NEC MultiSync 90GX2

The specification of the 90GX2 ticks all the right boxes: 4ms response time, 700:1 contrast and the shiny, reflective screen that typically makes colours look so rich and vibrant.

However, the first thing you'll notice when you unpack the 90GX2 is the reflectivity of the screen: it's almost like a mirror. This won't bother everyone - with a typical Desktop background or when typing away in Word, the bright colours mean you don't notice the reflectivity. You'll also love the sheer brightness and vibrancy of the images. Sadly, though, we immediately found the reflectivity a problem when playing games and watching movies. Unless you're sitting in a darkened room, this will be distracting whenever there's a predominantly black scene.

This is a shame, as NEC has put plenty of effort into making the 90GX2 a screen for gamers. By pressing one button, you can switch between any of five settings: Standard, Text, Movie, Gaming and Photo. For Gaming, this means the contrast shifts to make details visible even in dark corners - very useful when you suddenly find yourself in a dark level - but the side effect is blacks becoming light grey.

In Text mode, the brightness is dialled down to minimise eye strain and we found this genuinely useful, but the rest of the presets are substantially more questionable. The Photo setting is the most disappointing. Our photos lost more detail in dark and bright areas, while the banding on colour ramps increased - indicative of poor colour handling.

There are plenty of plus points when it comes to design. The four-port USB 2 hub and swivel base - which rotates through 340 degrees - are useful additions, and it does look very stylish. We also found the menu system intuitive, even if the buttons themselves are plasticky and the joystick controls fiddly.

The 90GX2 is proof that you can't judge performance by an impressive specification. If you want a 19in TFT, stick with the A-Listed ViewSonic VX924.

Author: Clive Webster