Asus MK241H 24" Widescreen LCD Monitor
Introduction and Specifications
LCD monitors were supposed to free up our precious desk real estate as they relegated bulky CRTs to the local landfill. But with the quantity and quality of high-definition content increasing and LCD prices continuing to drop, widescreen LCDs are becoming increasingly prevalent. Now our desks are filling up again--only this time in width, instead of depth. Still, for many, this is a small price to pay for the relatively large screen area and wide aspect ratio that these widescreen monitors offer.
One such widescreen LCD monitor is Asus's MK241H 24-inch display, which sells for a manufacturer's suggested retail price (MSRP) of $499. It measures just under 22-inches wide, which is a typical width for a 24-inch (diagonal) display. Enthusiasts should be very familiar with the Asus brand: Asus manufacturers components popular with system builders, such as motherboards and graphics cards. Asus also makes complete systems, such as laptops, desktops, and even the buzz-worthy Eee PC Ultra Mobile PC.
Asus has manufactured LCD monitors for a while, and the new 24-inch, TFT-TN MK241H now takes the spot as Asus's flagship display. In fact, an Asus spokesperson told us that Asus doesn't just make the monitors, but that Asus also usually makes its own LCD panels for the displays, and that Asus rarely has other companies manufacture panels for them.
The monitor includes built-in stereo speakers and an integrated 1.3-megapixel webcam with a microphone array. It lacks a USB hub, which many other LCDs include--the single USB port on the MK241H connects the display's webcam and microphone array back to the computer. The MK241H features an HDMI 1.1 input that is HDCP compliant. The monitor also includes DVI-D and VGA (D-SUB) video connectors.
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Panel |
24" Wide Screen TFT-TN |
The MK241H has respectable specs with its 1920x1200 native resolution, 2ms (gray-to-gray) response time, and its 3000:1 (dynamic) contrast ratio. The MK241H also includes a healthy selection of image-quality adjustment controls that should likely cover most content-viewing scenarios. DVI and VGA cables are included, but an HDMI cable does not come with the display.