WEBVTT

00:00:00.440 --> 00:00:08.440
So today we're going to be having a look at the Acer s231

00:00:04.960 --> 00:00:10.920
hlb LED backlit LCD monitor this is part

00:00:08.440 --> 00:00:15.440
of their Olympic Edition monitor so um while the Olympics are over it is still

00:00:12.759 --> 00:00:22.320
an Olympian of sorts and that it is a unique well not completely unique these

00:00:17.720 --> 00:00:26.119
days but it is a very very unique

00:00:22.320 --> 00:00:28.000
product offering in that it has an LED

00:00:26.119 --> 00:00:32.599
backlight and there are maybe other monitors with LED backlights but I

00:00:30.599 --> 00:00:36.559
haven't seen one yet so it's Unique to me see how I covered that up either way

00:00:35.079 --> 00:00:41.000
let's have a look at what's included with this particular Monitor and talk a

00:00:38.760 --> 00:00:47.000
little bit about the benefits of an LED backlit LCD versus a conventional

00:00:44.440 --> 00:00:51.640
fluorescent back lit LCD so actually I want the cameraman to look up a

00:00:49.000 --> 00:00:56.760
miniaturized version of that is exactly what is behind most LCD panels so what

00:00:54.559 --> 00:01:01.960
happens is that you actually have you tend to get what's called hotpots so

00:00:59.280 --> 00:01:06.520
those lights are actual tubes behind your panel and so it has to be diffused

00:01:04.600 --> 00:01:10.080
properly to get a nice even backlight so you get some hot spots where it's more

00:01:08.360 --> 00:01:15.040
washed out and some dark spots where it's a little bit darker with an LED

00:01:12.040 --> 00:01:17.520
back lit LCD the whole thing is

00:01:15.040 --> 00:01:21.240
completely back lit with little Points of Light so you get a nice even

00:01:19.080 --> 00:01:27.920
backlight one of the other advantages is it's a pure white backlight so you don't

00:01:24.079 --> 00:01:31.880
have any of the uh disadvantages of an

00:01:27.920 --> 00:01:34.000
offc colored Cath light behind the panel

00:01:31.880 --> 00:01:38.680
so you actually get better more accurate colors you get more consistent

00:01:36.399 --> 00:01:42.680
backlighting and you also get better power consumption because LEDs are much

00:01:41.159 --> 00:01:45.920
more efficient than those fluorescent tube blades so I've got all of the

00:01:44.479 --> 00:01:50.920
accessories unpacked let's have a quick look at them here oh the cameraman's probably looking at this what is this

00:01:48.560 --> 00:01:54.479
okay oh yeah and they're thinner so because you have to have that tube light

00:01:52.840 --> 00:01:58.799
you have to have some way in front of it to diffuse it so that it is evenly

00:01:56.920 --> 00:02:03.520
distributed you end up with a thicker panel if you have a c CFL backlit LCD so

00:02:01.880 --> 00:02:07.360
e-c color they're probably talking about more color oh yeah better contrast ratio

00:02:05.399 --> 00:02:12.640
yet another Advantage this is a 12 million to1 active contrast management

00:02:09.800 --> 00:02:16.680
contrast ratio LED maybe it's not quite that high it's um specs for contrast

00:02:15.040 --> 00:02:20.879
ratios have gotten a little bit ludicrous over the last few years but I

00:02:19.280 --> 00:02:25.120
can assure you that it's going to be better than a cathode backlit LCD so we

00:02:23.519 --> 00:02:29.319
have a VGA cable just in case you're still using one of those with your fancy

00:02:26.760 --> 00:02:32.720
new monitor we have a DVI cable that is also including I highly recommend using

00:02:31.360 --> 00:02:36.800
this one cuz that's how you're going to get the best image quality out of it

00:02:34.560 --> 00:02:40.840
you've got a power cable I'll just take that out which plugs into a power brick

00:02:39.239 --> 00:02:45.440
see there that really speaks to the power efficiency of an LED backlit LCD

00:02:43.440 --> 00:02:49.720
that's the power brick you're using it's like there's like nothing to it then we

