SmallHD has announced the 2403 High Bright, which they claim is the world’s brightest 24-inch production monitor.
So how bright is it? The 2403 has a claimed brightness of 1600nits. This is a 500nit increase over the company’s SmallHDR 24″ model (1000nit) which was released 5 years ago.
To me, there are other aspects of the 2403 High Bright that are of more interest than the extra nits that you get.
The first is weight. The 2403 weighs in at 13.9 lb / 6.3 kg, the previous SmalHDR 24″ model weighed 19.1 lb / 8.7 kg. This weight reduction is partly due to the new rugged aluminum chassis.
The second is price, the SmallHDR 24″ was a whopping $5,499 USD when it was released, the new 2403 High Bright is $2,999 USD. This just goes to show you have much cheaper it has become to manufacturer high-quality panels.
The 2403 High Bright uses a 24-inch IPS LCD with 1920×1080 resolution. It has a contrast ratio of 3100:1, a viewing angle of 178-degree, and 100% Rec 709 coverage. These are very similar specifications to the no longer available SmallHDR 24″.
There is no information about color bit depth, but it is safe to assume that it is using the same 8+2 FRC as the majority of SmallHD’s other monitors. This won’t be a true 10-bit panel.
As far as the I/O options do, the monitor has:
- 2x 3G-SDI inputs
- 2x 3G-SDI outputs
- HDMI input/output
- Stereo headphone jack
- Power options include an XLR power input (12-34VDC) and a 2-pin locking power output (12V, 4A)
For monitoring the 2403 has the usual tools such as scopes, waveform, and Dual View functionality (2x signals side-by-side).
Price & Availability
As I mentioned earlier, the 2403 High Bright will retail for $2,999 USD. It is expected to start shipping sometime in the northern hemisphere spring.
Thoughts
While this looks like a decent monitor, it (at least on paper) appears to be more of an incremental improvement over the now discontinued SmallHDR 24″. Yes, it is much cheaper, lighter and brighter, but the resolution, color space and contrast ratio all remain almost the same. In saying that, you should never judge a monitor based on specifications alone.
What do you think about this latest release from SmallHD? Let us know in the comments section below.
