and is very easy to maintain. The display is bezel-free on three sides, so you can maximize your view or set multiple CB242Ys side by side with almost no interruptions in between.
The Acer CB242Y isn’t a large monitor, but it has a bigger footprint and considerably heavier than some of its closest competitors like the AOC 24B2XH. The circular base provides excellent stability, but it needs a little over 9 inches of space on your desk. Circular bases aren’t the best when it comes to space-saving and arranging especially if you have lots of peripherals, but it’s the most stable based on our experience.
The Acer CB242Y’s build quality is surprisingly too good for its price with good material quality and craftsmanship. The plastics don’t feel brittle, and there were no cosmetic defects such as uneven seams on the device. The stand is very stable, unlike those included with budget monitors which often tilt due to their tiny hinges or low center of gravity.
The Acer CB242Y also uses a joystick for the OSD along with a few shortcut keys for convenience. It makes accessing simple adjustments easier and quicker, so you spend less time trying to get to a submenu just to change something as basic as brightness. Most budget models also often exclude this feature, but brands are now implementing it with budget options and it’s a great bonus in our book.
It’s also great that you get a fully adjustable stand with the Acer CB242Y even if it sits in the budget range that’s full of tilt-only options. Being able to tilt, swivel, pivot, and adjust the height of the display is invaluable, especially for productivity setups. You can use VESA mounts with this model, but it’s not essential since its already flexible.
The I/O layout on the Acer CB242Y is simplified, so it only includes HDMI 1.4 and VGA for video inputs. There is a 3.5mm jack for headphones as well, but there are no USB slots for your other peripherals. We know it’s a drag that there is no DisplayPort, but 1920 x 1080 at 75Hz doesn’t need its bandwidth anyway.
The Acer CB242Y doesn’t have speakers which can become useful for work from home use and the endless teleconferences that follow it. However, we think it’s unfair to ask for too many features from an already affordable monitor. Built-ins also usually aren’t sufficiently powerful for entertainment purposes, so you are better off with headsets or a separate set.
Display and Performance
The Acer CB242Y utilizes a 24-inch 1080p IPS panel with a 1920 x 1080 resolution, 75Hz refresh rate, and a 1ms VRB response time. The backlight is rated at 250 cd/m2, while the contrast ratio sits at 1000:1 like most IPS panels. The monitor doesn’t have special abilities like HDR compatibility, but it advertises a boosted response time that should make it great for gaming.
Full HD fits great in 24-inch screens and many people are used already used to it since its quite common in homes, schools, and offices. You don’t get the visual upgrade of 1440p and 4K, but visibility and legibility will always be easy on your eyes for lengthy office tasks. Gaming, on the other hand, won’t suffer when it comes to framerates since 1080p is rather easy to run on most titles and GPU tiers.
The Acer CB242Y sports 99% coverage of the sRGB gamut which is excellent for a budget gaming monitor. The default color accuracy average sits at deltaE 2.42 which could be better, but acceptable nonetheless for a regular IPS monitor. The default color temperature is already well-balanced, so most would only apply minimal tweaks to get a preferable appearance from the screen.
Using a colorimeter with the Acer CB242Y can improve its dE average to 1.16 which is excellent, but we don’t think it’s worth the purchase. The added cost of the colorimeter will put you in range of better-tuned displays that are designed for editing purposes. The Acer CB242Y is already decent as it is, so you only need to adjust the backlight to comfortable levels before starting work or playing your game.
The Acer CB242Y manages a contrast ratio of 1092:1 which is decent, but insufficient in producing deep blacks like VA panels. Colors are well-defined, but dark screens can still look grayish or washed out when viewed in a dark room. Most IPS panels are like this since its part of the limitations of the screen tech and there isn’t anything that can be done about it.
The Acer CB242Y’s panel uniformity is its worst quality since the screen has clouding issues caused by the leaks from the corners. This becomes noticeable in dark scenes, although colored images aren’t as affected. This aspect varies between every unit, so there are better units out there with fewer symptoms or none at all.
The Acer CB242Y’s pixel response time isn’t quick enough to reduce ghosting and persistence in moderate to fast scenes. Using the VRB feature of the monitor clears up these issues, but it adds a noticeable pulse to the screen while reducing its overall brightness. However, we know many users will suffer from discomfort or headache after a while, so we don’t recommend buying this with the notion that it will be as effective as a 144Hz variant for competitive titles due to this add-on.
The Acer CB242Y is a FreeSync monitor, but it’s not certified for Nvidia’s G-Sync Compatibility mode. You can force it via the Nvidia Control Panel and it will activate, but there is no guarantee that you won’t run into issues at some point. Input lag sits at 9ms, so there are no perceivable delays between your input and the screen.
Thoughts on the Acer CB242Y
The Acer CB242Y is an excellent all-arounder that doesn’t cost a fortune that offers a good looking screen and decent functionality. You won’t need to calibrate the screen for typical use since its already balanced out of the box. We appreciate that it has a fully-adjustable stand and an OSD joystick which aren’t usually included with budget models.
However, the VRB function on the Acer CB242Y isn’t as good as we had hoped since it does induce some noticeable pulsating. Some users won’t be bothered, but we know there are some who have a lower tolerance for these things. It’s a great buy if you want a daily driver for casual gaming or work from home use, but its performance for our favorite hobby is somewhat limited.
Pros:
- Attractive Design
- Fully Adjustable Stand
- Decent Color Quality Out of the Box
- Low Input Lag
Cons:
- VRB Feature Adds Visible Flicker
- Poor Panel Uniformity
- Affordable, But Price is Close to 144Hz Options
-About the Author:
Paolo is a gaming veteran since the golden days of Doom and Warcraft and has been building gaming systems for family, friends, and colleagues since his junior high years. High-performance monitors are one of his fixations and he believes that it’s every citizen’s right to enjoy one. He has gone through several pieces of hardware in pursuit of every bit of performance gain, much to the dismay of his wallet. He now works with Monitornerds to scrutinize the latest gear to create reviews that accentuate the seldom explained aspects of a PC monitor.
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