Acer Nitro VG240Y monitor – Specs, Pros / Cons: Forget Refresh Rate, Meet Color-per-Dollar!

LaptopMedia.com Reviews and Analysis Acer Nitro VG240Y monitor - Specs, Pros / Cons: Forget Refresh Rate, Meet Color-per-Dollar!

From: Severin Kolakov 29 February 2024 / 15:49 | 0

What’s the record for the highest color coverage per dollar that you can get in a monitor? We think such a metric doesn’t exist, but we might as well invent it! And we know who’s taking first place, the Acer Nitro VG240Y, as it shows incredibly wide-color coverage, which is usually left for more expensive monitors. Still, the VG240Y is part of the VG0-series, which offers affordable gaming monitors.

The monitor gets the gaming features “right”, with a 144Hz refresh rate, a 2ms response time (weird), as well as AMD FreeSync support, which can match the refresh rate of the monitor to the FPS of the game, eliminating screen tearing, which has been terrorizing gamers since day 1. What more can the Acer Nitro VG240Y offer to you? Keep on reading to find out!

You can check the current price of the Acer Nitro VG240Y here: Buy from Amazon.com (#CommissionsEarned)

Specs sheet, Drivers, Design, Connectivity
Display quality, Buy our profiles, Verdict

Specs sheet, Drivers, Design, Connectivity

Screen size	23.8 inch (60.45 cm)
Refresh rate	144Hz
Response time	2ms
Panel type	IPS
Backlight type	LED
Screen finish	Matte
Resolution	1920 x 1080
Technologies	Contrast ratio: 1000:1 (Static) Brightness: 250cd/m² Viewing angles: H/V° 178/178 Tilt: -5 to 20° VESA mount: 100×100 Measurements (with stand): 412 x 540 x 240 mm Speakers: 2x 2W HDR10
I/O	2x HDMI 1x DisplayPort 1x audio jack

What’s in the box? Assembly

Drivers and Software

You can download the driver from ASUS’s Product Support Page. We also advise you to install the Acer Display Widget, an app that gives you total control over the monitor from the OS, which is easier than tinkering with the OSD menu on the back.

OSD Menu

Design and Connectivity

The look of the monitor is a pretty classic representation of the Gaming design that was and still is popular. We’ve got a sharp-looking stand that’s mostly painted in red. The back has a V-shaped air vent. There’s also another V in the middle of the four VESA mounting holes, which you can use to attach a wall or a desk mount, giving you much more adjustability than what the stand that comes with the monitor can offer. It only has Tilt functionality, but at least it looks cool.

On the front, you can check out the thin bezels, as well as the silvery Acer logo. In terms of ports and connectors, you get two HDMI 2.0 ports, one DisplayPort, and an audio jack.

Display quality, Buy our profiles, Verdict

We have a simple IPS panel with a Full HD resolution, which results in a pixel density of 92.56 PPI. At this resolution, you might start seeing pixels, as the retina distance comes in at 94 cm, so unless you’re always a meter away when looking at the screen, pixels will be distinguishable. As for the gaming prowess of the monitor, with a 144Hz refresh rate, you can play both esports titles and single-player games pretty well, especially when you factor in the FreeSync. Now let’s take a look at the color tests and see how the monitor fares in them.

Color coverage

Here’s an illustration (Fig. 1). The whole “sail-shaped” map below consists of all the colors we can see, while the black crooked line shows all the colors from real-world scenes and nature around us.

Then, we’ve drawn some of the most important and interesting color spaces, compared to the colors the panel of Acer Nitro VG240Y can show:

Standard/For Web: sRGB – widely used color space for most consumer devices, ideal for Web design and development
For Print: AdobeRGB – used in professional photo editing, graphic design, and print
For Photographers/Video Editors: DCI-P3 – used in high-end film production, post-production, and digital cinema
Premium HDR: Rec.2020 – the widest consumer ITU color standard, covering a massive 75.8% of the visible spectrum, a benchmark for premium HDR content

Acer Nitro VG240Y: the yellow dashed triangle (– – – – – –) represents the range of colors this monitor can display. In our tests, we calculated the total color coverage of the monitor at 99.7% of the sRGB color gamut and 95% of the DCI-P3 color gamut.

(Fig.1) Acer Nitro VG240Y covers 99.7% of the Web colors (sRGB)

This means that if the Acer Nitro VG240Y tries to show any color outside of its triangle, it will show the closest color to it that’s inside the triangle.

