The return of the 23 inch

It's a piece of very, very, very hot news that we've just stumbled across: in 2009, Philips plans to launch a 23 inch screen, the 230CZ9FB, with Full HD, 1920 x 1080 pixels.


Beyond the monitor's looks, which you could quite reasonably call pretty, this model should also have two other advantages:

• a price below that of 24 inch monitors because it's in 16/9 format instead of 16/10

• films should look a lot better on it, also thanks to the change of format.

As for the rest, and in particular the monitor's technical specifications and contrast it's too early to tell.

1080 lines instead of 1200?

Moving to a height of 1200 pixels instead of 1080 might be noticeable in films.  For office users, on the other hand, there has been a steady loss since the 4/3 format was left behind (or even 5/4 on many CRTs.)  Shaded grey is the section of our site that will disappear on 16/9 screens:


And the 22 inch?

The other interesting question is whether 22 inch monitors will survive.  The pressure on the price of 24 inch models is already very strong.  You can already find some that are no more expensive than 22'' screens.  What will become of these in a few months when the new 23 inch monitors arrive and are even cheaper than those at 24 inches?  Whatever happens, it will be an interesting fight to follow ...