Bigger is better

Like all things new in tech, 22-inch widescreens used to be out of most people’s reach. But now, big price cuts mean 22-inches is the new starting point for many, and you’ll get increased quality and performance into the bargain. In fact, most of today’s monitors are of such uniform good quality it can be hard to differentiate. But, as you will see in this test, printed specifications appear to have little to do with actual performance, and we recommend you trust your own eyes over what the manufacturer claims. It will also pay to shop online; we found some models to be listed more than $100 cheaper than manufacturer’s RRP. Offering increased productivity and a massively improved entertainment performance, it’s safe to say that 22 is the new 19.

Samsung SyncMaster 225UW
Samsung's aproach to the 22-inch widescreen market is a bit different, manifesting itself in looks and usability over technical performance. At $799 it’s also the most expensive model we tested.

Out of the box, the 225UW is a rather impressive looking monitor. It features a thick frame in Samsung’s signature piano-black finish, set on a modern, square stand. The first snag we hit was that the monitor doesn’t swivel, meaning you’ll have to physically manhandle it to show your co-workers your latest score in minesweeper.

What does swivel is a 2-megapixel webcam integrated at the top of the monitor. You simply flip it around to expose the lens, or hide it away when the paranoia gets to you. The webcam itself worked very well, but is limited to an up and down motion. The top frame also incorporates a microphone, and the bottom of the frame has you covered with integrated speakers. There is also a USB hub with 2 ports behind the bottom bezel.

Perhaps because a lot is integrated in its frame, the 225UW has a side-bezel that is 20 millimetres thick, making the monitor a bit too clunky for use in a side-by-side, multi-screen setup.

The 225UW has a response time of 5 milliseconds when measured grey to grey. Traditionally, response time was determined by timing how long it would take a pixel to change from 10% brightness (white) to 90% brightness (black) and back again. These days it’s more common to measure the time it takes from grey to white to grey again, but no fixed standard is in place. Typically, a lower response time is better, and gamers in particular should look for monitors with a response time as low as 2ms.

With a stated contrast ratio of 700:1, the 225UW sits at the lower end of the scale, but we found the contrast to be good, especially when viewing darker scenes on a DVD (see Contrast Ratio Explained on Page 74). We also game-tested the monitor and found relatively little ghosting or blurring. One problem we did identify with the 225UW, however, was backlight bleeding. Bleeding occurs when you have bright areas appear around the edges on a completely dark screen. Some bleeding is normal, but the 225UW had a weak spot in the bottom left corner that leaked a fair bit of light.

Overall, the 225UW is a monitor that aims to attract customers with its features rather than technical specifications. The integrated web camera is a nice touch, which should see this 22-inch picked as a family friendly multimedia monitor. It is, however, a little pricey for what it is.



LG Flatron 2252TQ
The Flatron 2252TQ is the only monitor in our test to claim a contrast ratio of 10,000:1, but a closer look at the specifications reveals that this is actually its full dynamic range and its typical ratio is closer to 700:1. It was also the only monitor to trumpet the fact that it had a thin side bezel, when our testing actually found it had the thickest, at 22 millimetres.

Unboxing the LG, we thought it had one of the smartest looks of the bunch, with a piano black finish and a discreet silver stripe at the bottom. It mounts on a round, low-profile stand that doesn’t swivel. It’s only adjustable in tilt, and you can’t change the height of the monitor. It also doesn’t have integrated speakers or a USB hub.

But it’s not all bad news for LG. The 2252 is a very fast monitor, with a 2ms response time. Both gaming and watching fast-paced videos caused no trouble or ghosting for the LG. There was little backlight bleeding to speak of, and we were impressed with the on-screen quality. The monitor was also very easy to set up using the on-screen display. We really liked the fact that you could check your different settings using only half of the screen, to highlight whatever changes you made.

One of LG’s big selling points when it comes to this monitor is its ‘fun’ mode. By pressing the button at the bottom of the monitor you can access different effects. One was the ability to give the entire screen a photo effect, such as sepia or monochrome. This could be useful for someone wanting to see how a batch of photos would look in other effects. Other ‘fun’ capabilities include the option to view 4:3 in widescreen, which could be useful for gamers wanting to play original 4:3 games. You can also set the power button to play a rather irritating ‘fun’ sound every time you power it on.

With an RRP of $599, it’s one of the cheaper monitors we tested, and with the quality being what it is, we can safely recommend this monitor, especially for gamers. It does have limited adjustability, but a couple of phonebooks should fix that problem.




AOC 2212Ph
The AOC 2212Ph is not the newest monitor from AOC, and it’s also one of the cheapest monitors we tested with a recommended retail price of $559. It’s worth noting too that with a quick browse of the web we were able to find this monitor at around the $420 mark, making it an absolute steal.

AOC seems to have skimped a bit on the design of its monitors, and compared to the others in our test, it did look a bit old. However, we’re not one for judging a book by its cover, and the 2212Ph turned out to be a great monitor in a mediocre disguise.

