Hasta La Gadget!

Does this look like a new HDTV that’s a bit on the small side? That’s what I first thought when I  spotted it last week. The MS246H is actually a sleek new 23.5-inch LCD monitor from ASUS. Though the company announced the same model in Australia a week or so ago, its stateside debut happened at the Pepcom media event last Thursday night .

The ultra-slim LCD is only 0.65 inches wide with dual-lamp LCD panels to help with power savings (up to 40 percent, according to ASUS). The MS246H boasts a 2-millisecond response time, 250 cd/m² brightness, and a 50,000:1 contrast ratio. That’s not too shabby, all things considered, though the Acer H253H still has it beat with a standard 100,000:1 contrast ratio on top of its 2-millisecond response time. Then again, the ASUS’ promised viewing angles (170 degrees horizontally and 160 degrees vertically) are much better than the Acer’s performance.

The MS246H offers 1080p resolution over HDMI. A VGA port rounds out the feature set. No information yet on availability, but the MS246H will retail for $249.99.