Acer G24 review

Games are really where the G24 excels. Unreal Tournament 3 looked great, thanks to the display's super-high-gloss screen and brightness. This high gloss gives added pop to colours and results in a vibrant image, especially compared with the 2408WFP's comparatively dull look. Also, we found that our fragging accuracy was better with the G24 than the 2408WFP. This may have to do with pixel lag being slightly worse on the 2408WFP, but, as of yet, we don't have a tool to confirm this. Still, playing Unreal Tournament 3 on the G24 made for a faster and more responsive experience.

The optimal viewing angle for a monitor is usually directly in front, about a quarter of the screen's distance down from the top. At this angle, you're viewing the colours and gamma correction as they were intended. Most monitors are not made to be viewed at any other angle. Depending on its panel type, picture quality at non-optimal angles varies. Most monitors use TN panels, which get overly bright or overly dark in parts of the screen when viewed from non-optimal angles.

The G24 uses a TN+Film panel, which adds extra gloss to the screen. When it's viewed from the sides or below, the screen appears to darken only a couple of inches from the optimal viewing angle. Of course, when viewed from the optimal angle, we had no problems. When watching a movie, we had to make sure we were absolutely lined up or we'd notice the heavy backlight bleeding on the black bars or reflections in the super-glossy panel. The lack of a screen height adjustment feature hurts all the more when the viewing angle is so sensitive.

We tested the power consumption of the G24 and found that it draws more standby power than most monitors do. The G24's standby average draw is 4.77W, compared with the 2408WFP's 1.56W, making it more expensive to run over time.

Conclusion
The Acer G24 isn't suited for much else beyond games. Its unforgiving viewing angle requires the display to be placed at a specific position to get the most out of it. Also, the severe backlight bleeding means that, while movies look vibrant and lack ghosting, their colour isn't accurate enough for serious viewing. The G24 won't disappoint when it comes to gaming, but, for an all-around 24-inch monitor, we'd recommend the more expensive 2408WFP. If you're not willing to spend that kind of cash, check out the £250 Dell G2410, which we highly recommend.

Additional editing by Charles Kloet