AOC LED monitor (and soon TV)

Due to my being registered with this PR agency from my website, I was invited to attend the Malaysia launch of a new monitor by this manufacturer called 'AOC'. Initially the name 'AOC' doesn't ring any bell. But at the launch, I learned that it is actually the brand 'Admiral' originally from the U.S. This I remember as many years ago, I did come across this brand of TV in the U.S. Anyway, AOC now has a manufacturing facility in Taiwan.

The launch is for their latest 'Razor LED' computer monitor. It is billed as the world's thinnest LED monitor and is only 12.9mm thin. Two of the biggest feature of AOC is firstly they have a very high focus on picture quality, especially accuracy of colour. Then, they are also heavily into the environment, with efforts at conserving energy and resources. Both of which are important to me.

The whole range of monitors including an AIO (All In One computer, which is like a monitor with integrated CPU) was on display. Being a partial A/V enthusiast, I have always been unhappy with the naturalness of LCD screens and TVs. To me they somehow seem a bit artificial, especially in terms of how natural the colours are. Details seems artificially emphasized. LED TVs, introduce by Samsung in our market, have improved this a lot but still not totally free of this artificialness. They did not have movies showing on the AOC monitors, but from what is displayed (a computer game and some promo visual show on Windows), the colours seem quite realistic and natural to me and most importantly, the monitors doesn't have the harshness of full LCD screens. But I did not check out movies on the monitors.

They say that after Japan and now Korea, the next wave of IT and A/V invasion and innovations will be coming from Taiwan and China. I find that this seems to be true, as far as this AOC manufacturer is concerned anyway. So I found some rather intelligent features on some of the monitors. However note that while I have been in the IT industry for 25 years, I am NOT a product freak, so I am not sure if other manufacturers have the same features or not. But this is the first time I am examining these features in a monitor:

1. Ability to wall mount. I am sure other manufacturers have this but I don't find it very prevalent amongst the newer monitors. I find this ironic because while manufacturers boasts about thinner and thinner screens, they continue to need a stand. And the stands are not getting any smaller. For the AOC Razor, the screen itself is so thin that is it quite difficult to integrate the monitor socket. So they have the socket on the stand base. This is ironic in the sense that if we buy the monitor because we want the 12.9 mm screen thickness, then we STILL need to clear off a large space in order to accomodate the stand/base AND the stand needs to be away from the wall since there are two sockets there (power and monitor). For most guys, let's face it, we tend to be a bit 'untidy' (understatement of the year, I know), so our working table tends to be full of stuff. For myself personally, I always prefer a WALL MOUNTED monitor. So a super thin monitor like this AOC Razor which can be wall mounted will be perfect. And the AOC Razor CAN be wall mounted. Because integrating a bracket strong enough to support wall mounting may not be possible with the thin monitor, AOC ingeniously make the stand/base tiltable. So instead of placing on the table, the stand can be tilted 90degree and then mounted on the wall. This also solves an annoying problem with wall mounted monitors and TVs - the inputs are often flush against the back surface, so after wall mounting, we can't access them (like my Panasonic Plasma). Again, the thin 12.9mm size prevents then from being put on the screen body itself and with the stand being the supporting structure, there is no problem with the inputs.

2. e-Sensor. I found this other feature quite intriguing though I don't think they have it on the Razor model. If I am correct, then I find it strange. Anyway, we often have the SCREEN POWER-SAVE mode activate on our computers : notebook or desktop. This is the mode where if there is no input whatsoever, after a fixed period of time, the screen turns blank. To save the screen and to save power. Now, as explained, after 25 years in the IT industry, I KNOW for a fact that we DO have situations where we simply do not need to have any input on the screen but we still want to see the contents of the screen. E.g. when I was downloading a fix-pack for Websphere Application Server recently (this is an industry product). The size is a few hundred Mbytes, occasionally a few GBytes so even with office LAN it takes hours and hours. So sometimes I sit there doing other stuff but I still want to check the status on the screen occasionally. Then when I leave the desk for something, I still want the screen to go off to save power. With the standard power save mode, it is time based, meaning it switches off irregardless, after a fixed period of time. So we often have to nudge the mouse a bit, hit the enter key or something to make sure the screen stays on. e-Sensor actually detects our presence. We can set it for sensitivity over some predefined distance (3 settings if I remember correctly) and when we are sitting in front of the screen, it detects our presence and doesn't shut off the display. Once we leave the desk, it detects our absence and immediately shuts off the display. When we come back, it detects we are back and automatically comes back on again. I find this an extremely intelligent feature. Again I am not sure if any other monitors have this feature but it is certainly something I know that I WANT for MY monitor.

There are other technologies included in AOC screens like IPS which is a certain alignment of the LCD crystals for more consistent quality at different viewing angles. Next year, they stated they will introduce a 3D monitor as well (!!).

Also, while they are launching and marketing only computer monitors now, AOC also makes LCD (and probably LED) TVs and when I asked, they indicated that they are studying the option of introducing the Admiral brand of LCD/LED TVs into Malaysia soon. Also, I asked the probably sensitive question of whether they manufacture the LCD screen themselves or they OEM it from somebody else (usually Samsung). They say they have a JV with a manufacturer in China for the LCD screens, and that they have several patented technologies in the screens which is exclusive (they won't say which manufacturer).

With ample choices in the larger screen sizes (18.5 up to 23inch), I find the AOC monitors can offer a good choice as a personal TV screen as well, i.e. on our study or work desk.

Especially for the area of I/T, advances are so rapid that obsolescense rate is very short. So for me, I don't necessarily bother too much about brands. AOC offers 3 years warantty but for myself, it is likely I won't even finish that 3 years waranty with the rate of advances in IT hardware. So for me, I don't mind buying Korean (I have a Samsung montor for my karaoke system) or even Taiwan, Singapore (like Palladine) or local (like BenQ). So perhaps this is something which some of you might be interested to check out. On your next visit to LowYat, IT Mall, etc. Or the next PC Fair.

Two photos of the AOC Razor LED monitor.