14 DAY TRIAL // Catering to the needs of design professionals and businessmen, NEC has released a new monitor, one that has a diagonal of 23 inches and can automatically adjust backlight intensity to save power, among other things.
The new monitor is called E232WMT and, like most of the displays released by NEC, it is part of the MultiSync collection.
The 23-inch newcomer is, more specifically, part of the MultiSync E series, where E stands for eco-friendliness.
It's not that the display is made without hazardous materials, because mercury and other substances were still used.
At least, NEC doesn't mention in its press release that the LED backlighting system lacks mercury, so we'll assume it's standard.
Still, the display is eco-friendly because it can save on energy. Power consumption is cut when the ECO mode is entered, and there's even automatic backlight adjustment.
Thanks to an ambient light sensor integrated into the frame, the display can dim or intensify the backlight based on how bright or dark your room is.
Because of that, NEC managed to earn EPEAT Gold certification, Energy Star 6.0 compliance, TCO 6.0 compliance, and RoHS compliance (which means that even if there is mercury in the product, it's not in excessive quantity).
As for the specifications, they are actually quite surprising. True, the resolution is a no-brainer (1920 x 1080 pixels, Full HD as it were), and the brightness of 250 cd/m2 is nothing special, but the dynamic contrast ratio is of 15,000:1.
Before you ask, no, that's not amazing. It's surprisingly low, considering that companies don't tend to brag about the DCR unless it's in the millions. It doesn't matter much, though, since DCR only enhances visibility and clarity of scenes when watching a film in a dark room, and only when going from a bright to a low-light scene at that.
The static contrast ratio is still 1,000:1, so nothing amazing there. The AH-IPS active matrix LCD does stand out somewhat, however (wide viewing angles of 178 degrees), as does the integrated USB 3.0 hub.
Finally, the NEC MultiSync E232WMT has HDMI, VGA and DVI-D inputs, plus an ergonomic stand with height and tilt adjustment, as well as fold-flat capability. Sales should start soon, this month in fact (April 2014), for $629 / €457.
"The E232WMT touch display builds upon NEC's leadership in environmentally friendly displays," said Kevin Christopherson, director of product marketing for desktop displays at NEC Display Solutions. "This feature-rich display is ideal for everyday business tasks, video conferencing and kiosk applications."