Philips’s 243B1: An Inexpensive Monitor with USB-C Docking & Presence Detector

USB Type-C connectors on displays and docking capabilities for modern laptops are extremely convenient, but up until recently monitor manufacturers have treated USB-C as a premium feature. This is slowly but surely changing, as this week Philips introduced its business-oriented model 243B1, which promises to be one of the most reasonably-priced USB-C docking displays on the market.

The Philips 243B1 is a pretty regular 23.8-inch IPS monitor for office use, featuring a 1920×1080 resolution, 250 nits max brightness, a 1000:1 contrast ratio, 178º/178º viewing angles, and a 75 Hz maximum refresh rate. The LCD can display 16.7 million colors and covers 107% of the sRGB as well as 91% of the NTSC color gamuts, which is fine as most productivity applications (especially for Windows) use the sRGB range.

The key features of the Philips 243B1 are of course its docking and connectivity capabilities. The monitor has a USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C port with DP Alt Mode that supports a 65 W power delivery, which is enough for most laptops. And, when not being used with a modern laptop, the monitor also has a DisplayPort 1.2 input and an HDMI 1.4 port for legacy inputs.

Like many other docking-capable monitors, Philips's display also features an integrated GbE port and a quad-port USB 3.2 hub, reinforcing its docking role and offing additional ports for laptops that may come with few. Meanwhile, on the audio front, the LCD has two 2W speakers as well as 3.5-mm audio in/out connectors.

Another interesting capability of the Philips 243B1 monitor is its infrared PowerSensor, which detects whether or not someone is using the display. If there isn't a user present, the LCD reduces its brightness to cut down power consumption and prolong its lifespan.

Since the Philips 243B1 is designed primarily for offices where VESA arms are uncommon and placement is not always ideal, the monitor comes with a stand that can adjust height, tilt, and swivel. Also, the stand can rotate the display by 90º, which will be convenient for those who use two monitors in portrait mode.

Philips will start sales of the 243B1 monitor in the UK this March for a recommended price of £239.

Related Reading:

• CES 2020: HP Unveils Advanced Docking Monitors w/ Webcam, GbE, USB-C PD
• Philips Brilliance 272P7VUBNB: A Sub-$350 27-Inch 4K IPS Monitor with 65W USB PD & GbE
• Philips Reveals 346B1C 34-Inch 100 Hz Curved UltraWide Monitor with USB-C Docking
• HP’s E344c: A 34-Inch Curved Ultra-Wide Productivity Monitor

Source: Philips