Hanns.G HH251HP review

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Verdict:

Although it has decent picture quality, the HH251HP has limited controls and a budget design, and its dynamic contrast ratio has harsh transitions.

Review Date: 18 Sep 2009

Price when reviewed: £185

Supplier: http://www.morecomputers.com

Reviewed By: Barry de la Rosa

Our Rating 3 stars out of 5

User Rating

Hanns.G's HH251HP has a slightly odd screen size of 25in.

This extra inch over 24in screens doesn't sound like much, but the larger screen is easier on the eye. You don't pay any extra for the increased size either, as this monitor is in the same price range as 24in screens.

This doesn't mean that the quality is the same, though, and we found that the cheap matt black stand and glossy bezel didn't go together. The monitor feels well built but looks a bit cheap.

The larger screen doesn't get you any more resolution, although its full HD resolution of 1,920x1,080 is more than enough for desktop use and perfect for entertainment, should you connect a Blu-ray player or games console to one of the two HDMI ports.

We found it a little strange that there's no DVI port for connecting a PC, so you'll need to use a DVI-to-HDMI adaptor if you want a digital connection. Alternatively, you can use the VGA analogue input.

Picture quality is decent, but not awe-inspiring and we found that there was a slight blue tint to whites. This is easy to ignore and colours looked realistic. The monitor's menu has only basic control options for manually adjusting the screen, including brightness and contrast, plus three preset colour settings that are best left alone.

Like many modern monitors, the HH251HP tries to boost its native 800:1 contrast ratio with a dynamic contrast ratio of 15,000:1. While it successfully improves contrast, bringing out detail in murky scenes, the transitions are harsh. Moving from a dark scene to a light scene, or vice versa, is particularly noticeable and difficult to watch.

We preferred to turn this mode off and stick with the standard contrast ratio, which produced acceptably dark blacks and bright enough whites.

The extra screen area makes the HH251HP stand out, but not enough to make us choose it over a 24in monitor. Image quality is good, but not outstanding. We prefer Philips' 23in 230C1, which has better image quality.

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