acer 21.5 Inch Full HD (1920 x 1080) IPS Ultra-Thin Zero Frame Computer Monitor (HDMI & VGA Port), SB220Q bi

This review is for the SB220Q series (1920x1080) 75Hz monitor variant. At a $90 price point as of July 2020, all of the praise this monitor has gotten and continues to get is pretty well deserved. Right out of the box the factory calibration is pretty awful as with most TVs and monitors (I’ll never understand why that is), but Acer’s built-in menu gives you a wide range of control to tweak the image quality to your liking. Here are some of the most noticeable Pros & Cons after using this monitor daily for the past three weeks: PROS: - The colors can be very vibrant and the sharpness makes everything nice and crisp both up close and from a distance without going overboard. Although the spec sheet does not specify the exact Adobe or sRGB color gamut range, it does have a stated 72% NTSC coverage (keep in mind that the NTSC color gamut has the highest level of color reproduction), which would imply that it should have close to 100% sRGB coverage. This is pretty standard for most sub $200 monitors (note: the unit that TechSpot tested came in at around 93% of sRGB coverage mostly losing detail in the green range so your unit’s reproduction may vary). The 6-bits + FRC (equal to 8-bits) color depth is also an industry standard for entry level monitors and is completely fine for casual use. - This montior’s “100,000,000:1” Dynamic Contrast Ratio (DCR) (non-standardized measure of contrast for videos) definitely seems to outperform my other slightly more expensive budget IPS monitors (the HP VH240a and ViewSonic VS2412-H) that only have 20,000,000:1 and 50,000,000:1 contrast ratios respectively. However, note that it still has an industry standard 1000:1 Static Contrast Ratio (measure for non-moving images) which isn’t great but is perfectly acceptable for casual viewing since only the highest tiered ($400+) IPS panels exceed that point with 1,500:1 being the maximum native contrast typically achievable with an IPS. ~ A quick side note about that “100,000,000:1” DCR number: there is no industry standard methodology for this particular measurement so the number itself is mostly useless marketing fluff. But as I noted, compared to the two other monitors with the same industry standard SCR, this monitor did seem to outperform them both in that area. - Its 102 PPI pixel density actually makes a subtle difference in image quality when viewing up close compared to my 24 inch 1080p monitors that have a 92 PPI. Text seems to be a bit smoother in comparison. This is purely an advantage of having the smaller 21.5 inch screen. - The Color Adjustment Menu allows you to adjust both the RGB and CMY gains, bias, hues, and saturation levels to get a better color balance. - The Picture Menu lets you adjust the screen’s brightness, contrast, gamma, and blackness (“black boost”) levels while also providing a ‘blue light’, ‘adaptive constrast’ (ACM), and a ‘Super Sharpness’ on/off switch. - The Game Menu has FreeSync (for AMD GPUs) and Overdrive options CONS: - The bezels are a bit thicker than I woud’ve liked (they’re about 1 cm on the top, left, and right sides) making the frameless design nothing more than a gimmick. - The top-down viewing angle is noticeably darker compared to looking at the screen head on. - Despite having a good DCR of 100M:1, the blacks are still a bit too bright for watching anything with heavy dark scenes since the display itself does not have any HDR capabilities with high contrast control zones aka local dimming (to be fair, this is completely expected at this $90 price point and is only being mentioned as reference for those that may be thinking of using this monitor to watch TV/movies). - The Picture Menu’s ‘Super Sharpness’ option is just an on/off switch; it does not give you a more granular adjustment control over the amount of sharpness to apply. - Even with all of the image quality adjustment options available in the settings, the whites remain on the slightly warmer side of the color temperature chart. It’s not that noticeable when viewing on this monitor alone, but the difference can be seen if you have another slightly cooler display adjacent to it. This is most likely just an issue with my particular unit since other reviews have noted their unit had a more neutral or “near perfect” white temp. - It only has a paltry 15° degree back tilt compared to most other budget monitors being able to tilt closer to 30° degrees (this is super nitpicky as compromises are to be expected at a sub $100 price point). - The Power button is completely indistinguishable from the rest of the menu buttons (both in shape and spacing). Overall, if you’re looking for a nice quality budget monitor to look at spreadsheets, word documents, and do some internet browsing or even some light casual gaming, then this is a great choice. If you are a competitive gamer, photographer, professional editor, or a content creator then you’ll obviously need to invest in a higher spec monitor.

I bought this for a home office setup, and it’s been excellent. The picture quality is sharp and vibrant, and the thin bezel gives it a sleek, modern look. The 120 Hz refresh rate and 1 ms response time make it great for light gaming, and Adaptive-Sync keeps motion smooth. Easy to assemble, adjustable, and well worth the money.

I love these affordable monitors. They look great and provide high-quality output. Looks and works great for web browsing or the most action-packed of games. I have purchased 5 of these over the last year as they have worked so well. Lightweight, nice design, and good quality. I haven't had one fail yet over the last year of use. The only disappointment I had was finding that there was no VESA standard, or any other option on the back of the monitor to attach it to a different monitor stand. I have a multi-monitor stand and hoped to add 2 more monitors but these could not be attached to the monitor mount and they are so thin I see no way of adding one without damaging the monitor. I used one for my 3rd (unmounted monitor) that you see in the pics, 1 for a digital backglass in a virtual pinball machine, and 2 for my gamer son. I have the 5th one in my 'spares' collection just in case. However, even without the VESA mount, these are still a great deal if you just need a nice, flatscreen monitor for a desk that looks great.

The monitor is very thin and light. Setup was easy, and it worked immediately with my Dell Windows 11 machine. The quality of the display is good, but not breathtaking. It did not come with an HDMI cable or an audio cable, only a VGA cable. The stand does not allow you to move the monitor up and down or side to side; you can only tilt it forwards and backwards a little.

I purchased this monitor for my wife to use with her Alienware R17X4 laptop. She had broken a key on her keyboard but also wanted a little larger screen. So, I purchased a wireless keyboard and this monitor. She now uses the powerful Alienware laptop as a desktop with a larger display and a wireless, movable keyboard. She is a very happy camper. Others have commented on the great graphics, thin design, and good quality build for a great price, so I won't repeat those details here. I will however point out a few tips: 1. At first, it seems the stand will not tilt. But it does! Grasp the stand firmly and then tilt the monitor back to the desired position. Note it does not tilt forward or side to side, but does tilt back (facing more upwards towards your eyes) which really helps in most settings. 2. If you don't get a signal, make sure you plugs the HDMI cable into the "HDMI out" port on your PC, not the "HDMI in" port. Duh. I had mine plugged into the wrong port until I found my reading glasses and saw the problem. 3. We changed three settings which you may want to also do if you have a laptop. First, we changed the display settings to choose between "Second screen only", "Duplicate", or "Extend". We chose "Extend" so she can have two documents open at once on the two monitors, her laptop screen and the new monitor. You just drag one document off the edge of the monitor to move it to the other screen. 4. Next, we found that closing the laptop, when she only needed one screen, put it into hibernation and shut everything down. We went into Control Panel and changed Power Settings under "What happens when you close the lid". We changed it from "Hibernate" to "Do nothing". Now the laptop keeps running even when the laptop is closed. 5. Third, most Windows laptops are configured so you have to drag things off the right edge of your new remote monitor to get them onto the laptop screen. However we wanted her laptop setting to the left of her new monitor, so it was confusing to have to drag something off the right-hand edge of the monitor to get it onto the left-hand screen on the laptop. We went back into display settings, where you can drag the two monitors in the settings to reverse them. Now, she can drag items from the left-hand screen to the right-hand screen by dragging them in that direction, and vice versa. Much more intuitive to use that way. With those changes to the settings, she can open the laptop and use it as two monitors, dragging and dropping documents and apps from one screen to another. When she closes the laptop lid, it reverts to a single monitor (the new Acer) but does not go to sleep. This is perfect for what she needs. She can still power off the monitor when not needed for an extended period. Also, the laptop speakers still work when she turns on the sound even when the laptop is closed. I highly recommend this monitor for anyone wanting a very good quality, cost-effective solution.

I have nothing but good things to say about this monitor. The picture is great, the colors are so rich and deep, and the refresh rate is great for playing games on. The monitor isn't very big, but I actually like that about it. I actually favor this monitor over my $250 dollar LG monitor that is 27" inches. The LG is bigger and was more expensive but the colors aren't as great on it and it has a lower refresh rate than this smaller Acer one. I might try and sell my LG one and buy another one of these Acers to replace it since I like it so much. This is a great monitor for people that play PC games casually and do computer work on.

Compra recomendada, sin lugar a duda. Después de que mi viejo monitor fallara, me puse a investigar en opciones para sustituirlo, y fue así como me topé con este encanto jaja, la verdad es que es muy barato (o al menos yo lo conseguí en oferta) para las características que ofrece; Panel IPS (calidad de imagen de uffff) 4 ms de respuesta, super delgado, trae bocinas internas (aunque solo viene incluido cable vga, es mejor usar audífonos o comprar el cable de audio y hdmi) es de 22 pulgadas y podrías pensar que es poco pero yo estoy bastante cerca de la pantalla y me va bastante bien el tamaño, además de que mi antiguo monitor era 2 veces más pequeño que éste, me es una diferencia bastante agradable. Por todo lo que dije creo que es el mejor monitor qué encontré y por mucho en características comparado con otros, al precio qué lo compré. Lo recomiendo totalmente.

Great monitor for the price. Good colour, no glare off the screen. The only thing I don't love is that the ports on the back are fairly close to the bottom edge and point downwards, so the cords can't be hidden entirely.

Al principio estaba buscando una pantalla con muy buena relación calidad-precio y esta me llamó más la atención, los colores y nitidez son de lo mejor por ese precio, venía un un monitor de 19 pulgadas de solo 900p y el cambio se nota una montón, quizá haya mejores pero por este precio lo dudo, es más de lo que esperaba, la calidad de colores y contraste están bastante bien. Los ángulos se visión son muy buenos, cubren todos mis ángulos y a menos que seas muy quisquilloso no notarás un mal ángulo. Es muy fino, me impresionó al sacarlo de la caja, de lado se ve espectacular, el menú es muy intuitivo y fácil de usar. Trae un cable VGA por si lo requieres, lo cuál no está mal y tiene FreeSync y casi ninguno por el precio lo tiene. No soy un experto en las pantallas, pero hey, si buscas un monitor para editar, obviamente no vas a encontrar nada útil por este precio, no le pidas peras al olmo.

Super crisp! Love it !