Sceptre E248W-19203R Review: Budget 1080p Monitor

The Sceptre E248W-19203R is a budget 24″ 1080p monitor with a VA panel. Let’s see if it’s the best value display for you, or if you should be looking for something else.

Image Quality

Thanks to its VA (Vertical Alignment) panel, the Sceptre E248W-19203R boasts a high static contrast ratio of 3,000:1. As a result, you get deep and inky blacks, making for an immersive viewing experience, especially in dark rooms.

Further, it has a peak brightness of 250-nits, which is minimal as far as modern LED-backlit monitors go, but it can get more than bright enough under normal lighting conditions.

If you have a particularly bright room or you plan to place the monitor next to a window with no blinders/curtains, the screen might not be able to efficiently mitigate glare.

As far as color reproduction is concerned, the Sceptre E248W-19203R monitor covers 95% of the sRGB color space; sRGB is the standard and most widespread color space, so the majority of web content and games will be depicted accurately.

There is no noticeable difference between 95% and 100% sRGB gamut coverage, that is unless you’re doing professional color-critical work. However, VA monitors shouldn’t be used in this scenario in the first place due to their viewing angles.

While you get significantly wider viewing angles in comparison to TN panel monitors, there are still some gamma and saturation shifts present when watching the screen at an angle. For video games and multimedia consumption, it’s not an issue, but if you want professional-grade color accuracy at all times, you should get an IPS monitor.

It’s also worth noting that the Sceptre E248W-19203R uses temporal dithering to provide 16.7 million colors (6-bit + 2-bit FRC). This can sometimes cause a 30Hz flicker, but most users won’t be bothered by it as it’s very hard to notice unless deliberately looking for it in certain test patterns.

Moving on, the monitor has a Full HD screen resolution of 1920×1080 pixels. On its 23.8″ viewable screen, that results in a pixel density of 92.56 PPI (pixels per inch). You get a decent amount of screen real estate as well as fairly sharp details and text.

Obviously, the picture is not as crisp as that of higher resolution monitors, but it’s also not as pixely as it’s the case with 27″ 1920×1080 displays.

Performance

The Sceptre E248W-19203R has a maximum refresh rate of 75Hz. This provides you with a subtle but noticeable boost in motion clarity in comparison to the standard 60Hz.

To take advantage of the higher refresh rate, you’ll also need a suitably high frame rate, which shouldn’t be an issue for most graphics cards as 1080p is not very demanding.

Input lag is imperceptible at ~10ms. So, you won’t be able to notice or feel any delays between your actions and the result on the screen.

Next, the monitor has a GtG (gray to gray) pixel transition time of 8ms. Since it’s only a 75Hz display, most transitions will be able to keep up with the refresh rate, resulting in a smooth gaming experience without prominent trailing behind fast-moving objects.

In darker scenes, you might be able to notice some trailing/ghosting due to slower black-to-white pixel transitions, but it’s tolerable – or even negligible, depending on how sensitive you are to it. Of course, if you plan on mostly playing fast-paced first-person shooters, you should definitely get a faster display with a TN or IPS panel.

For the best response time performance, make sure the overdrive option in the OSD (On-Screen Display) menu is enabled.

Additionally, the Sceptre E248W-19203R supports Adaptive-Sync with a 48-75Hz range. So, if you have an AMD FreeSync-compatible graphics card, you can synchronize the monitor’s refresh rate to the GPU’s frame rate.

As a result, all screen tearing and stuttering will be gone, as long as your frame rate remains within the supported 48-75Hz range. You might be able to extend the range a bit by using CRU (Custom Resolution Utility).

You cannot use Adaptive-Sync/FreeSync with NVIDIA graphics cards on this monitor as there’s no DisplayPort input. The HDMI ports on this monitor don’t support NVIDIA’s ‘G-SYNC Compatible’ technology.

Features

At the rear of the monitor, on the right side, you will find four hotkeys for OSD menu navigation, as well as the power button.

The menu is simple and easy to use with various adjustments available, including the standard brightness, contrast and color temperature controls, as well as some advanced tools, such as gamma, sharpness, and 6-axis hue/saturation.

There are also a few pre-calibrated picture presets: User, Standard, Movie, Eco, FPS and RTS, though we recommend sticking with the User mode and adjusting the brightness to your liking.

The backlight of the monitor is flicker-free and there’s an integrated low-blue light filter (called ‘Blue Light Shift’ in the menu), allowing you to use the screen for extended periods of time without getting eye strain or headaches, assuming you take breaks regularly.

Design & Connectivity

The stand of the monitor is fairly sturdy but only offers tilt adjustment by -5°/15°. Alternatively, you can detach the screen and mount it via the 100x100mm pattern.

Further, the screen has a matte anti-glare coating that prevents reflections.

Connectivity options include two HDMI 1.4 ports, VGA, a headphone jack and two 2W integrated speakers for basic sound output.

Price & Similar Monitors

The Sceptre E248W-19203R price ranges from $100 to $125.

Update: There’s a newer model: The Sceptre E248W-FW100T with a higher 100Hz refresh rate at a similar price.

There’s also the Sceptre E249W-19203RT model, which has identical specifications.

Sceptre also offers two affordable 24″ 1080p 75Hz IPS models with built-in speakers, but without AMD FreeSync, the Sceptre E248W-FPT and the Sceptre E249W-FPT (identical models).

Here’s how Sceptre’s most popular 24″ – 27″ budget flat-screen monitors differentiate. These models share the following specs: 1080p 75Hz ~99% sRGB panels with two HDMI ports, one VGA port, a headphone jack and dual integrated speakers. They’re also all VESA mount compatible and have tilt-only stands.

Sceptre Monitor	Panel	Brightness	FreeSync
E248W-19203R	VA	250	Yes
E249W-19203RT	VA	250	Yes
E248W-FPT	IPS	320	No
E249W-FPT	IPS	320	No
E279W-19203RD	TN	280	Yes
E275W-19203R	VA	250	Yes

Sceptre also offers affordable 24″ – 27″ 1080p 75Hz curved VA monitors, such as the C275W-1920RN as well as smaller 20″ – 22″ 1080p IPS/TN models, such as the E205W-1600.

For gamers, we highly recommend investing in a 144Hz gaming monitor. Make sure you visit our best monitors under $150 buyer’s guide for the best options available.

Conclusion

All in all, the Sceptre E248W-19203R is a decent budget monitor for everyday use. However, we highly recommend investing in a high refresh rate model for gaming!

Specifications

Screen Size	23.8-inch
Resolution	1920×1080 (Full HD)
Panel Type	VA
Aspect Ratio	16:9 (Widescreen)
Refresh Rate	75Hz
Response Time	8ms (GtG)
Adaptive-Sync	FreeSync (48-75Hz)
Speakers	2x2W
Ports	2x HDMI 1.4, VGA
Other Ports	Headphone Jack
Brightness	250 cd/m²
Contrast Ratio	3000:1 (static)
Colors	16.7 million (6-bit + FRC)
VESA	Yes (100x100mm)