Eizo FlexScan S2432W in Monitors

It may be beyond the means of most consumers, but Eizo's high-end FlexScan range offers quality that TN monitors can only dream of. The S2432W's S-PVA panel sticks with the traditional 16:10 aspect ratio and 1,920 x 1,200 resolution, but with a blinding 360cd/m2 brightness to go with the 1,000:1 contrast ratio. And as you'd expect, viewing images on it is a real treat for the eyes.

We didn't need to tweak a thing to get the perfect picture, which is just as well given the awkward plethora of poorly labelled control buttons and the awful onscreen menu system. But you'll soon forgive that - and the functional-bordering-on-ugly design - when you see the depth of the black level, the glorious bloody reds and the vibrancy of its colour palette.

It displays 96% of the Adobe colour gamut, and it breezed through our technical tests, barely dropping a mark. Side by side, we rated the Eizo's detail levels and colour accuracy to just hold the edge over the equally high-end LaCie 324, but there's so little in it that both impressed us greatly. The FlexScan's one concession to the LaCie is its very slightly lower brightness, but you'll struggle to tell the difference in use.

And the S2432W comes with a suitably gigantic stand to take the weight of the thick body. It lifts through 82mm, swivels through 70 degrees and tilts back a full 40 degrees to suit whatever angle your desk setup provides. On the rear sit HDMI and DVI inputs, along with a 3.5mm audio jack to power the fairly weak 0.5W speakers.

Obviously, these aren't intended as entertainment monitors, and the Eizo's 6ms response time produced slight blurring in fast scenes. That said, it isn't the major issue you might expect, and it's perfectly fine for the odd movie session in between jobs.

But it's the brilliance of the still image that wins the S2432W its highest praise, and if you regularly work on colour-accurate tasks you simply won't find many more appealing TFTs than this 24in beast. Yes, it's expensive, but you get what you pay for, and the Eizo is our professional choice.

Author: David Bayon