Sceptre C248B-144RN Review - my buying guide

Known for developing some of the best low-budget monitors, Sceptre has blazed into the tech industry with another feature-rich contender for the best gaming monitor under 150 dollars.

The Sceptre C248B-144RN stands out with a 144Hz refresh rate and curved screen, which makes it ideal for gaming. With a 24’’ screen and an assortment of advanced, desirable technologies, this Sceptre beast is perhaps the best cheap 144Hz monitor for gaming available today.

Read on to get our evaluation of the C248B-144RN and learn whether it’s worth your money.

VA panel with improved contrast

Ultra-thin bezel

Allows advanced gamma correction

Low color accuracy

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Image Quality

The C248B-144RN boasts a Full HD 1920 x 1080 resolution, which serves to sharpen the image quality considerably more than the classic 720p monitors, without overtaxing your PC.

To provide a more refreshing contrast, the C248B-144RN monitor employs a VA panel, much like its rival AOC C24G1 gaming monitor. Through its brilliant contrast ratio, the VA panel brings out each color with greater vibrancy.

The C248B-144RN monitor delivers a true 8-bit color depth, standing up well against most IPS and TN panels.

Also, its viewing angles extend to 178 degrees, which is admirable for a gaming monitor under 150 dollars.

In terms of visibility, the C248B-144RN screen provides considerable backlighting. It is sufficient for maintaining adequate brightness in most lighting environments.

Design & Build Quality

The C248B-144RN possesses an 1800R screen curvature with a 16:9 aspect ratio for an incredibly immersive gaming experience.

Not only that, the screen is ‘Edge-less’, meaning a lack of prominent side-bezels. Although a black border is still visible on the monitor sides, it is thin enough to be ignored while gaming.

This design aspect makes multiple monitor setups more refined, and is relatively rare in a gaming monitor under 150 dollars.

Moreover, the monitor is slim and aesthetically appealing. It is available in Metal Black color, which is a dark, matte texture emblazoned with an LED Sceptre logo at the back.

As an added convenience, the monitor orientation is adjustable, so you can tilt the screen backwards up to 15 degrees and forwards up to 5 degrees. This extends the monitor’s vertical viewing range, therefore boosting the practicality of a VA panel’s viewing angles.

The Sceptre C248B-144RN supports wall mounting capability and, surprisingly, comes with an included screwdriver. It can also utilize a standard VESA mount with 75 x 75mm dimensions.

Connectivity

The C248B-144RN offers standard connectivity options.

1 x HDMI 1.4 with up to 120Hz refresh rate
1 x HDMI 2.0 port with 144Hz refresh rate
1 x DisplayPort 1.2 with 144Hz support.
An Audio Out jack for headphone connectivity.

Features

The C248B-144RN comes with the iconic FreeSync feature, which minimizes the asynchrony of the screen refresh rate and GPU frame rate. This eliminates unappealing pixel breakage and stutter during gaming.

AMD Freesync capability is available in both HDMI and DisplayPort, supporting refresh rates from 49Hz up to 144Hz.

Another great feature of the C248B-144RN is an advanced backlight that prevents excessive flickering. It has a lengthened blink period, serving to make gameplay considerably smoother.

You can also apply a Blue light filter on the C248B-144RN monitor to output warmer colors. This makes the screen relaxing and comfortable for the eyes during lengthy gaming sessions.

The C248B-144RN screen is further backed by several optimized picture modes that grant gamers extensive control over the display colors. You can easily tweak the saturation, hue, contrast, and other settings to your liking.

Performance

The C248B-144RN lived well up to Sceptre’s performance claims and delivered a noteworthy gaming experience for its price. We tested the monitor on a range of PCs with varying power.

The display worked efficiently with the GPU to smoothen the gameplay, averaging an input lag of 3-4 ms. Despite being higher than most competitors, this is a decent figure given that even the quickest human eyes cannot perceive such low screen lags.

Even more exciting, however, is the screen’s lavish 144Hz refresh rate, which far outshines common 60Hz gaming monitors. Such an incredible refresh rate dilutes the discernible time between each frame and is a quality not available in a typical gaming monitor under 150 dollars.

When it comes to response times, the Sceptre C248B-144RN delivers a stable 3ms response time. Apart from hiking the visual performance, it certainly makes for an exciting gameplay. Movies and browsing also become more engaging.

The image quality of the monitor remained crisp and satisfying even during intense testing routines.

However, fast-paced games still highlight a few faults in the monitor’s response time. Darker pixels become traceable on screen , which may be disappointing for intense gamers.

Object boundaries also seem to flicker at high contrasts. Although, if you prioritize performance over image quality, you can adjust the OverDrive settings to improve response time, by reaching a compromise with color depth.

Regardless, this response time is a comfortable trade-off considering the low price of the monitor.

When it comes to the VA panel, the monitor definitely overshadows any gaming monitor under 150 dollars. Its superior contrast made even graphically demanding games a notch prettier.

In some instances, though, the high contrast dissipated shadows and caused visible trails in FPS games, making it harder to spot enemies.

Such color inaccuracy is common in VA panels, but in the C248B-144RN, we found it can be balanced to a certain degree by calibrating the gamma settings.

The FreeSync feature also played out beautifully during testing. We monitored its integration in fast-paced games (including modern first person shooters) and discovered a drastic decrease in the image fluctuation. Ghosting and redundant pixel blocks were also diminished.

Coupled with the Anti-flicker feature, the FreeSync proved to be a transforming aspect of the C248B-144RN, making gameplays unflinchingly smooth.

Pros

Inexpensive
144Hz refresh rate
VA panel with improved contrast
Built-in AMD FreeSync capability
Supports VESA mount
Ultra-thin bezel
Blue-light filter
Excellent viewing angles (upto 178 degrees)
Allows advanced gamma correction

Cons

Low color accuracy
High response time for fast-paced gaming
Underwhelming speakers

Specifications

Screen Size	23.6″	On Screen Display Control (OSD)	Quick Start, Picture, Color, System
Curvature	1800R	Picture Presets	Standard, User, Movie, Eco, FPS, RTS
Refresh Rate	144Hz	Game Presets	RTS (Real Time Strategy) , FPS (First Person Shooter)
Aspect Ratio	16:9	Radeon FreeSync™	Available
Display Colors	16..7 Million	Auto Dynamic Contrast Mode	Available
Response time	3ms (G-to-G)	Eye Saver Mode	Blue Light Shift mode
Contrast Ratio	3000:1	Color Temperature	Warm, Normal (Default), Cool, User
Brightness (cd/m² )	250 cd/m2	Built-in Speakers	2 ×4Ω/2W
Viewing Angle	178° (Horizontal) / 178°(Vertical)	Gamma	Adjustable
Resolution	1920 x 1080	Chassis Colors	Black
HDMI	HDMI 1 (144Hz) / HDMI 2 (120 Hz)	Tilt	Backward: 15°, Forward: 5°
DP	1 x DisplayPort (144Hz)	Slim Design	Ultra Slim
Audio Out	3.5mm Mini-Jack for External Speakers / Headphone	VESA Wall Mount Hole Pattern (mm)	75mm x 75mm

Summary

Overall, the C248B-144RN monitor delivered a stellar performance for its price. Its refresh rate and contrast exceeded our expectations, especially with unique features such as the AMD FreeSync.

Although the monitor raised a few concerns with ghosting in fast-paced shooting games, we found its image quality to be far superior to competitors. Thus, if you are looking for heightened quality in a low budget, the C248B-144RN is a must-buy for you!