Philips 242G5 144Hz LCD Gaming Monitor Review

Introduction Over the last few months, monitors that are built for gaming have been cropping up within the marketplace and at last people can get a panel that compliments their high performance gaming system, delivering better image quality and faster refresh rates with a typical 144Hz refresh rate. The refresh rate is the key part to what sets this new type of panel apart from the rest of the crowd. As I've highlighted before, it's all and well having a GPU that can pump out in the region of 100fps, but if your monitor is only running at 60Hz as the vast majority do, then it can only show a maximum of 60 frames per second itself. As a result there are frames that have been rendered effectively going to waste and it may be one of those frames that could make a crucial difference to the outcome of a tournament for example. This is where the new 144Hz standard comes into play. With this higher refresh rate, the panel is able to display up to 144 frames per second. This means that not only are those extra frames not going to waste, but the image will appear to be much smoother and fluid in motion as scenes are displayed. Recently I took a look at one of these new 144Hz panels from AOC, namely the G2460PQU and on the whole I was impressed with the quality of the build and the feature set on offer, but most importantly, the difference that the faster refresh rate made to not only game play but also during day-to-day usage. Philips as some may or may not know is related to AOC through a parent company known as TPV. Whilst the two rand names run side by side, it is worth noting that some aspects of the monitors from each brand may appear to be the same, but on the whole they are run as two completely separate brands within the market place. Philips ship the monitor in is probably one of the biggest boxes that I've seen for a screen of this size. The box is wrapped in a bold space styled scene with an image of the screen itself and along the lower edge are a set of smaller images highlighting certain aspects of the screen. With everything taken out of the box, it's immediately apparent why the box is so thick. Where most screens come with the base plate completely separate from the rest of the stand, the 242G5's stank is one complete unit and as a result the dimensions of the box are increased. Alongside the stand and the LCD panel, there are a set of manuals and an information and driver CD, IEC power cable, USB3.0 cable, two display cables (VGA and DL-DVI) and finally an OSD remote control pad. A Closer Look Putting the two parts of the monitor together couldn't be much easier for the 242G5 thanks to a quick lock system and a pair of locking pins on the back of the monitor. On the top of the stands head is a pair of flat pins that the LCD sits onto and as the head is located into the VESA mount recess on the back of the panel, the lower two pins lock in place. Looking at where the head of the stand mounts on to the screen, we can see where the upper and lower pins locate themselves and at the bottom, the two pins that lock the stand in place with a release button just below. The 242G5 is also VESA100 compatible and the panel comes with the four screws needed for VESA mounting already in place for safe keeping. With the two parts of the screen locked together we can get a look at how things look as a whole. The 242G5 has a rather plain design to the bezel with a textured matte black finish and along the bottom of the panel a single red stripe that widens in the middle to surround the Philips branding. With the stand fitted, the screen is 22cm from front to back so for users with rather shallow desks, a monitor arm may be required to keep the panel back towards a wall for example. Looking at the back of the screen, it becomes clear why the screen has such a deep footprint. Like a number of other panels on the market, the 242G5 is fully height adjustable and the mechanism required for this operation is not slim by far. When attached to the stand, the screen can be raised by up to 13cm and the head also allows the screen to be rotated through 90° for portrait viewing. Moving round to the underside of the panel, on the left hand side is a 110-240V IEC power input with a typical power consumption of 18.5w during use. Our power meter registered no higher than 19.2w during the time that I used this panel (~3 days). On the other side of the screen is a fairly standard array of display inputs with DVI, VGA and HDMI on offer, but on top of this we also have DisplayPort 1.2 and a secondary MHL-HDMI (V3.0) port that supports mobile device connections such as smart phones and tablets to bring their contents to the big screen in a full HD resolution. To round off the connectivity options there is a 3.5mm audio output for MHL-HDMI connections and to the far left is a Mini-USB 2.0 connection for the included Smart remote. Whilst the panel has rather plain bezel, on closer inspection there are a couple of subtle markings to be found. The first of these is on the top left of the panel where the model number is printed. The model number is printed in dark grey so in most light conditions is not clear to see (which is a good thing) but it is visible none-the-less, especially when a flash is used on the camera. The second marking is to the bottom left of the panel and is printed in red to make it more visible, showing off the screens 144Hz capability (when connected through a DL-DVI cable). On the underside of the panel along the right hand side is a row of five buttons for navigating through the 242G5's OSD and for also changing the input