00:02:48.040 --> 00:02:53.599
have the little stand that we're going to use to attach the monitor to

00:02:51.519 --> 00:02:57.760
presumably some kind of a base so let's pull the monitor itself

00:02:57.760 --> 00:03:04.720
out okay there's a piece of foam that is not the monitor now I'm going to pull

00:03:02.080 --> 00:03:09.640
the monitor out no this is the limited warranty agreement as well as a quick

00:03:06.640 --> 00:03:12.519
start guide on a CD for the monitor next

00:03:09.640 --> 00:03:12.519
we're going to pull out the

00:03:14.080 --> 00:03:19.920
Monitor and not drop the

00:03:17.239 --> 00:03:24.879
monitor it's okay it dropped on the foam so it's all

00:03:21.080 --> 00:03:27.640
good the foam that won't come out there

00:03:24.879 --> 00:03:32.000
we go we finally got the monitor as well as the base so here is a oh yeah you get

00:03:30.480 --> 00:03:35.519
another cable included the way they've packed this is just ingenious I'm not

00:03:34.000 --> 00:03:39.840
even going to try and get that off there H it's an HDMI cable there you go so I'm

00:03:37.920 --> 00:03:44.120
guessing that this monitor supports VGA DVI and HDMI based on the accessories

00:03:42.080 --> 00:03:52.040
that we've seen here next we've got the base so here is the one that here we

00:03:48.400 --> 00:03:54.439
go there we are so a nice shiny plastic

00:03:52.040 --> 00:03:58.239
base and then there's a uh screw on the bottom here for attaching that little

00:03:55.920 --> 00:04:02.040
ARM piece so I'm going to get this I'm going to get the display assembl as

00:04:00.079 --> 00:04:06.760
quickly as I can here so that we can have a look at the overall aesthetic

00:04:03.680 --> 00:04:09.360
because that's something that you know

00:04:06.760 --> 00:04:13.519
while you might have specs on your side and there might be all of these sort of

00:04:11.519 --> 00:04:17.359
U marketing bullet points one of the most important things about a monitor is

00:04:15.360 --> 00:04:22.639
going to be how it looks to you on your desk because you have to stare at it an

00:04:19.880 --> 00:04:26.120
awful lot and if it doesn't look nice then you're not going to like it no

00:04:24.000 --> 00:04:30.039
matter how good the image quality is for a lot of people anyway I mean not

00:04:28.320 --> 00:04:34.600
everybody's like that but for for me certainly I wouldn't want a monitor that

00:04:31.800 --> 00:04:38.000
I found ugly sitting on my desk for I mean I don't know how long most of our

00:04:36.440 --> 00:04:42.759
viewers will keep a monitor but I usually keep a monitor for at least 3 to

00:04:40.160 --> 00:04:48.320
5 years um I typically don't replace them unless I absolutely have to so here

00:04:45.440 --> 00:04:53.199
we go we've got uh oh this was full of marketing stuff okay so it's ultra thin

00:04:51.639 --> 00:04:58.080
there you can look at that while I'm taking off this uh cover on the monitor

00:04:56.400 --> 00:05:02.479
unless that's boring oh yeah this is the same stuff that was on the front of the

00:04:59.880 --> 00:05:08.759
box so it's Mercury free you know so not manufactured using

00:05:05.160 --> 00:05:13.600
mercury that's good all right making my

00:05:08.759 --> 00:05:16.360
way around here with these tape which is

00:05:13.600 --> 00:05:18.880
quite difficult to remove cleanly sorry about this

00:05:20.560 --> 00:05:26.280
everyone wow they are really serious

00:05:24.120 --> 00:05:30.319
about protecting the front of this panel it's like you got your tape you got your

00:05:28.919 --> 00:05:37.240
plastic we got like more tape and more plastic

00:05:34.000 --> 00:05:39.960
there we go o That's nice okay so here

00:05:37.240 --> 00:05:44.720
for thinness you're looking at about the width of oh yeah sure cameraman wants me

00:05:42.000 --> 00:05:50.240
to use his iPhone for comparison so it's actually only

