The ASUS VH242H has an all-black design which fits in any environment nicely, office or home. The glossy black bezel that frames off the 24" slab of LCD glass is 20mm wide, and devoid of any overly distracting icons, badges or status LEDs.

We're not fans of glossy plastic because it shows its scratches with time and attracts dust particles and fingerprints like mad. Never mind CSI, if you go missing your loved ones can fingerprint the sides of this monitor!

Looking at the front of the ASUS VH242H we see a nice wide screen framed by a narrow glossy black bezel. The control buttons are located in the lower right corner, the dark gray lettering makes them nearly illegible even in the bright light of this photo but the orange power button certainly stands out.

The control panel consists of - display mode, volume, menu, brightness, source select and power. Display mode (ASUS call it Splendid technology) has preset brightness/contrast settings for standard, theatre, gaming, night viewing and scenery modes. From our tests with the VH242H monitor, it's best to leave the monitor on theatre or standard mode or you may find that darker images are too contrasted.

The rear of the ASUS VH242H is pictured above, a 120VAC power cord plugs into the display on the left side, the sound and video cables to the right (HDMI, DVI-D, Analog VGA, Coaxial SP/DIF, Headphone in/out). The power button on the front of the screen sets the display into a soft-power off mode that continuously consumes 1-2W in standby. There is no hard power off switch.

The ASUS VH242H accepts HDMI, DVI-D and analog VGA inputs. When connected by DVI or HDMI cable the VH242H is HDCP compliant.

The stand that supports the ASUS VH242H is not particularly adjustable, there is backwards and forwards tilt, but that's it. The stand removes easily so you can mount the VH242H to an armature or flush to a wall. The mounting holes are 100x100mm VESA.

Tilt is undeniably the most critical adjustment you'll keep coming back to. The ASUS VH242H has a rather limited 160° vertical viewing angle, so if you often lean back in your chair you'll find yourself tilting the screen frequently to re-acquire the best picture.

The horizontal viewing angles are somewhat better at 170°, but with a screen this wide if you sit too closely you will notice the opposite end looses contrast. What's annoying about the ASUS VH242H in this respect is the stand lacks a swivel, the rubber feet grip tight so turning the screen a few degrees to the left or right is a bit of a chore. With any LCD display that has 170°/160° viewing angles you've pretty much got to sit back two feet to maintain the best image quality.

Software and image quality tests are up next.