Cheap monitor delivers great image (Fujitsu Siemens Scaleoview D22W-1)

Member Name: davomrmac

Product:	Fujitsu Siemens Scaleoview D22W-1
Date:	05/08/08 (519 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good punchy image, great contrast, well packed

Disadvantages: Controls are tricky due to their positioning

Having purchased a Belinea o.display of the same size and returning it, I was dubious about buying another cheaper display. Due to my experience I almost splashed the cash on a dearer Samsung monitor, but saw this on Insight and decided to give it a try.

Confidence was there from first receiving the parcel. A nice solid box and loads of packaging (compared to the Belinea's flimsy box). The screen was also covered by a protective piece of plastic and the glossy frame was also covered in film. The base slots on nicely and I connected the sound, power and DVI cable. A small clip is built into the base that keeps the cables tidy too.

On first turning on I tested the screen with a pixel checker on red, green, blue, white and black screens. The display looked perfect, no dodgy pixels and on the white screen, the backlight was very even, no dark areas or edge shadowing at all.

Then onto displayed images. Photos look very punchy and although this has a lower (quoted) contrast ratio, it was way better than the o.display. The blacks were very good and still retained a lot of detail. Brightness is good too, very white paper-like appearance.

The speakers are pretty poor, but this does not bother me at all and many monitors are not that good anyway. For good sound you should always use external speakers. The height of the monitor is very good, which is lucky because there is no height adjustment. Worth noting though, it does have tilt control, so at least you can angle it to suit. The only other negative point is that the control buttons are on the underside at the front, so until you have learnt their positions you fumble around a bit.

Overall, this was a bargain and I am glad I gave it a punt. Such a cheap price for a quality screen with a three year warranty.

Summary: This is a bargain display

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