HannsG Hi221D review

LCD monitor prices are constantly dropping, and this 22in model is only a little more expensive than many 20in monitors.

We weren't impressed by the Hi221D's design, though; it's so bland that it's almost invisible. Unsurprisingly at this price, the stand doesn't have height adjustment and doesn't pivot. As the bottom edge of the display sits 190mm above the desk, you'll have to tilt it back or put it on something to raise it up to eye level.

There are DVI and VGA inputs, a welcome luxury on a budget monitor. The DVI input is HDCP-compliant, so you can use it to watch Blu-ray movies over a digital connection. We tested both inputs, but couldn't discern any difference in image quality between them.

Our tests showed that the Hi221D is capable of bright whites, with no colour tints and even backlighting. It handled subtle transitions between colours fairly well and reproduced colours accurately, equalling monitors that cost much more. It was less impressive when it came to darker areas, lacking dynamic contrast control. The Hi221D can't match LG's L204WS, which dims its backlight to enhance subtle detail in dark scenes. Viewing angles were acceptable, however, both vertically and horizontally.

We found the default quality settings were perfectly good and didn't need altering. We tweaked the poorly placed controls but couldn't improve upon the standard settings.

The 1,680x1,050-pixel native resolution gives you a fairly large desktop on which to work, and will provide plenty of detail in games if your graphics card can handle this resolution. It doesn't quite match 1080p video, but HD video still looked sharp. Thanks to the 5ms response time, we didn't see any motion blur problems in games or movies.

A minijack input feeds the two 1.5W speakers on the underside of the display. Sound quality is poor and there's virtually no bass and lots of distortion above half volume. The three-year on-site warranty is welcome, but standard for most monitors, and we were disappointed that the standby and idle power consumption figures were identical. However, the Hi221D is fairly efficient when in use, drawing only 37W of power.

If you're looking for a big monitor at a low price, HannsG's Hi221D is good value considering the dual inputs and on-site warranty. However, its lack of dynamic contrast means it can't compete with LG's smaller and cheaper Flatron L204WS.