Acer ConceptD CM2241W Review

Acer’s ConceptD CM2241W ($399), a 24-inch monitor geared to content creators, is modest in size and resolution but capable of rendering accurate color. It’s a bit pricey for its size, but it may be worth the investment, particularly if you’re an art or photography student, or you live in a space into which you can’t fit a larger display but need dead-on color accuracy. Also, it bucks the trend toward ever-wider screens by giving you more vertical space to work with.

Taller Than 1080p

The ConceptD CM2241W has a 24-inch screen (measured diagonally) with a WUXGA (1,920-by-1,200-pixel) native resolution, which works out to a 16:10 aspect ratio. That’s a little taller than the ubiquitous 16:9 ratio used in digital video and television.

While 16:9 monitors are ideal for movie watching and editing, stockier WUXGA monitors are a better fit for photo editing because they’re closer to the 3:2 aspect ratio of full-frame and APS-C digital SLRs, and the 4:3 aspect ratio found in Micro Four Thirds and many point-and-shoot digital cameras. WUXGA is also good for general office use, letting you see more of a spreadsheet or Word document before you need to scroll.

The CM2241W’s pixel density is 91 pixels per inch (ppi), a little on the low side for a monitor intended for creative pros. The Dell UltraSharp 24 USB-C Hub Monitor (U2421E), with the same WUXGA resolution, has a similar pixel density. The Dell UltraSharp 25 USB-C Monitor (U2520D) is a 25-inch display with QHD (2,560-by-1,440-pixel) resolution and a 117ppi pixel density. In general, the higher a monitor’s pixel density, the sharper the image will appear.

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In-plane switching (IPS) monitors tend to offer very wide off-axis viewing angles, and the ConceptD is no exception. It’s rated at 178 degrees for both vertical and horizontal; I was able to view the screen from extreme angles without a notable change in brightness or color.

The bottom bezel is nearly an inch deep, and top and side bezels are nearly nonexistent, lending the panel an airy quality. Measuring 20 by 21 by 9.2 inches (HWD) when extended to its full height, the CM2241W weighs 12.2 pounds. Its black cabinet is supported by a silver shaft that emerges from a disc-shaped, faux wooden base. The stand is ergonomically friendly, supporting pivot control, as well as the ability to swivel a full 360 degrees, tilt (at angles from 5 degrees toward the user to 35 degrees away), and adjust height over a 4.7-inch range.

Ports include one DisplayPort 1.2 connector, two HDMI ports, one upstream and three downstream USB 3.0 Type-A ports, and a 3.5mm audio jack. Two of the USB ports are on the monitor’s side for easy access; the others face downward in back. The down-facing ports are still relatively accessible, as you only have to pivot the monitor 90 degrees to reveal them. A notable omission, though, is a USB Type-C port.

Controls are in back, at the right edge near the bottom. They consist of a mini-joystick controller with a stack of four buttons above it. By pressing the controller once, you can access the onscreen display’s (OSD) main menu, as well as settings for input, brightness, and modes.

The menu conveniently includes preset modes for the three main color spaces we test in: sRGB, Adobe RGB, and DCI-P3, as well as Standard, Movie, Graphics, and CAD/CAM presets. You also get a user-defined mode, and two modes within which you can save settings derived through calibration. The OSD and its controls are intuitive and easy to master.

The CM2241W has a 75Hz refresh rate and is FreeSync-compatible, which should give owners of computers with AMD Radeon GPUs a little bit of a smoothness boost, at least for casual gaming.

Testing: Bright, With Accurate Colors

To test the CM2241W’s brightness, contrast ratio, and color accuracy and coverage, I used our standard test equipment: a Klein K-10A colorimeter(Opens in a new window), a Murideo SIX-G(Opens in a new window) signal generator, and Portrait Displays’ CalMAN 5(Opens in a new window) calibration software.

