Sceptre C248W-1920RN Review: Budget 1080p Curved Monitor

The Sceptre C248W-1920RN is one of the most popular budget monitors currently available. In this review, we’ll see how it compares to similarly priced alternatives, and find out whether it’s worth the money.

Image Quality

Based on a VA (Vertical Alignment) panel, the Sceptre C248W-1920RN monitor features a superior static contrast ratio in comparison to other panel technologies (IPS and TN) of 3,000:1.

This makes for deep blacks, bright whites, and a vivid relation between the darkest and the brightest tones. In fact, blacks on similarly priced, and even more expensive IPS and TN panel monitors look grayish in comparison!

VA panel displays also have very good viewing angles and color quality.

While the viewing angles are specified as 178° both horizontally and vertically, they’re not quite as impressive as the 178° viewing angles of the IPS technology.

Regardless, there are no particularly noticeable shifts in contrast, brightness, or colors when looking at the screen off-axis – only from extreme and unpractical viewing positions.

The colors are vivid and vibrant; much better than that of any TN panel at this price range. However, they’re not quite as accurate or consistent as what you might find on similarly priced IPS alternatives.

So, if you’re looking for a monitor for some entry-level color-critical work, this is not the one; although, you can do some basic content creation without any issues.

The Sceptre C248W-1920RN is perfect for casual gaming, watching movies, and other everyday activities as its high contrast ratio really makes the details in the shadows of the picture stand out, especially in dark rooms.

Further, the monitor has a peak brightness of 250-nits, which is also standard for displays in this price range. Under normal viewing conditions, the screen will be more than bright enough.

The Full HD screen resolution of 1920×1080 pixels results in a decent pixel density of ~93 PPI (pixels per inch) on the 23.6″ viewable screen of the Sceptre C248W-1920RN.

Although 1080p is old news, it’s still the most widespread resolution, and it looks great on ~24″ sized monitors. Plus, it’s not very demanding to drive, allowing you to have smooth frame rates even in some of the more challenging games.

Performance

Moving on, the Sceptre C248W-1920RN display has a low input lag of around ~10ms, which means you won’t be able to notice or feel any delays at 75Hz.

Now, the monitor has a native refresh rate of 60Hz. To set it to 75Hz, you will have to change your Windows display settings and/or your GPU drivers settings, depending on your particular graphics card.

If you can’t find the 75Hz option, you can create a custom resolution.

75Hz offers a very small but noticeable boost in motion clarity as opposed to 60Hz displays, but the gaming experience won’t be nearly as smooth as that of 100Hz+ gaming monitors.

The biggest downside of most VA-panel monitors is the pixel response time speed.

The Sceptre C248W-1920RN has a response time speed of 8ms (GtG – gray to gray pixel transition).

In fast-paced games, there will be some visible smearing behind fast-moving objects as the pixels can’t quite change in time. However, it is only really noticeable in darker scenes where dark pixels are predominant in the picture.

So, if you’re buying this monitor mainly for competitive FPS gaming, consider a TN or an IPS panel monitor instead – ideally with a higher refresh rate.

Our unit of the Sceptre C248W-1920RN curved monitor had no dead pixels or excessive backlight bleeding, but this varies across different units of the monitor. So, your mileage may vary.

The monitor has a flicker-free backlight and an integrated low-blue light filter (Blue Light Shift). These two features prevent headaches and eye strain caused by prolonged use of the monitor.

Features

The OSD (On-Screen Display) menu of the monitor is not particularly user-friendly, but it contains all the standard image alteration tools such as brightness, contrast, color temperature, input source selection, etc.

You even get some advanced picture adjustment tools such as backlight intensity, gamma, saturation, and tint (hue).

There are several pre-calibrated picture presets available as well, including RTS, FPS, Movie, Eco, Standard, and User.

For OSD menu navigation, there are four hotkeys at the back of the monitor, at the right side. The top two buttons are used for ‘menu’ and ‘exit’ while the bottom two hotkeys are used as ‘up’ and ‘down’. The middle button is power on/off.

Unfortunately, the monitor doesn’t support the Adaptive-Sync/FreeSync variable refresh rate technology.

Design & Connectivity

One of the main complaints regarding the Sceptre C248W-1920RN display is the marketing behind its ‘edgeless’ frame since the picture isn’t exactly edge-to-edge – there is a thin black border around the screen.

This is the case with all of the ‘edgeless’ or ‘borderless’ monitors available. With the current limits of technology, there has to be a narrow black frame around the picture.

As always, marketing images can be misleading. Still, the thin bezels with black borders are better than just having plain old thick bezels.

Further, the monitor actually features a plastic stand and chassis, not metal; the ‘black metal’ product description refers to the color, not the material.

Overall, the design quality is decent and as expected at this price range. You can tilt the screen by -5°/15° or mount it on a third-party stand via the 75x75mm VESA mount pattern.

The screen also has a very subtle 1800R curvature, which, for better or worse, isn’t noticeable once you get used to it.

Connectivity options include HDMI 1.4, VGA, a headphone jack and dual 2W speakers for basic audio output.

Price & Similar Monitors

The Sceptre C248W-1920RN goes $100 – $110, which makes it one of the cheapest curved monitors!

Sceptre has several different variations of their budget 24″ – 27″ curved models, so here’s a quick summary:

Sceptre Monitor	sRGB	HDMI Ports	FreeSync	Curve
C275W-1920RN	100%	1	No	1800R
C275W-1920RNT	98%	2	Yes	1500R
C278W-1920RN	100%	1	No	1500R
C248W-1920RN	85%	1	No	1800R
C248W-1920RNT	98%	2	Yes	1500R
C249W-1920RN	98%	2	Yes	1500R

They also offer popular budget 24″ – 27″ 1080p 75Hz flat-screen models, such as the E248W-19203R and smaller 20″ – 22″ 1080p variants, such as the E205W-1600.

Any of these budget models will do for basic everyday use, you can just pick whichever is on sale or according to your personal preference.

For gamers, we highly recommend investing in a 144Hz gaming monitor, which can be found on sale below $150. For more information and the best deals currently available, visit our best gaming monitor under $150 buying guide.

Conclusion

The Sceptre C248W-1920RN offers interesting features such as 75Hz and a curved screen which can be appealing at this price range.

Specifications

Screen Size	23.6-inch
Screen Curvature	1800R
Resolution	1920×1080 (Full HD)
Panel Type	VA
Aspect Ratio	16:9 (Widescreen)
Refresh Rate	60Hz (75Hz OC)
Response Time	8ms (GtG)
Speakers	2x2W
Ports	HDMI 1.4, VGA
Other Ports	Headphone Jack
Brightness	250 cd/m2
Contrast Ratio	3000:1 (static)
Colors	16.7 million (true 8-bit)
VESA	Yes (75x75mm)