Iiyama E1908WSV review

This is the first 19in widescreen monitor we've seen with a resolution of 1,680x1,050. This is usually the domain of 20in monitors or bigger, while 19in models tend to have a maximum resolution of 1,440x900.

The E1908WSV won't be winning any design awards, but the plain black styling is inoffensive and the case is sturdily built. The same can't be said about the flimsy stand, but it only wobbles when you adjust the tilt angle. Tilting is all you can do, unfortunately; there's no height adjustment, no rotation to portrait mode and no swivel.

It's a similar story for the inputs, with a solitary VGA interface for video. There are two tiny speakers, which have a mini-jack input. Oddly, they're built into the rear of the monitor at the top. Their power verges on pathetic, but at least they don't distort at top volume. It's good to see a built-in power supply, as it means you don't have to find room for a large black brick on or under your desk. However, there's no panel to hide the connections and there's no cable-management system, either.

Fortunately, image quality is perfectly good. The specifications claim a contrast ratio of 1,000:1 and a brightness of 300cd/m2, and both are easy to believe once you turn on the E1908WSV. Despite the analogue connection, text was crisp and there was no shimmering. Backlighting was even across the whole screen, and colours were accurate and vibrant.

The menu system is awkward to use. Iiyama clearly decided to keep the labels as discreet as possible, but the result is that the embossed symbols and lettering are virtually invisible on the front panel. They correspond to buttons on the bottom edge, but as the menus are so slow to respond you'll often hit a button twice, cancelling your efforts.

Beyond the usual controls are colour, gamma and power-saving modes. All suffer from poor labelling; instead of reporting the actual colour temperatures, you just get 1, 2 and 3. Likewise, for gamma, there's a choice of Off, Mode 1 or Mode 2, rather than the gamma values, making it virtually useless. The power- saving modes have similar labels, but simply dim the screen to varying degrees, saving a couple of watts.

The final menu option of note is Dynamic Contrast Ratio (DCR). This claims to increase contrast to 5,000:1, but it's more of a gimmick than a genuinely useful tool. When enabled, it assesses the content onscreen and adjusts automatically, but with a delay. When playing games or movies - which play smoothly, with no jerkiness - the constantly changing contrast is off-putting.

Still, at this price, the E1908WSV's faults can be overlooked. It produces great quality out of the box and is equally well suited to work or play.