Color accuracy

Now let’s see how big is the difference between the real colors and the one you’ll see on the Acer Nitro VG240Y. We measure that distance in DeltaE – the bigger the number, the more different they look.

For the next illustration, we’ve chosen 24 common colors like dark and light skin, blue sky, green grass, etc.

Values below 2.0 are considered suitable for color-sensitive work. Before our calibration of the Acer Nitro VG240Y, the Average color accuracy was 2.2 dE (Fig. 2), and with our Web Design and Office Work profile, it lowered to 2.1 dE (Fig. 3). This isn’t much of an improvement as the panel seems to be stubborn and not get affected by our profile. However, a dE of 2.1 is still decent, as we’ve seen many “Creator-oriented” laptops and monitors have similar accuracy and people still buy them and create stunning content with them.

(Fig. 2) Acer Nitro VG240Y in its factory condition

(Fig. 3) Acer Nitro VG240Y with our display profiles

Comparison in the sRGB color space (primaries and D65 white point specified in ITU-R BT.709, sRGB encoding curve).

Health-Guard eliminates the harmful Pulse-Width Modulation (PWM) and reduces the negative Blue Light which affects our eyes and body. Since it’s custom-tailored for every panel, it manages to keep the colors perceptually accurate (they may seem strange at first but after a few minutes our brain will start recognizing them as accurate ones – that’s how Health-Guard differs from alternatives like f.lux).

Pro Tip: As the Health-Guard profile simulates paper and has as accurate as possible colors, it could be a great tool for prepress designers!

Left: No Profile | Drag the slider to see the difference | Right: Health-Guard Profile

Gaming and Movies

We also have a third Gaming and Movies profile, which regulates the black colors, making dark areas in games and movies appear more visible, thus giving you a better viewing experience. Shooting at your opponent first can be a make-or-break moment, so make sure you’re best prepared with our profile.

Left: No Profile | Drag the slider to see the difference | Right: Design & Gaming Profile

BUY OUR DISPLAY PROFILES

Since our profiles are tailored for each individual display model, this article and its respective profile package are meant for the Acer Nitro VG240Y.

*Should you have problems with downloading the purchased file, try using a different browser to open the link you’ll receive via e-mail. If the download target is a .php file instead of an archive, change the file extension to .zip or contact us at [email protected].

In addition to receiving efficient and health-friendly profiles, by buying LaptopMedia's products you also support the development of our labs, where we test devices in order to produce the most objective reviews possible.

Office Work

Office Work should be used mostly by users who spend most of the time looking at pieces of text, tables or just surfing. This profile aims to deliver better distinctness and clarity by keeping a flat gamma curve (2.20), native color temperature and perceptually accurate colors.

$9.90 BUY NOW

Design and Gaming

This profile is aimed at designers who work with colors professionally, and for games and movies as well. Design and Gaming takes display panels to their limits, making them as accurate as possible in the sRGB IEC61966-2-1 standard for Web and HDTV, at white point D65.

$9.90 BUY NOW

Health-Guard

Health-Guard eliminates the harmful Pulse-Width Modulation (PWM) and reduces the negative Blue Light which affects our eyes and body. Since it’s custom tailored for every panel, it manages to keep the colors perceptually accurate. Health-Guard simulates paper so the pressure on the eyes is greatly reduced.

$9.90 BUY NOW

Get all 3 profiles with 33% discount

$19.90 BUY NOW

Verdict

The Acer Nitro VG240Y is an easy slam dunk for people looking for a monitor for entertainment, as it can play plenty of games really well, thanks to its refresh rate, response time, and FreeSync support. While its color accuracy improvement isn’t really there, the rest of our profiles make it a much better option for watching movies and playing games.

The monitor covers almost the entire sRGB color gamut, with 99.7% sRGB coverage, while showing a high percentage DCI-P3 coverage, at 95%. This makes it so you can truly enjoy cinematic masterpieces on it. The only limiting factor is the screen size, otherwise, this would be a great home theatre monitor. It still can be one, if you’re okay with having a smaller screen. Especially for a tiny room, it’s perfect.

Our Gaming and Movies profile further elevates the visual experience, offering you a clearer image in dark scenes and dark environments, be it in movies or in games. As for the Health-Guard, it’s here to keep your eyes as energized and as healthy as possible, minimizing Blue Light exposure and PWM (Flickering), both of which can deteriorate your sleep quality as well as cause headaches and eye strain.

You can check the current price of the Acer Nitro VG240Y: Buy from Amazon.com (#CommissionsEarned)