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Eizo FlexScan EV2316W review

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Verdict

Sensible power-saving options, great build and solid image quality make this a solid business purchase

Review Date: 27 Nov 2012

Reviewed By: Sasha Muller

Price when reviewed: £176 (£211 inc VAT)

Overall Rating

Features & Design
6 stars out of 6

Value for Money
4 stars out of 6

Image Quality
4 stars out of 6

PCPRO Recommended

While consumer monitor purchases put image quality above all else, buying monitors for business calls for a different set of priorities. Eizo’s FlexScan EcoView range focuses on sensible design, desk-friendly ergonomics and reducing long-term running costs; we’ve taken a closer look at the entry-level model, the Eizo FlexScan EV2316W.

The EV2316W squeezes a 23in, 1,920 x 1,080 panel into a slim, squared-off chassis, and the build quality is excellent. There’s 180mm of height adjustment, up to 30 degrees of backwards tilt, it rotates into a portrait orientation, and swings left and right without you having to lift the base from the desk. A slight stiffness to the height adjustment means the panel stays put once set, and a plastic clip at the rear ensures cables run neatly away from the rear of the stand.

Connectivity is ample. There are D-SUB, DVI and DisplayPort inputs, a two-port USB 2 hub, a 3.5mm headphone output and a 3.5mm audio input for the monitor’s pair of 1W internal speakers. At the front, a strip of buttons provides controls for the monitor’s onscreen display, quick access to volume and brightness controls, and lets you toggle between the video inputs.

You can access the monitor’s EcoView menu from here, too, which provides a series of power-saving tools. Auto EcoView automatically dims the backlight depending on the ambient light, and a movement sensor can be set to switch off the monitor after anything from five seconds to an hour of inactivity. System administrators will appreciate the EcoView Net software, which runs on the host PC and makes it possible to set power saving and display settings remotely over the network, and even lock out the onscreen display completely.

Image quality is less exciting. The TN panel means there’s noticeable colour shift as you move away from head-on. In normal use, however, there are no issues to report at all. Brightness hits a more than ample 240cd/m2, and contrast reaches 800:1. Colours are vibrant and pure, and accuracy is excellent by the standard of most business monitors, with an average Delta E of 3.5.

Power-efficiency is a strong point, too. At full brightness, the Eizo draws 22W from the mains, but dropping the backlight to a more eye-friendly 120cd/m2 sees the power requirements fall to 14W.

With a price that exceeds even IPS monitors such as the superb Dell UltraSharp U2312HM, this Eizo doesn’t appear to be good value for money. In the long term, however, it makes sense. With an efficient TN panel, several handy power-saving features, and the reassurance of a five-year warranty, the FlexScan EV2316W offers businesses plenty of value.

Author: Sasha Muller

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Comments

User comments

Business monitors must consider image quality above all else - if only because of the DTE regulations. Resolution, flicker and glare are very important. It is true that most businesses ignore DTE and go for cost alone (purchase, operating), but that is only because they can get away with it.

Reviews really ought to be telling us about resolution - sharpness, suitability for long-term spreadsheet use, for example - first.

By ntuson6 on 27 Nov 2012

Love my job, since I've been bringing in $5600… I sit at home, music playing while I work in front of my new iMac that I got now that I'm making it online(Click on menu Home)
http://goo.gl/j4NTN

By PaulKenedy on 28 Nov 2012

Disagree

Sorry, but I cannot believe that any 16:9 monitor is a "solid business choice".

As an aspect ratio, it sacrifices too much vertical space purely for the pursuit of being good for movies - not a business concern at all!

Also, at no point anywhere in the article or spec sheet is the screen coating mentioned. Whether it's matte or glossy is far more important to me as a business buyer than the monitor's Delta E score!

Basically, the ideal business monitor is a 16:10 matte screen with a nicely adjustable stand and decent power efficiency.

By Trippynet on 28 Nov 2012

@Trippynet

I agree entirely.
Glossy screens = Nightmare to use in an office in reality.
16:10 is going the same way as the correct usage of the word "premise".

I guess us 16:10 lovers are in the same group of those that use the word "premises".
TBH - 4:3 is even more appropriate to most peoples work. (When did books come in a landscape form?)

Hey ho!

By JulesWilko on 29 Nov 2012

Dell Ultrasharp U2412M

Seems to be what you want. 1920x1200, matte screen, height-adjustable. Mine is brilliant!

By JohnGray7581 on 29 Nov 2012

IIyama Prolite E2607WS

Also what you want.

26", 1900x1200, matt screen, etc.

Love mine!

By Wilbert3 on 30 Nov 2012

Questions

Apologies for the lack of clarity.

This uses, as do virtually all PC monitors these days, a matte panel. Glossy panels are something of a rarity outside the occasional consumer model, or indeed Apple's range of Cinema and Thunderbolt displays, so I rarely mention matte panels as being a feature. I will make sure to do so in future.

In all honesty, virtually any budget LCD monitor exhibits very little in the way of glare or flicker these days. Those kind of aberrations largely died with the CRT.

This, however, is one of the better TN panels I've seen, and Eizo claims to have worked hard to banish the rare occurrence of LED-backlight flicker which only the most sensitive of users ever notices. I have never, ever, perceived flicker from an LED-backlit monitor myself, and I've used a fair few!

If the 16:9 resolution is a huge bugbear, then there is a forthcoming 24in, 16:10 model which will be launching alongside the EV2316W, as well as a larger 27in WQHD model. These larger, pricier models will all use matte IPS panels.

Kind regards,

By SashaMuller on 30 Nov 2012

Thanks for the update

I don't necessarily expect it to be listed in the body of the article itself to be honest! But I would expect it to be listed in the spec sheet. Like you say, it tends to be more the laptops that come enamored with horrible glossy screens!

My issue with 16:9 is that it seems to be becoming the main aspect ratio around - purely because it's cheap to manufacture, and manufacturers can harp on about "HD" with them all.

It leaves aside of course the fact that most business applications require a reasonable amount of vertical room as well.

16:10 is unfortunately dead for laptops with only Apple continuing to make machines that feature this aspect ratio. Even "professional" machines from Dell and Lenovo now have horrible movie-oriented 16:9 screens.

I'm just keen to ensure that display manufacturers don't manage to pull the same trick with desktop displays as well!

By Trippynet on 30 Nov 2012

@Trippynet

The stunt is already pulled on the desktop.
The "HD" tag for 768 pixel high screens is a joke. Totally misleading.

"High Definition" where the definition is now lower than it ever has been since what, the mid 90's?

By JulesWilko on 3 Dec 2012

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