The Philips 243B1 is a reasonably-priced business monitor that’s built with key features that are desirable for work from home use. It’s ideal for modern workstations such as USB-C laptops and mini PCs which are now more common. The Philips 243B1 is highly suited for today’s workforce, but let’s check out if it’s a worthy upgrade.
Philips 243B1 Specifications
- Screen Size: 27 Inches
- Resolution: 1920 x 1080 FHD
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Panel Technology: In-Plane Switching (IPS)
- Refresh Rate: 75Hz
- Response Time: 4ms
- Contrast Ratio: 1000:1 (Static)
- Brightness: 250 cd/m2
- Built-in Speakers: Yes (2 x 2 Watts)
- Stand: Height – Yes
- Stand: Tilt – Yes
- Stand: Swivel – Yes
- Stand: Pivot– Yes
- VESA Compatibility: Yes (100 x 100)
- Connectivity: DisplayPort 1.2 x 1, HDMI 1.4 x 1, USB-C 65W x 1, USB 3.2 x 4, RJ45 x 1, 3.5mm Audio Jack x 2
- Dimensions with Stand(WxHxD): 21.26″ x 13.81″ x 8.07″
- Weight: 9.26 lbs
Design and Features
The Philips 243B1 starts out just like any other business monitor that has a minimalist appeal and a functional overall design. The monitor has a matte black chassis that doesn’t go out of style while also being scratch and smudge-proof. The display is bezel-free on three sides, but you will still see thin inner borders when it’s in use.
The Philips 243B1 isn’t bigger than your usual office monitor, so even those with limited space should be able to fit it into their desks. It needs a little over eight inches of depth due to the base, but its flat top can serve as a pedestal for your smaller peripherals. It doesn’t weigh a lot at 9.26 pounds so you can bring it along easily if you move around a lot.
Build quality for the Philips 243B1 is excellent since there are no cosmetic defects or signs of weaknesses from the product. It’s mostly made out of plastic, but the panels are molded with precision so you don’t get uneven seams or gaps. The stand offers great stability, ensuring that the screen won’t shake even if you are a heavy typer.
The Philips 243B1 has dedicated capsule-shaped buttons on the bottom bezel so you don’t have to feel around for them. They are responsive and labeled, but OSD buttons still trump them any day when it comes to convenience. We prefer the latter, but these minor aspects are forgivable if the monitor is affordable or reasonably priced.
The Philips 243B1 includes a flexible stand that’s necessary for productivity setups to help with those long hours of crunching the numbers. You can tilt, swivel, pivot, and adjust the height, so getting a comfortable viewing angle is possible. You can also use VESA mounts with 100 x 100 adapters, but that’s only necessary for multiple monitor setups.
It also has plenty of connectivity features which are very useful for users who have a variety of devices such as laptops and gaming consoles. You will find DisplayPort 1.2, HDMI 1.4 for video inputs along with a 65-watt USB-C slot for modern notebooks like MacBooks. It also has four USB 3.2 ports for quick transfers, an RJ45 port for LAN management, and two 3.5mm jacks for audio passthrough.
This model also has the PowerSensor feature that detects if the user is present in front of the screen. The device will drop the brightness drastically to save on power if its infrared sensor cannot detect a user in front. It can also adjust the brightness automatically according to your environment to help ensure that it doesn’t waste too much energy.
The Philips 243B1 also has a pair of 2-watt speakers to complete its equipment for work from home use. They don’t sound powerful or refined enough for games and movies, but they are usable for voice or video calls which are now more common. We know many have headsets for this purpose, but having a backup for listening in is always handy for those hot days.
Display and Performance
The Philips 243B1 sports a 24-inch IPS panel with a 1920 x 1080 resolution, a 75Hz refresh rate, and a 4ms response time. The backlight has a 250 cd/m2 maximum while the contrast ratio is limited to 1000:1 like most IPS panels. This is a productivity monitor so special features like HDR aren’t advertised with it.
1080p monitors are still commonly used, but that can only mean that you won’t have to adjust while using this monitor. It doesn’t offer a lot of space to work with by today’s standards, but it’s clear with excellent legibility. It’s great for document processing and browsing, but it’s also usable for games and movies.
The Philips 243B1 renders 100% sRGB and around 82% DCI-P3 which are more than sufficient for an office monitor. Accuracy isn’t perfect with the deltaE average of 2.63, but that’s still within the acceptable range for daily use. Most users will only need to adjust minor settings such as brightness before starting to use the monitor.
Calibrating the Philips 243B1 improved its dE to an impressive 0.78 which puts it in the prosumer category. This irons out some of the oversaturation in the greens, although it’s already barely noticeable by default. We only recommend colorimeters if you are into editing, but otherwise, it is simply too expensive for most monitors and not worth the trouble.
The Philips 243B1 reaches 249 cd/m2 at 100% brightness which is decent for most situations, although it might struggle with glare in well-lit rooms. The contrast ratio maxed out at 985:1 at 60% brightness, so dark scenes or black images might look grayish or washed out. These are common with IPS panels, and so far, only special treatment like FALD backlighting has solved it.
Panel uniformity for the Philips 243B1 could use some improvements since the upper edge of the screen has a noticeable variance from the center. This results in some abnormalities on the screen in dark scenes, although it’s not as noticeable in full color. Take note that this aspect varies between every unit so there are better monitors out there.
The Philips 243B1 has a surprisingly good pixel response time even if you don’t push it to 75Hz. Blurring is minimal in fast-paced or contrasting scenes, so casual gamers will not have any issues with it. However, we recommend going with a 144Hz monitor if you are sensitive to this or if you play fast-paced competitive games.
The Philips 243B1 is compatible with FreeSync and even G-Sync works if you force it even if there is no certification. It’s nice to have these VRR solutions, but 1080p at 75Hz isn’t too difficult nowadays for most GPUs. Input lag sits at 10ms at 75Hz, so there is no need to worry about delays while gaming.
Thoughts on the Philips 243B1
The Philips 243B1 is an attractive option for productivity, work-from-home use, and even casual gaming. its creature comforts are invaluable tools for convenience and functionality, especially for individuals that have multiple devices. It’s not the cheapest, but the price is well worth it considering how well-designed the product is.
The main flaws of the Philips 243B1 are with its IPS panel which had uniformity issues and mixed color quality results. However, both of these can vary between every monitor made due to the nature of panel technology and some manufacturing limitations. Overall, it’s an excellent buy for mixed-use including work-from-home applications.
Pros:
- Excellent sRGB Coverage
- Functional Design
- USB-C
- Reasonably Priced
Cons:
- Uniformity Needs Improvement
- Priced Close to 144Hz Monitors
- OSD Buttons
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 junior high. 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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