source as well as power. The power light itself is rather subtle with a small white LED found just to the left of the power icon. There is a secondary power switch found just behind the panel on the right hand edge to turn the screen right off. Around the side of the screen to the left is a USB3.0 hub with four ports available and the USB-B 3.0 jack for connection to a PC. Of the four ports, the top right port also supports Fast Charge, delivering a higher current to connected devices reducing the time needed to charge them. As mentioned before, the monitor does have a large footprint due to its adjustable height capability, however it is not too big to become intrusive on a desk. The front part of the base is flat to reduce the footprint a little at the front and the upright portion of the stand has a stylish curved design as it rises up towards the mechanism for height adjustment. In the middle of the upright is a hole for passing cables through to keep them tidy and out-of-the-way. The last part of the monitor is something a little different. Typically, all the OSD control is made from the on-screen buttons, but these are not exactly what we would call convenient when you want to make a quick adjustment to the screens colour and brightness settings when starting a game for example. On Screen Display (OSD) The OSD on the 242G5 is easy to navigate around, especially with the use of the remote control pad and offers up a whole host of options to adjust the image seen on-screen. On top of the standard OSD is a secondary menu for the 242G5's SmartImage technology. This simple menu offers up five image presets that adjust the brightness and contrast among other settings and the menu also includes two user adjustable presets for personal preference. Like the main OSD, this menu can be accessed through the on-screen buttons or with the remote. SmartControl Software Being a 'Smart' monitor, the 242G5 has a bit of software bundled in with it to allow you to adjust a whole host of settings including those that can be changed through the OSD (but not limited to). After getting everything connected up there are a couple of bits that need to be adjusted and installed on the connected PC for the screen to operate as Philips intended. The first of these is to update the 'Generic PnP Monitor' drivers to those the Philips supply, thus allowing the software to control the monitor through the USB3.0 interface. After the drivers have been updated and the SmartControl software installed, the screen is ready to be adjusted from the desktop environment as opposed to using the OSD and remote control. The first window that appears after the software is opened allows the brightness, contrast and resolution settings to be adjusted with one screen guides to help you to set the levels just right. Moving down the menu on the left hand side of the screen, the next set of controls alter the colour levels that are seen as the display is not pre-calibrated and there are many other variables such as the operating environment that can affect the colour that is seen on the screen. One of the colour options takes the screen through a series of calibration images allowing all the images variable to be fine tuned to produce a near perfect image on the LCD panel. The last option in the colours section allows the SmartImage preset to be changed from the desktop interface. Power saving is next on the agenda and this gives the monitor a leading advantage over other panels on the market. The panels backlight brightness can be switched between a bright room and dim room preset, whilst still offering full manual control over the brightness based on user preference. The last set of options are more specific to the SmartControl software as well as giving options that are not available through the on-screen display. Along with sub-menus to change the input source and to enable the panels auto-rotations mode to turn the image on the screen round to portrait mode as the panel is turned (as opposed to having to manually rotate the picture through display properties in Windows), there is also a software based display preset function and a Wizard mode which can automatically adjust the screens colour and brightness settings through a calibration process. The bottom two options are also very handy. SmartDesktop divides the screen up into virtual segments to show up to four smaller windows within the frame of the 242G5. Theft Deterrence is something that I've yet to see on a LCD panel and this adds a certain level of security to the screen. After setting the PIN code up, the screen will ask for the PIN number when it's connected to another computer. Like Philips, I will stress that this is not an anti-theft system; but more of a deterrent from theft. The help section gives general information about the connected panel and system, along with options to update the SmartControl software and view the user manual online. Usage And Performance When it comes to testing a screen, there are a number of individual factors that every person looks for, I personally look for a crisp bright image, with a real depth of colour (in other words, vibrant reds greens & blues and deep blacks) that doesn't look washed out when used in a bright environment. At the same time I look for a screen that works not only in a working environment (the environment that my screens spend most of their time) but also for watching movies and gaming. With the 242G5 coming with a blazing fast refresh rate of 144Hz along with the SmartImage options, it's clear that gaming is what this panel has been built for. Whilst I don't normally worry about the