NEC AccuSync LCD24WMCX

The NEC AccuSync LCD24WMCX ($535 street) is a bright 24 inch display featuring several video input choices and a handsome cabinet design. The 1,920 by 1,200 resolution panel is a decent performer, although it does have trouble displaying the darkest shades of gray. With its matte black casing and piano black bezel, the LCD24WMCX is stylish without going overboard. The panel, which rests atop a round base, can be tilted forward and backward but lacks height and swivel adjustment capabilities.

At the rear of the display is an assortment of A/V jacks, including an HDMI port, component audio and video jacks, DVI and analog (RGB) connections, SPDIF (Sony/Philips Digital InterFace) audio output, and an audio input for the integrated speakers.

There's also a headphone jack, but I'd prefer to have that mounted on the side or front, where it would be easier to reach. It found the embedded stereo speakers to be surprisingly dull sounding, despite their 3W power rating.

Perhaps a subwoofer, such as the one on the ASUS PG221, would help round out the audio output with some much needed bass response.

Centered along the bottom bezel are six well marked function buttons (including the power switch), two of which are used for raising and lowering the speaker volume. There's also an Auto button that can be used to optimize the image while using an analog signal, and a Source button that toggles through the various input choices.

The on screen display menu system is fairly easy to navigate and includes adjustments for luminance (brightness, contrast, gamma, and dynamic contrast ratio), color temperature (warm, cool, and normal), and image setting such as clock, phase, and position. There's also a Color Boost menu that allows you to highlight reds, blues, or greens depending upon the image or example, a scene featuring a deep blue sky can be enhanced by enabling the Sky-Blue setting but I found that these "enhancements" only served to saturate the picture, not to optimize it.

For users who would rather use their keyboard and mouse to change image settings, NEC's Naviset software is available as a free download. Naviset offers a user friendly Windows-like interface for changing image properties, is available in seven languages, and works on both Windows and Mac platforms.