Paul Petch

AOC 2434Pw – 24″ screen review

AOC are not really a well known brand in New Zealand- and during my research on this particular model- the AOC 2434Pw- I came up with just a few reviews online. So after some “old fashioned” physical visits to electrical stores who stocked this model I was mighty impressed with what I discovered. The next step was to find the best price. I ended up shipping one from NFC Technology in Auckland for $336 which compared to Harvey Normans price of $900 it was a steal! I paid for it online and within a few days it was at my door. After running a fantastic 20″ Apple Cinema display for close to four years, any screen was going to be a struggle to fill it’s shoes….but I was keen to give it a go!

My thoughts when receiving the package were mixed. I’ve been used to Apples obsessive attention to visual detail and the box on receipt was a pretty standard “PC” affair- but sufficient I suppose. Having the box arrive wrapped in a black plastic bag is not the best way to start out is it? But I suppose it is a sign of the times- where the contents have to be hidden during shipping? The cabling was kind of loose in the box too which worried me at first- as the box seemed to “rattle” when I picked it up. Anyway, once I had gotten over the fact that it was not an Apple product that I was holding in my hands- I then clicked it all together and placed it on my desk.  It did look good though, even though it was not made by apple :) And at this point I had to leave for work as I was now running late!! haha.

First impressions

On the way home I called into Disk Smiths for a DVI to HDMI cable as the AOC 2434Pw has an analogue and a HDMI connection on the rear- minus the more common DVI input. It only took a minute or so to plug everything in and once I had chosen the correct input (analogue or HDMI) through the on screen menu- I was set. The first thing I noticed was how much of an improvement the real estate on screen was over the 20″ Cinema display that it had replaced. The fact is that 20″ is just to small for what I use my Mac Pro for these days (actually it has always been a tad small)- that is a bit of video editing, design and of course movies.Talking of which, with a 2ms refresh rate this screen is made for fast moving scenes!

There was a very annoying “buzzzzzzz” coming from the rear of the unit though and I confess that this is a major annoyance of mine when it comes to consumer electronics these days. Infact, during our hunt for a wide screen TV for the lounge  a few years ago- we returned several from Panasonic due to such a high pitched “squeal”.  After playing around with the on screen settings, I noticed that when the screens brightness was raised the noise stopped. I was not going to argue with that so left it set to full brightness. Fixard! :)

Talking of brightness- lets talk about screen bleed shall we :) Now, this is just a right royal pain in the arse isn’t it? We all have it- from the big screen LCD’s in the lounge through to the boxes on our office desks. It sucks and “it is just the way it is” right? Well once again, in the past I’ve returned goods due to excessive light bleed so with this in mind I cranked up a wide screen movie and closed the curtains….. What I found was a “bit” of light bleed mainly on the right and left of the screen. Slightly annoying, but nothing to get upset about…..and infact it could have been far far worse- and trust me I’ve seen some nightmares!

Screen details:

• 23.6” Widescreen
• 1920 x 1080 maximum resolution
• Response Time: 2ms (GTG)
• High Brightness 300cd/m²
• Dynamic Contrast Ratio 60000:1
• Analogue and HDMI inputs
• HDCP Compatible
• Built-in Speakers
• Height Adjust 80mm

Movies and blurring?

I’m no expert when it comes to what constitutes true “blacks” and “colours” on an LCD, but I do have a good eye. With the lights low and the new Star Trek playing in 1080p HD the dark scenes looked fantastic with no visual blurring. I mean I could go all out and look for faults vs $2000 screens, but that’s the point- this beauty cost me $330 and it works just fine. It’ a relief too, as the plan is for this screen to reside in many parts of the house to cater to some Xboxing and lazy Sunday movies (or post work out crashes!) in bed via the AC Ryan player. So I’m very happy. There are apparently two integrated 2.5W speakers too, but there are no cables in the box to test it….so that’s that. Truth be known though, I play all of my movies and music through external speakers- so it’s not really a feature I’ll use.

Design

It’s hard to not notice the striking design of the screen with an aluminum base, minimal image surround and funky looking rear panel. The two tone scheme works in an odd way- maybe because I already have several white items on my desktop? The menu controls are hidden in the screens surround and activated as your finger gets close. It’s pretty cool actually. The aluminum base looks great, but on closer observation does not have the “perfect” finish to the edge that I’ve come to expect from Apple products, yet it is well made overall. The aluminum theme extents to the support that allows the screen to rotate and tilt- as well as be raised up and down. It’s very refreshing to be able to raise the screen too- as the Cinema Display was in a fixed position. In fact, the whole display is so funky it even picked up a coveted Red Dot Design award for its efforts.

The cable routing is also kind of tidy with the rear panels opening up to allow the plugs to be placed in their appropriate “slots” and then the panels can be closed and hide away the mess. I’m quite surprised though that there are no USB ports anywhere on the rear of unit. Some folk don’t use them, but I love to plugin keyboards and mice and of course the iPod charger. Overall, the rear of the screen in pleasing to look at as well as  functional. What else could you ask for really. Oh ok….maybe it could be a tad thinner….. :)

The good

• Great functional design
• Nice and bright with good colours
• Blacks are black
• Height adjustment
• Cheap!
• Minimal light bleed

The bad

• Overall base finish could be better
• Annoying high pitched noise when brightness is lowered
• Does not ship with DVI to HDMI cable (just HDMI)
• Piano “finish” on outer edge of screen marks easily
• Packaging is very average.
• A bit of a pain to setup initially (esp when you are peeling off packaging!)

Conclusion

For an occasional gamer, movie watcher and obsessive surfer- this monitor is spot on for my needs. I can’t see any issues with blurring or colours- infact I reckon it is superior to my last screen in this respect. The design is great- yet maybe could be refined somewhat- yet it’s functional without being typically “office like” when it comes to so many screen designs. For $330 it is simply breathtaking and it’s a keeper! Infact, I’m already considering another one as a permanent movie screen in the bed room. A great screen for the $$ and it looks…need I say it….worthy… sat next to my Mac Pro!!! Sweet.

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4. Bontrager Race Disk tubeless wheelset – long term review
5. 2009 Magura Julie HP brake review

This entry was posted on Sunday, March 14th, 2010 at 9:40 am and is filed under Misc Ramblings and tagged with aoc 2434Pw, Geekery, high definition, review, technique, wide screen. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.