Best all-around monitor I have tested!!!

The bigger brother to the w2007 and the monitor that I ended up keeping for my home use. This 22 inch monitor with it's bright view screen, 5ms response time, and 1000:1 contrast ratio this monitor produces gorgeous imagery. However this wouldn't be much of a review if I didn't fill you in on a few things that you won't find on paper very easily. I have broken this review up into easy to follow sections for those of you that want to skip around to the sections that matter most.

Understandning the basics:

Brightview technology- Lol, is just a fancy name for anti-glare screen. On a more serious note it makes a night and day difference. What it does is allow your eyes to see more of the picture by blocing out glare caused by ambient light. More picture translates to more colors and less strain on your eyes. This coating is usually only found on expensive laptops but has now found a home with desktops as well.

Contrast ratio- In simpler terms it translates to how bright of an image you will see. Average lcd monitors produce contrast ratios in the range of 500:1. This monitor does 1000:1 which is in the range of midrange high definition televisions. A higher contrast also can mean less glare and combined with the brightview technology we mentioned above really is what sets this monitor apart from other monitors. Think of it this way... less unwanted light coming in thanks to the brightview technology and the little that is left is finished off by the bright images coming from the monitor.

Response time- Simply means how fast a monitor can change from one scene to the next. As a general rule you want anything less than 8-10 ms (miliseconds). The reason why is that when you watch movies or play games you will experience a term called "ghosting". Ghosting just means that parts of one scene will remain on the screen while newer scenes are being displayed. If someone is running really fast in a movie you will sell parts of the last image during those fast scenes and it will look like a shaddow or "ghost" is following that person.

Resolution- Means how fine of an image can be displayed.
1680x1050 is the highest resolution this monitor can display. That translates to about 1.7 million pixels or 1.7 megapixels. Most standard monitors and regular high definition tvs can only display about 1.1 million pixels or 1.1 megapixels. That means that you are seeing more of a
picture than a regular high definition tv!!! However, not to confuse you or take anything away from this monitor or other monitors it will not do 1920x1080 or 2 million pixels
(2.0 megapixels) which is what the new HD tv sets will do.


Issue 1: The optimal resolution and the only one that displays a clear image is 1680x1050. This is actually perfect for this size of a monitor unlike it's smaller brother the w2007. I have high end ATI video card with both vga and dvi outputs. I tried both cables and tried just about every setting, however, this monitor only displays sharp images at that particular resolution. Try it in the store or ask a sales person to help you and you will see just how bad it can be on the other resolutions. I as well as many others reading this or using the product would have liked to have the flexibility to switch to lower resolutions without completely blurring the image. Lol. I can live with this setting but there are others out there that might have trouble seeing smaller text.



Issue 2: Simply stated...lack of inputs. This monitor only has two inputs. Dvi or vga...chocolate or vanilla. Lol. Where is the HDMI cable for hdtv or a ps3/xbox elite? It has a dvi input with a regular pc audio cable. If you want to play video games on this you will need to get an extra cable and have to switch back and forth. Otherwise as a pc monitor I have no complaints.

Things I really liked:
#1 You can rotate the monitor 90 degrees and see what ever you were looking at or reading long ways!!! It works much the same way the new iphone works and is great for reports or spreadsheets.
#2 The stand is one of the most adjustable stands I have ever used for a pc. It goes up down, left right, in out, rotates, and has space for your keyboard!


Conclusions:

The bottom line is this monitor is a keeper. It is about $100 more than the w2007 but gives you a bigger picture, a rotating screen, and a better stand. It also has a picture that is a lot better than the samsung and gateway monitors I researched. While some of the other monitors looks better on paper it is the real world testing that matters most and the others just put too much strain on my eyes. I don't want to wear glasses so a clear, glare free image is very important to me.