Eizo FlexScan HD2441W review

Eizo's excellent reputation in the PC Pro office is well deserved, and each new monitor is all but cheered. The HD2441W isn't entirely new - we've seen the panel in the FlexScan S2431W (web ID: 113186). This is no disadvantage. We recommended the S2431W, and lauded its superb image quality.

The distinction between the two is indicated by the "HD" in the HD2441W's moniker. Eizo has gone all out to make it appeal to HD aficionados, with the accompanying marketing campaign making plenty of the HD2441W's twin HDMI ports and film-playback abilities. But many 24in monitors have HDMI ports, and all monitors of this size have the resolution to handle high-definition content, so the HD2441W needs something special to justify its high price.

Both HDMI ports are HDCP-compliant. As long as your graphics card is HDCP as well, you'll be able to play high-definition films, either from your PC or a standalone player. There are also a pair of 3.5mm audio-out ports, so you can use an HDMI cable for both video and audio, outputting the audio to a pair of headphones. It even has basic KVM capabilities. You get two upstream (type B) USB ports, so you can connect two PCs to the monitor at once, using one mouse and keyboard to control either. Switching which PC is supplying the image and USB control is simply done using the OSD.

Not only can you switch between video sources, you can also use picture-in-picture, so you could place a film over the top of your desktop, for instance. Usefully, you can alter the location and transparency of the overlay.

There are plenty more luxurious touches. The panel's contrast ratio of 1,000:1 can be boosted to 3,000:1 with Eizo's ContrastEnhancer, and the 16ms response time has been reduced to 6ms courtesy of an overdrive circuit, although not even the most avid games or film buffs will notice a significant difference.

There's also what Eizo calls a BrightRegulator - a sensor that detects ambient light and adjusts the screen's brightness accordingly. So if you work in an environment where light changes throughout the day, the screen will adjust to stay visible. In use, we found the effect rather subtle, even over marked changes in ambient light.

The stand is also worth a mention: not only does it rotate through 360 degrees, but height and tilt are both adjustable courtesy of the sliding back.

But as desirable as the HD2441W is, neither graphics professionals nor gamers should pay the better part of a thousand pounds for it. Twin HDMI ports are useful, but 24in isn't big enough for a high-definition TV, particularly when you could get a much larger one for the same money. And while gamers may appreciate the 6ms response time, the HD2441W offers little that the cheaper S2431W can't match. Worst news of all is the HP LP3065 (web ID: 113185). HP's panel costs £60 more than the Eizo and lacks HDMI ports, but it offers 6in more diagonally and has a phenomenal resolution of 2,560 x 1,600 to the Eizo's 1,920 x 1,200.

Author: Dave Stevenson