00:05:46.960 --> 00:05:52.520
about twice the thickness of an iPhone

00:05:50.240 --> 00:05:56.400
at the top of the monitor so that's very very cool and that's just the bezel so

00:05:54.960 --> 00:06:00.479
when you actually look at the screen itself it's even quite a bit thinner

00:05:58.960 --> 00:06:04.840
than that because you've got a fair bound of the bezel up here in front of

00:06:02.639 --> 00:06:08.240
the monitor so if we just kind of hold the iPhone there for thickness

00:06:06.319 --> 00:06:12.960
comparison you can sort of see how thick the the bezel here is and how thick an

00:06:10.120 --> 00:06:16.039
iPhone is so it's incredibly slim now it's a little bit thicker down at the

00:06:14.319 --> 00:06:21.319
bottom because that's where you have all of the electronics for your

00:06:18.440 --> 00:06:24.680
inputs as well as oh here here's how we attach the base so there's a little bit

00:06:23.520 --> 00:06:33.759
of uh spot right here where we can put this

00:06:28.039 --> 00:06:33.759
in so it just slides in presumably like

00:06:33.960 --> 00:06:40.759
this yeah just like that and then if I had a screwdriver I'd be able to put

00:06:37.919 --> 00:06:45.080
this in more quickly but I don't so I'm going to have to drive the screw with my

00:06:42.720 --> 00:06:50.840
hand there we go hey hey

00:06:48.960 --> 00:06:54.000
Innovation all that's in there pretty good all right and then let's go ahead

00:06:52.199 --> 00:06:58.400
and stand it on the base so this particular model doesn't include any

00:06:56.039 --> 00:07:01.599
real tilt options or any of that kind of stuff but if you're looking for

00:07:00.080 --> 00:07:07.199
something that's just really power efficient

00:07:04.000 --> 00:07:09.960
and offers good color all that good LED

00:07:07.199 --> 00:07:13.599
backlit goodness good contrast ratio then this is probably the one for you

00:07:12.000 --> 00:07:18.039
now we're going to actually be testing this monitor a little bit better when we

00:07:15.560 --> 00:07:23.360
do a full NC Tech tips episode comparing it against a conventional cathode

00:07:20.639 --> 00:07:29.120
backlit LCD and that's really the whole reason that I'm unboxing this thing but

00:07:26.879 --> 00:07:34.280
just for the sake of having a look at it but what we get the cameraman to do kind

00:07:30.879 --> 00:07:36.160
of some closeups and uh check out this

00:07:34.280 --> 00:07:41.800
particular LCD I you know what I don't think I even mentioned the resolution

00:07:38.440 --> 00:07:44.639
and the size of it this is a 23in model

00:07:41.800 --> 00:07:48.520
and it is a 1920x 1080 resolution so that means you can watch full HD video

00:07:46.639 --> 00:07:53.159
on here it's not going to be scaled in any way it has a 16x9 aspect ratio so

00:07:51.960 --> 00:07:58.440
that means that you're not going to see the black bars on your content that you

00:07:55.240 --> 00:08:00.000
would on a 16 by10 uh and that's a 1920

00:07:58.440 --> 00:08:03.520
x 1200 pound so let's have a look around at the back

00:08:01.479 --> 00:08:07.319
where we have our Vasa mounts so you got 1 2 3 four of those so you can mount

00:08:05.560 --> 00:08:11.120
this on a wall mount and it wouldn't even have to be a very strong one

00:08:08.879 --> 00:08:14.599
because this LCD monitor is incredibly light so that's one of the really cool

00:08:13.240 --> 00:08:21.000
things about it then we've also got our inputs here which as I guessed before

00:08:16.520 --> 00:08:24.080
are HDMI DVI and VGA in here is the DC

00:08:21.000 --> 00:08:26.039
in so as I've showed you before it does

00:08:24.080 --> 00:08:30.199
have an external power brick although it is quite small so you just plug that in

00:08:28.319 --> 00:08:34.800
like that it does have a Kensington lock here as well if you need any anti- theft

00:08:32.599 --> 00:08:38.479
security so thank you for checking out my unboxing of the

00:08:36.760 --> 00:08:45.039
s231hl bid LED back lit LCD monitor from Acer