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We tested the monitor via a Sapphire ATI HD5850 graphics card and Catalyst 10.6 with a DVI to HDMI converter cable.
The Asus MS236H Technical specifications are quite impressive, with it boasting a 50,000:1 contrast ratio and a 2ms grey-to-grey response time and when this is combined with an apparent 170 degree horizontal viewing angle you would rightly assume that the image quality would be stellar.
We tested the monitor with Displaymate and were unimpressed with the overall image quality. The colour gamut range in GamutVision was generally positive and it fell in line with what we would expect from a panel in this class. Text was sharp and easy to read and while colour reproduction was not outstanding it was able to handle a wide enough gamut to present a focused and realistic image.
As this is a twisted nematic panel the horizontal viewing angles were acceptable and vertical quality dropped when viewed from below, specifically noticeable with colour shifting. Unless you have the screen mounted high in a kitchen or living room environment we would struggle to see this being a significant issue.
Gaming on the monitor was actually a strong point as I noticed no input lag at all and would say that Asus are fairly accurate with their 2ms rating.
The weakness of this screen would be detail in the darker areas of the range, around 90-100% black level viewing. It loses detail in dark scenes and the purity of the black level leaves a little to be desired. This is a common issue with lower end TN panel technology however and we noticed that images rendering pure black ended up looking rather washed out. Our sample had some backlight issues on the lower edges although it seemed to have suffered some abuse from previous reviewers so it is hard to tell if this is just specific to the screen I received or a more generalised overview of the entire production range.
We measured considerable shift and bleeding when testing black definition with leaks on all sides of the panel. While it looks bad in the image above, it is only really noticeable when watching movies with a lot of dark or night based scenes. This is a shame as we found otherwise it was a rather good screen for motion based viewing and for gaming thanks to the quick response time. Sadly it is lacking with scaling options which will mean many gamers will immediately disregard it as a viable option.
On the other side of the testing range, white response was much better with a generally clear image being presented. Only slight leaks are noted on the four corners, with the worst areas being on the lower sections of the physical panel.
