Philips E-line 237E3QPH

After the excellent performance of its 241P4 monitor, Philips is back for more with the new 237E3QPH, a 23'' screen with a 23'' Full HD IPS display.  As well as an attractive new design, it also boasts a very affordable price tag.

Build Quality and Design: Two HDMI ports and one IPS display

Despite having two HDMI inputs alongside its VGA input, the 237E3QPH really isn't that easy to use.  The stand might be reasonable attractive, but the only movement it allows you to tilt the display back a couple of degrees.  A line out is all you get for audio, allowing you to plug in your own headphones or a pair of 2.1 speakers.  That's not all that much, and isn't as handy as a pair of built-in speakers would have been, although it does mean you can use your new 23'' monitor as a spare TV if you connect it to an IPTV decoder or a DVD player.

The 'standard' USB hub and memory card reader have also disappeared.  They've made room for a proximity sensor like the one we saw on the Philips 273P3.  The sensor can tell when users step away from the monitor for a certain period and turns the backlighting down to save energy.  It springs back into life as soon as somebody comes back.  Compared to the 'green' features that other manufacturers boast about, it's actually pretty effective

One wise decision on Philips' part was the addition of an IPS display.  The technology is well-known for having wider viewing angles than its rival TN standard, meaning it can reproduce colours more evenly than most other monitors.

Colours: Get rid of the dynamic backlighting and you're set! 

And the colour handling is pretty good.  Once you've turned off the dynamic backlighting, the deltaE score falls to 2.9—our maximum threshold is 3.0—meaning the 237EQPH reproduces colours accurately.  Demanding users like photographers and graphic designers can always better that further by using a calibration profile to make sure things are absolutely perfect.

 
We were a little disappointed by the contrast, which only just manages to reach the minimum level set by other monitors we've tested--around 850:1.  We've already seen rival displays which use the same IPS technology get beyond 1000:1; one example is the Dell U2311H.

Responsiveness: not quite fast enough for gaming

Like on the 241P4, the SmartResponse, Philips' name for overdrive, can be configured to several different levels.  And like on the 241P4, there's no need to go beyond the first level, unless you want to see some nasty reverse ghosting.

Responsiveness
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Turning it on makes a noticeable improvement, even if the average ghosting time of 14 ms is too long to make the 237E3QPH attractive to avid gamers.  It is, however, perfectly acceptable for office apps or multimedia users.

If you're still tempted to try a spot of online gaming with Philips' latest monitor, then you'll be happy to know that the input lag is below 17 ms, meaning it won't hold you back in multiplayer games.