Hyundai H94W review

The image quality scores of this Hyundai and the 19in Hanns.G HW191DP reveal an interesting trend this month: neither of the DVI-equipped TFTs is anywhere near the top of the performance table. On larger TFTs we'd always recommend going digital, but at these sizes the quality of the panel is far more important than the signal feeding it.

That said, if you want the reassurance of a DVI port this 19in Hyundai is the screen to go for. At just £80 it's cheaper than all but the best-avoided 17in Hanns.G HW173AB, and that low price even includes a set of integrated speakers. They're not particularly loud, but they're fine for basic online audio.

That applies to the image quality as well - it's fine for everyday viewing if you don't expect miracles. It doesn't help that the OSD is a mess, with the buttons hidden on the underside of the TFT. The necessary labels only appear on-screen, changing with each new submenu. On top of that, the only usable colour setting was Warm, but even that needed to be tweaked as, bizarrely, it was too blue.

The backlight is strong and even, however, and the Hyundai shows good detail in the lighter shades of colour at the top end of the spectrum. A little light bled through the edges of our black test screen, but detail in shadowy areas of our test images showed that contrast is acceptable.

We saw minor banding in our gradient ramps, and in the colour tracking test greys remained on the cold side of neutral. The jungles of Crysis, while detailed, were washed out compared with the more vivid monitors of the group. This also removes much-needed atmosphere from video clips.

But this is not an entertainment monitor. The desktop is clear and crisp, and the colour issues don't affect Word or web browsing. Combine this with the low price and that DVI port, and the Hyundai stands out as the ultra-cheap monitor of choice. With the Iiyama just £20 more, however, we'd recommend it only for those on the tightest of budgets.

Author: David Bayon