The bottom of the monitor holds two 3-watt speakers, with the rest of the frame measuring just 13 millimetres, the slimmest of all the monitors tested. Around the back of the monitor we found a whole new bag of tricks. The 2212Ph was the only monitor we tested that had an HDMI input, as well as DVI-D VGA analogue, and composite. HDMI is becoming an increasingly popular port to put on video cards, and there is the added bonus of being able to hook up your other HDMI-equipped hardware to your monitor. We imagined a perfect setup with a PC connected via DVI-D and a Playstation 3 connected via HDMI. There’s even a source button on the front that would let you switch between the two. Of course, it’s worth noting that 22-inch monitors like the AOC with a 1680x1050 resolution aren’t able to natively display full 1080p, but you still get an HD-compatible display.

The AOC also impressed us when we started our testing. Despite a response time of 5ms, we had little problem with ghosting or blurring during our DVD and game testing. The smallest fonts became a bit blurry when we tested text, but overall the screen had a great output. The AOC also had the least amount of backlight bleeding of all the monitors we tested. The provided buttons on the front also make for easy adjustment and calibration.

The contrast ratio on the 2212Ph is 2000:1, and watching videos on it was very enjoyable. Brightness is another specification that comes into play with monitors, and the AOC monitor has 300cd/m2 (candelas per square metre). 300cd/m2 is a typical number when it comes to brightness in modern LCDs. However, its definition and test methodology is again hard to quantify, and therefore not something to hinge your purchase on.

We were very impressed with AOC’s 2212Ph. When it comes to value for money, it wins hands down. Add a great display performance and features like an all important HDMI port, and it’s the winner of our coveted Editors’ Choice Award.



Viewsonic VP2250WB
Viewsonic's VP2250WB (hereafter referred to as the 2250) is a widescreen monitor aimed at the business market. We found, however, that there’s more fun to be had with this monitor than just displaying two Excel spreadsheets side by side.

When assembling the 2250, the first thing you’ll notice is the gigantic stand it comes with. It looks like it’s moulded from some dinosaur footprint, and takes up more desk real estate than necessary. The monitor swivels within the stand, which is good, but the tilt is very limited. A side bezel measuring 21 millimetres means it could be unsuitable for side-by-side displays.

As with the majority of the screens we tested, the 2250 offers up both VGA analogue and DVI-D connections. There is also a 4-port USB hub placed at the back of the screen. The only problem with these hubs is that they are hard to get to, and not well suited for quick connects and disconnects of USB drives and the like.

You can also pivot the monitor 90 degrees, which comes in handy if you enjoy working on documents all day long. After a lengthy and productive day at work, you can swivel your 2250 back into landscape mode and go gaming. A response time of 2ms is more than fast enough to handle fast-paced gaming without any ghosting. We also discovered very little blurring when video-testing the monitor.

The software that comes bundled with the Viewsonic is good, and took care of most of the initial setup, letting me use the mouse and keyboard rather than the buttons on the frame. You can also pivot the image using the software, making it easier to flip to a portrait mode.

We use DisplayMate to put these monitors through their paces, and the 2250 fared well. We also test the monitors with different-sized fonts, and, as expected, this business-oriented monitor from Viewsonic did well with even the smallest letters, displaying them crisply and clearly. There was also very little backlight bleeding to speak of.

In general, the VP2250WB is a solid business LCD that can moonlight as a gaming monitor. The price is a little high at $730, and it will take up a lot of desk space.



Philips 220BW8
Let's just get one thing out of the way at the start; in a lot of cases, stating that a product is Vista ready is little more than a marketing ploy. With monitors like the Philips, however, there’s actual merit to the Vista ready claim as only certain monitors are HDCP compliant (all of the monitors in this test are compliant). HDCP (High Definition Content Protection) is an encryption standard for high definition content that requires that both the source, like a Blu-ray player, and the display device are HDCP compliant. Otherwise you’ll see nothing but snow when trying to view high definition images.

Out of the box, the 220BW8 from Philips was very easy to set up. It features a base that swivels and tilts, and is presented in a sleek, matt black frame. Using the monitor controls, calibrating the monitor was a breeze.

The width of the side bezel is only 17 millimetres, with a round base that doesn’t hog desk space. It has two speakers hidden at the bottom of the screen, which produce surprisingly good sound for their size. On the back we find the usual ports, VGA and DVI-D, but it’s worth noting that Philips only ship a VGA cable with the monitor.

The response time is listed as 5ms, and this is the only monitor on which we noticed a tiny bit of ghosting when game-testing. It’s not very noticeable though, and overall the 220BW8 gave us a good gaming and DVD playback experience. It was true to colour, and also looked good on our greyscale tests. Like the Viewsonic, the Philips seems to be aimed at business, and excelled in the print tests. It has a contrast ratio of 1,000:1 and a brightness of 300 cd/m2, so no surprises there.

What did surprise us was the low level of backlight bleeding, and the quality when we played back darker segments of movies. Gaming was also very enjoyable on the 220BW8, with in-game low light environments also not affected by any light leakage. Philips’ addition of an anti-glare polariser, which can give the screen a softer look, will help ease the eyes during prolonged use.

At the end of the day, the 220BW8 is a monitor that sits bang in the middle of this test. While we experienced some ghosting issues, the overall quality has us convinced that it would be a solid buy at $649.