graphics card that I'm using for the purpose of monitor testing, the high refresh rate and SmartControl features made me think a little different and as a result I've employed an Asus 7970 Matrix Platinum connected via DL-DVI to run this panel at the full rate of 144Hz. With the SmartControl software and the display drivers installed, the setup process of getting everything running is rather simple and whilst you can plug-and-play out of the box, taking some time to get the bundled software installed and setup is worth while doing so that the screens full feature set is at your disposal. After a bit of gameplay testing, including the use of the FPS and Racing image presets whilst playing Metro: Last Light and Dirt Showdown accordingly, I found the screen to be nice and smooth and the presets particularly along with the SmartContrast option kept the image at its peak of clarity, with dark scenes having deeper blacks and brighter scenes having bright vivid colours. The high-speed refresh rate as well complimented the 7970 as it was able to push out well over 150fps with the in-game quality settings dialled down a little. With the quality settings set to maximum, the frame rates from the card were not as high as 144Hz mind, but this meant that every frame that was produced was displayed as the GPU pushed it to the screen. During film watching and general day-to-day editing, the SmartContrast once again was particularly useful as films had deeper blacks during dark scenes and when working in a darker environment the screen appeared to dim down whilst in a web browser for example the contrast ratio was automatically raised and the image was bright and clear. Final Thoughts Pricing The Philips 242G5 has only recently come to market and as a result, there are only a few e-tailors that are stocking the screen at this moment in time. For those that are stocking it, prices of around £280 inc VAT (~$453 USD / ~€328 EUR) are to be expected, which to be quite honest for a panel with such a wide range of connectivity options and with this many features on is a fantastic price point when all things are taken into account, even though this is towards the upper end of the 24" price bracket. Overview When you're in the market for a 144Hz gaming orientated screen, there are a couple of factors you need to take into account before you decide to go ahead and hit the buy button and then feel disappointed that you cannot run the screen at its full 144Hz. The first of these is really to make sure that you have a system that can drive a 144Hz panel to its full capacity. Most, if not all recent graphics cards are capable of pushing 144Hz resolutions out through a DL-DVI port or DisplayPort if not 120Hz through a SL-DVI port so there should be no problem in finding a card that will fit the bill. The second matter is also checking that the games you are running have to option to change the refresh rate to 144Hz. If both of these boxes are ticked, then you are good to go and drive the monitor to its full capability. Looking over the features and the list of connectivity options that the 242G5 has to offer, when compared to other 24" gaming panels, there is a stack of display features to play with, both through the OSD and bundled control software as well as the remote OSD controller - something that we've only seen bundled on a BenQ monitor. The array of display connectivity options is also very good with all the major display types covered and then topped off with a MHL-HDMI port for good measure for connecting up compatible smart-phones and tablets added on top for good measure. The picture quality is one that I'd say has to rival that of an IPS panel. Whilst this is a pure LCD display, the SmartControl software and the SmartImage presets work their magic on the display output to adjust the image for various game types (or as per user preference with the two customisable presets) and even when watching films or day-to-day work, more so with the SmartContrast. Once you take the screens power saving features and the physical aspects such as the quick release stand into account, both the package and product have been well thought about giving you a panel that sips on the power, whilst producing an image that suits the task in hand. Then when it comes to heading to your favourite LAN event, it is quick and simple to break apart for ease of transportation and then quick to get back together ready for a major Frag session. As you can imagine, I'm very impressed with this panel especially as it's a pure-bred LCD. With the number of LCD panels with LED backlights or pure LED panels available on the market growing, it's great to see that there is still some life left in the good ol' pure LCD still to go. If Philips were to produce a 27" version of this screen with a 2560x1440 or higher resolution, then words will leave me standing as I'm sure it would be a panel that would rival the expensive IPS panels that are floating around today. Pros: Wide array of connectivity options Gaming orientated design SmartControl technology for image enhancement on the fly Remote OSD control Quick-release stand Well known brand USB3.0 hub with fast charge 144Hz refresh rate Cons: One of the more expensive 24" panels on the market "The Philips 242G5 'Smart' 144Hz gaming monitor has a feature set that easily rivals most screens in the same range. With the huge list of options to tweak and tune though both the OSD and through the included software along with a top level LCD panel, the 242G5 gaming monitor has everything it takes to be a class leading product." Thanks to AOC for providing us with this review sample.