AG Neovo E-W22

Monitors with protective glass are nothing new. Intended for public places such as schools and libraries, the scratch-resistant material protects the panel from the rigours of out-of-office use, but usually with a few drawbacks. The AG Neovo E-W22 is no different.

The manufacturer claims that, as well as being great for public places, it is "equally competent for general office use and home entertainment". We'd argue that a purple hue and the permanent sight of your own reflection in most lighting conditions don't make for a great movie experience, but this is a side-effect of other glass-fronted TFTs we've seen.

It's an issue that limits its appeal. A quick survey of the PC Pro team revealed not one person who has ever damaged a TFT panel in the home or office. But even if a protective covering sounds reassuring, the image quality is unlikely to be. It starts off well enough: the dynamic contrast works well, and it made a good fist of both our black and white level contrast tests.

But gradient ramps showed significant banding, and the hue of the glass darkened the image too much. The jungles of Crysis were a little too murky in places, while movies lacked the vibrancy of even the least impressive standard TFTs here. The OSD is confusing and most of the presets just make things worse.

A protective glass monitor is a niche product, and aiming one at the home as well as public markets just doesn't pay off here. And doing so also carries a significant price premium: at £254, this screen is dearer than three of this month's 24in models and twice the price of the 22in BenQ.

Author: David Bayon