HP brushes the dust off its cheapest DreamColor

Looking to pick up a pro-color-quality display at a price south of $1,000? HP has revved its cheapest DreamColor, the 24-inch DreamColor Z24x to G2.

The update is very minor -- the specifications are identical with the exception of brightness, which dropped from 350 nits to 300 nits. But if you're looking for an inexpensive color-critical display, it's worth knowing this exists. And you can find the three-year-old model for less than $450 (£462), so you could pick one up even cheaper if you go for the last generation. Except in Australia, where it's AU$1,071.

When the DreamColor Z24x G2 ships in July it will cost $559 in the US. I don't yet have pricing or availability for other regions, but the US price converts to approximately £467 and AU$795.

Key specifications

Manufacturer price	$559
Size (diagonal)	24 in/61 cm
Resolution	WUXGA (1,920x1,200)
Aspect ratio	16:10
Panel type	IPS
Backlight type	LED
Maximum gamut	99 percent Adobe RGB (96 percent DCI-P3)
Rotates vertically	Yes
Bit depth	8 (10-bit simulation via FRC)
Typical brightness (nits)	300
Color profile stored in hardware	Yes
Hardware calibration compatibility	X-Rite i1 Display Pro, Klein Instruments K10-A
Selectable color spaces	sRGB, Adobe RGB, BT.709
MHL (Mobile High-definition Link) support	No
HDMI	1 x 1.4
DVI	1 x DVI-D
USB 3.0 (out)	4 x USB 3.0
USB 3.0 (in)	1
DisplayPort	1 x 1.2 (out), 1 x 1.2 (in)
Release date	July 2017

The most important thing to note is that it's not a true 10-bit panel; like many less-expensive monitors, the Z24x uses an 8-bit panel and use FRC -- frame-rate control -- to interpolate colors between screen-refresh frames and deliver the appearance of a bigger gamut, but might cause some flicker. But it does have hardware profiles, so at least for color-critical sRGB it's a step up.