Product Reviews

Most LCD monitors and TVs have very vulnerable screens. It's surprising how little force it takes to damage the liquid crystals, ruining your monitor.

The 22in E-W22 has protective glass in front of its LCD panel to prevent such accidents. It's made of a high-quality optical glass, with a hard coating to prevent scratches. During our tests we hurled all kinds of desktop clutter at it, from empty coke cans to a mouse. Everything boaunced off the screen without leaving a mark, although one errant throw made a small nick in the plastic stand. This monitor will certainly stand up to the worst cases of computer-related rage.

The E-W22 looks more like a small TV than a PC monitor. The screen sits above the speakers, which sound better than many we've heard. There isn't a huge range of video inputs: just VGA, DVI, and audio-in sockets. There's no USB hub or HDMI.

The DVI input is HDCP compatible, so you can watch protected content

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such as Blu-ray movies. It supports 1080p signals, downscaling them to fit its native resolution of 1,680x1,050. We watched the recent film release I Am Legend on the E-W22. It did a good job of displaying fine detail in the city panoramas, and kept up with frenetic action, too.

At its default settings the display had a slightly yellow tinge, but after tweaking the options, our test images showed natural-looking skin tones. Further testing demonstrated that this is a capable, but not outstanding, display. Our greyscale test revealed a lack of subtlety in finely graduated transitions, but colours appeared vibrant.

The E-W22's contrast ratio is an impressive-sounding 3,000:1. However, this figure is for dynamic contrast. If an image has both very dark and very bright elements in it, the monitor must compromise the backlight level between them. The contrast ratio therefore varies depending on what is being displayed.

The gloss finish improves contrast and colour saturation, but also gives rise to reflections and attracts greasy fingerprints. The E-W22 may be largely child-proof from a damage point of view, but you might find you're constantly cleaning it.

A bigger problem for AG Neovo is that you can buy a 22in monitor for less than half the price of the E-W22. Yes, it has great image quality, thanks in part to its dynamic contrast, but so does the LG Flatron L204WS, which costs only £127 including VAT. Ultimately, the E-W22 is only a sensible option if you need a tough, durable monitor.