HP w2408

The 24 inch wide screen panel boasts a 1,920 by 1,200 resolution and a 92 percent NTSC color gamut, dubbed Vivid Color Technology by the folks at HP. The NTSC color gamut is the measure of how much of the full range of colors a monitor can display (most LCD panels typically cover 72 percent of the gamut).

Wide gamut monitors are nothing new, but this is the first time HP has featured this technology in a consumer oriented display. As a result, the w2408 produces much bolder and sharper colors than the w2007 model, and the overall image appears much brighter as well.

Like the w2007, the w2408 sports a high gloss black cabinet offset by silver trim. A notched bezel accepts HP's Easy Clip accessories ($12.59), or you can spring for a 2 mega pixel web-cam ($89.99) that also snaps into the grooved edging.

The rectangular base is height adjustable and provides plenty of room to stash your keyboard beneath the monitor. It also has tilt maneuverability as well as a pivot adjustment for viewing in portrait mode.

On a panel of this size, that means minimal (if any) scrolling while you're viewing Web pages. This brings me to my first gripe. The panel has a terrible bottom (vertical) viewing angle. Normally this wouldn't be a big issue, but when you rotate the display into portrait mode, the image undergoes serious color shifting when viewed from the left side at a 100 degree angle.

That's just 10 degrees off center, which means if you move your head slightly to the left, the screen appears washed out. However, the vertical angle from the right side and both horizontal angles are much better (around 170 degrees).