Watch this space (Iiyama Pro Lite E431S-W)

Member Name: cmh4135

Product:	Iiyama Pro Lite E431S-W
Date:	02/06/05 (413 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good display, Small footprint

Disadvantages: Poor vertical viewing angles, Height not adjustable

{{{{ IN A NUTSHELL}}}}

A good, relatively low-priced TFT monitor with good colour and resolution.

As a downside it lacks good position adjustment

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IN DETAIL


I should start out this review by pointing out that I am no technician. My knowledge of this product is as a consumer, not an IT expert and my review is based solely on my experience of this monitor in use. Although I am a very competent user of IT related products when seeking out information to assist me in the purchase of an item of hardware I want to know how it performs on a day to day basis. The fact that it has a nth generation thingamybob with gilt edges and a whizzibit is really of little interest to me as I wouldn’t know a thingamybob or a whizzibit if they came and hit me (come to think of it, maybe I would!).

OK, background over and done with, on with the review.


BACK TO BASICS

Like any technology based product, different monitors do different things. Imagine that you are going to buy your grandmother a mobile phone. Unless she’s supergran then you are unlikely to spend a couple of hundred pound purchasing her the latest 3G phone so that she can set up a video conference with her friends, rather you are likely to seek out a simple phone that is easy to use and will enable her to make basic phone calls with the minimum of fuss. The same logic applies to monitors. If you use your computer as a word processor and nothing more then a simple, cheap monitor will suffice. If, on the other hand, you are an active gamer, then you will have different requirements to ensure that your game-playing experience is maximised.

As different people will have different requirements I think it is important to set out what I use the monitor for as things which I find good or bad might not be so relevant if your use will be different. In the main I use the monitor as follows:

- Word processing – long documents created in Word and Excel spreadsheets
- Web browsing – text rich sites such as user-groups, Ciao and information sites
- Web design – simple sites with low graphic content created using Dreamweaver
- Photo manipulation – graphic intense manipulation of digital photographs

I don’t tend to use the computer much for gaming (although did subject myself to a variety of games just to see how the monitor performed).


This monitor is what is known as a TFT monitor. TFT stands for thin film transistor, a type of liquid crystal display (LCD). This is a flat panel monitor and as such it takes up much less space than the traditional CRT (cathode ray tube) monitors which use the same technology as a standard television.

The screen size is 17” (measured corner to corner) and as with most flat screens, this is the size you see (CRT monitors generally have a smaller visible screen size than the figure actually quoted as the screen size, for example, my Compaq CRT at work is 17” but has just over 14” visible screen size).
RESOLUTION

One downside of TFT monitors is that they generally work best when set to a particular resolution (i.e. number of pixels on the screen). Go outside of this resolution setting and the picture quality will degrade (compare CRT monitors which can adapt to different resolutions). This particular monitor is designed to work at 1280x1024 which I have found to be perfectly adequate for the use I put the machine to. I’ll confess right here to not really understanding how resolutions work but suffice to say 1280x1024 appears to be a “mid to high-range” resolution and the higher the resolution, the more sharpness and clarity you get to an image. If you were to readjust a normal CRT monitor to this resolution it is likely that the display would become very small.

One point to note is that the aspect ratio on a 1280x1024 screen is 5:4 rather than the standard 4:3 (think of TV formats, standard is 4:3 as opposed to widescreen or other variation). This can cause some people problems when web designing or viewing websites that were designed for a different set up (recall the messages at the bottom of websites “this site is best viewed at a x b”) although it appears to be less of a problem as time goes on.

I do use the monitor when web designing and have not found a change of the preferred resolution to be too much of a problem (I will always check sites in several screen resolutions). The blurring of images did not happen to quite the extent that I was expecting and text and graphics were perfectly readable in 800 x 600 a fairly common CRT resolution.

COLOURS & IMAGE

The screen colours are bright and vivid and yet not garish with the screen supporting 24-bit colour (16.7 million colours). They retain a quite natural balance although blues can be a bit bright. I have found the screen perfect for viewing photographs, particularly macro-mode wildlife pictures where the colour reproduction is good and the image lines crisp (clearly the image quality on the camera has a lot to do with this too – it’s no wonder screen – it won’t make a bad photo look good!). Contrast, brightness and sharpness controls can be found on the front of the monitor (work the same way as your TV).

I would strongly recommend looking at image quality and screen colours when you select a monitor. It’s rather like selecting a TV, you see them all lined up in the shop and it is only then that you realise the difference in picture quality. The Iiyama seems to be the Philips/Sony of the monitor world rather than the Aiwa.

There is very little flicker on the image when viewed at a normal distance. It is certainly comparable to a decent TV picture and as such it makes this monitor suitable (subject to a major caveat below) for viewing films (or even TV with the new TV cards that are available). The lack of flicker also means that it’s a good screen to be stuck in front of for hours (NB you should still take a break) as eyestrain is minimised. Screen glare is also minimal and I have found the screen to be much better that the Compaq CRT I use at work.

TFT monitors often suffer from poor or limited viewing angles. That’s to say, they are designed to be viewed “head-on” rather than at an angle (the reason why you can’t always read the laptop screen of the person next to you on the train – or is it just me who is nosy?!). This particular monitor fares well on a horizontal plane with good image quality through almost 180°. It does not fare well on a vertical plane though with image quality degradation almost immediately. By way of illustration, if my husband is sat at the computer and I stand behind him I cannot read the screen clearly. The problem is compounded by the fact that there is no facility to adjust the height of the screen from the desk without standing the monitor on something or lowering the desk itself. The tilt of the screen is also fixed so be sure you like it! This means that if you intend to use the screen to view films, make sure that you can position the screen somewhere where everyone will be comfortable viewing it.

As a tool for playing games the monitor is good although to my mind not markedly better from its competitors. There is minimal screen drag (where the image does not respond quickly enough for the pace of the game).

Dead pixels don't seem to be an issue.

SOUND

The monitor comes with built in speakers. They are OK, a little tinny sounding and certainly no substitute for a real sound system if that’s your thing. Volume control is possible but again there’s not much range to play with. The volume control is on the front of the monitor. There’s also a headphone socket which, for once is well placed and not at all awkward.

SETUP

In terms of set up this is an easy monitor. It comes with both analogue and digital connectors (although only an analogue cable is supplied) and is compatible with Microsoft Windows 95/98/ME/2000 and XP. The drivers that you need to install to get your computer to “talk” to the monitor are self-explanatory.

ANYTHING ELSE?

One big upside of TFT monitors is that they generate less heat than a normal CRT monitor and I have really noticed the difference with this one – always cool to the touch. There is also a distinct lack of “hum” from the monitor. Another plus.

This particular model is “white” (for that read off-cream) but it is also available in black and silver. It comes with a 3 year warranty as standard and an office-hours support service.

Available at both highstreet and specialist retailers this will set you back around £300 (incl. VAT).


OVERALL

With its tiny footprint (and lightweight) this is, in my opinion a good buy for general use. It doesn’t, perhaps, cut the mustard when it comes to gaming but then you will have to play a lot more for a flat-screen that does. Basic image quality is superb and so, for that, it gets my vote!

Summary: