HP DreamColor Z24x G2 Display - Review 2022

When we reviewed the HP DreamColor Z27x a few years ago, its color accuracy, grayscale operation, and robust feature fix earned it our Editors' Choice award. Its smaller sibling, the DreamColor Z24x G2 Display ($489), is also a stellar performer, and it too is equipped with lots of features including multiple video inputs, a four-port USB hub, and a fully adjustable stand. It doesn't offering quite as many color presets and management options as the Z27x, but it does support hardware calibration with an optional calibration kit. That said, its $489 price puts information technology at the loftier end of the cost calibration for a midsize mainstream monitor, but photographers or designers who value color accurateness above all else should give this screen a await.

Expert Connectivity

The DreamColor Z24x looks just similar the DreamColor Z27x, simply smaller. It uses a apparently-looking matte black cabinet with 0.viii inch bezels and a matching ergonomic stand that provides tilt, hinge, height, and pivot adjustments. On the right hand bezel are 5 backlit function buttons for accessing and selecting picture settings, and a power switch. Around dorsum, facing downward, are a DisplayPort input, an HDMI input, a DVI input, an audio output, and three USB iii.0 ports (1 upstream, 2 downstream). Two additional downstream ports are mounted on the left side of the cabinet, making it easy to connect peripherals like thumb drives, keyboards, and mice. This is a squeamish selection of connectivity ports, but you become a few more video options with our Editors' Option, the ViewSonic VP2468, including two HDMI inputs, 2 DisplayPort inputs, and a DisplayPort output that tin can exist used to daisy-chain multiple monitors.

As with the DreamColor Z27X, the Z24x uses an Advanced High-Operation In-Plane Switching console (AH-IPS), dubbed Gen two IPS past HP. The 24-inch panel has a non-reflective coating, a 60Hz refresh rate, a top effulgence of 300 cd/m2, a 6-millisecond (greyness-to-gray) pixel response, a 1000:i dissimilarity ratio, and a 16:x aspect ratio. It has a maximum resolution of 1,920 past 1,200 (WUXGA), which is not uncommon for a 24-inch monitor, just you lot'll go more tightly packed pixels and a sharper pic with a 2,560 by i,440 (WQHD) panel such equally the 1 used by the Dell 24 Gaming Monitor S2417DG.

The Z24x offers a practiced selection of motion picture settings including six Color Space presets that you can calibrate equally needed. They include AdobeRGB, BT.709, Native, sRGB, User Defined, and Arrange sRGB, which uses the console's native RGB and gamma settings, but lets you choose a color temperature (Warm, Neutral, Cool, Custom). You can also suit Sharpness, enable Dynamic Contrast, adjust the Attribute Ratio, and configure PIP (Motion picture In Flick) windows. However, y'all don't get the avant-garde six-color settings that you get with the ViewSonic VP2468. You also don't get the built-in calibration software that lets you recalibrate the color-space presets like y'all practise with the Z27x. Nevertheless, you can download the DreamColor Calibration Solution software from HP's support site. You'll as well have to pick up a supported colorimeter such as the Klein K10-A, which we use to test HDTVs, or the X-Rite i1Display Pro. With the proper hardware and software you tin adjust the monitor'south LUT (Lookup Tabular array) for a perfectly calibrated display.

The Z24x Comes with a three-year parts, labor, and backlight warranty. Included in the box are USB, DVI and DisplayPort cables, a resources CD containing drivers and a user guide, and a mill scale report.

Excellent Color and Grayscale Operation

Calibrated at the mill, the Z24x's AH-IPS panel delivered very accurate colors out of the box. As illustrated on the chromaticity chart below, our scarlet, dark-green, and bluish color measurements, which are represented by the colored dots, are very closely aligned with the ideal CIE coordinates for each colour, which are represented by the boxes. Colors appeared rich and well defined in my test images and while viewing Stranger Things and Marvel'southward Captain America: Civil War on Netflix. Total screen color swatches from the DisplayMate Color Purity and Uniformity tests were also well-saturated and evenly backlit. Grayscale performance was outstanding. The Z24x was able to display every shade of gray from the DisplayMate 64-Stride Grayscale test and provided abrupt highlight and shadow detail in my test images. The panel's ability to display dark blacks helped punch upwardly colors every bit well. Viewing angles were wide with no noticeable color shifting or loss of luminance.

Although the Z24x is designed for users who demand authentic colors, it can also handle light gaming duty. The panel'due south 6 millisecond pixel response did an admirable job of displaying fast-moving images in our Crysis three (PC) and Telephone call of Duty: Infinite Warfare (Sony PlayStation four) gaming tests. Granted, there was small-scale motion blur and screen tearing from time to fourth dimension, simply you'll need a dedicated gaming monitor with a fast pixel response and anti-tearing applied science to combat these artifacts. Both the Asus ROG Swift PG258Q and Dell 24 Gaming Monitor S2417DG offer these features and aced our gaming tests but neither can lucifer the Z24x's colour accurateness. A 36.3 millisecond input lag, every bit measured with a Leo Bodnar Lag Tester, means you lot'll likely experience some controller latency. The BenQ SW2700PT and Lenovo L27q remain our co-leaders with a low input lag of 9.five milliseconds.

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The Z24x consumed 21 watts of ability in testing while set to the sRGB color preset (it does not offer an ECO ability-saving mode). That'south college than the Viewsonic VP2468 and the Dell U2417H, both of which consumed xiv watts, but still more than energy efficient than the Dell S2417DG (24 watts) and the AOC G2460PF (30 watts).

Solid Performer, just Pricey

If you lot're in demand of a 24-inch monitor for colour-critical work, put the HP DreamColor Z24x G2 Brandish on your short list. Its AH-IPS panel is calibrated at the factory and delivers very accurate colors, solid grayscale operation, and broad viewing angles. The four port high-speed USB hub and 3 digital video inputs provide numerous connectivity options, and you tin can proceed the console perfectly tuned with HP's DreamColor Calibration software and a compatible colorimeter. If the Z24x's $489 price is too steep, check out our Editors' Pick for midrange mainstream monitors, the ViewSonic VP2468. It offers a few more video ports than the Z24x, is an excellent performer, and supports hardware calibration. It'southward besides about $220 less expensive.