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click image to enlargeThe Philips 243B9 measures 49.5x52cm on its stand at the minimum height of 6cm on its stand in landscape mode this can be increased to 20cm, the screen thickness at the edge is less than 1.4cm. The viewable screen is 52x29.5cm which the notional diagonal imperial measurement of just under 24inches, 23.8inches to be exact.
In the centre top of the screen surround is a touch out webcam that means your personal privacy is guaranteed if you remember to push it in when not in use.
Like the last couple of Philips panels I have reviewed the thicker screen surround allows the inclusion of better quality speakers which are down facing meaning you get not only more sound but better quality sound.
The connections are in a line on the back down facing below the connection arm with an on/off button and then the three pin kettle style mains lead then a heat vent, next are HDMI and Display Port followed by D-Sub and then USB ‘C’, the audio in socket is for those using D-Sub next is audio out for headphones and finally two USB ports the back one of these is always on. On the side is a further USB port, you will notice no upstream USB port and this had me puzzled so I contacted Philips excellent PR agency in Germany who sent me details by return of how to activate the ports either by using a USB ‘C’ to USB ‘C’ cable or if your computer does not have USB ‘C’ then it can work with a USB to USB ‘C’ cable.
There are five round buttons on the right side of the bottom bezel for those who think they can improve on the ‘Auto’ settings in Windows, apart from testing them the only one I use is when I want to turn the screen off.
Picture quality is excellent in all lighting conditions unless you manage to find somewhere with very strong sunlight directly onto the screen. There is plenty of brightness and contrast for those strange occasions.
My one little niggle is that when you turn the screen off using the button on the face of the screen you also turn the internal speakers off, this could be a problem if waiting for a message or indeed listening to music.
The 75Hz refresh rate is plus over the more standard 60Hz.
Good sound, good images and great for watching the odd video or dare I say the odd sporting TV program while still working hard before and after it.
At the time of publication the Philips 243B9 is available from Amazon for £242.77
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