The monitor’s rated luminance—the brightness per unit area—is 350 nits (candelas per meter squared). I measured it at 331 nits, still a very respectable score. (In comparison, the Dell U2421E, with the same rated luminance, only managed 248 nits.) The Acer’s measured contrast ratio was 929:1, a little short of its 1,000:1 rating. (See how we test monitors.)

Acer claims a Delta E rating of less than 2 for the ConceptD CM2241W. Delta E (dE, for short) is the difference between the hue of a displayed color and the input that the monitor received. The dE figure that appears in monitor specs is the average of a large number of individual color readings from across the spectrum; the lower the value, the more accurate the color. Many professional monitors tout a dE of less than 2, which is about the limit at which most people can discern color differences.

In testing the CM2241W out of the box (that is, without calibrating it), it hit that mark with room to spare for both sRGB, where I measured its dE at 1.3 (see the chart below), and Adobe RGB, which turned in a dE of 1.21. For DCI-P3, a mode commonly used for digital video, I measured its dE at 2.08.

For the sRGB color space, Acer claims the monitor provides 99% color coverage. In my initial testing in Standard mode, it covered 100% of sRGB, 99.9% of Adobe RGB, and 94.7% for DCI-P3. But I noticed one peculiarity: When I switched to its dedicated preset modes for each of these color spaces, it mustered only 94.4% sRGB coverage and 95.1% for Adobe RGB, while DCI-P3 was little changed.

When I ran these results by Acer, the product manager suggested the discrepancy could have come from our use of different measuring tools. Acer uses the Konica Minolta CA-310 Display Color Analyzer(Opens in a new window), a tool known for its high accuracy in measuring color, a very high-end color-measurement setup. The rep further noted that the panel’s native color space covers both Adobe RGB and sRGB, so my results of 100% of sRGB and 99.9% of Adobe RGB in Standard mode were expected, and it made sense that both Standard and DCI-P3 modes showed DCI-P3 at around 95% coverage. (It is still unclear, though, why the results in the other two preset modes were lower.)

Below is our chromaticity (color quality) chart created using CalMAN software set for the sRGB color space, with the CM2241W set to Standard mode….

And below here is our chromaticity chart with the software set for the sRGB color space and the monitor set to its sRGB preset mode…

The triangle within the diagrams represents the limits of the RGB color space; any color within it can be formed by mixing the three primary colors of red, green, and blue. The little sliver between the red and pink points (which are our color readings) and the edge of the triangle, extending down to the blue point, represents RGB colors that cannot be displayed in this mode.

The real-world difference is subtle. When viewing photos from our test suite with the monitor set to sRGB mode, the reds were a touch on the dull side, while other colors were largely unaffected. It’s hard, though, to make any direct comparisons between the color modes, as there may be other differences between their settings. Videos also looked good in both Standard and Movie modes, with well-saturated colors.

When Your Space Is Tighter Than Your Budget

The Acer ConceptD CM2241W is a likable monitor geared to creative pros, with excellent delta-E color accuracy, as evidenced by our great ColorChecker results. It also seems capable of superb color coverage for sRGB and Adobe RGB, though it seemed better in Standard mode than in the preset modes for those color spaces.

It’s somewhat expensive for a 24-inch monitor—the HP E24d G4 FHD Advanced Docking Monitor, bristling with ports and other productivity features, sells for $49 less. And speaking of ports, the lack of USB-C is a notable oversight in this day and age.

A 24-inch screen size and WUXGA resolution are at the low end of what we would expect for a monitor aimed at content creators. For a little bit more money, you can get a larger and highly capable display capable of handling color content well. For instance, although it’s sold as a productivity monitor, the Lenovo ThinkVision P27u-10 is a 27-inch 4K panel with a Delta E of under 2 and color coverage in the high 90% ranges for both the sRGB and Adobe RGB spaces.

Of course, if you’re short on space, a 24-inch monitor may be the better option. If that’s you, the ConceptD CM2241W is an appealing panel that is good for photo and video work, as well as general-purpose use.