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Iiyama ProLite E2607WS
It wasn't long ago that we'd be talking about 24in and even 22in TFTs for £240 - yet now that money can buy you a massive 26in of screen space. And though the Iiyama PLE2607WS doesn't offer a resolution advantage over its smaller 24in siblings (it boasts the same 1,920 x 1,200), those extra two inches of display do make a big difference.
The design is glossier than Iiyama's usual bland grey, and we'd go so far as to say it's rather stylish. The basic stand is part of the reason the PLE2607WS remains so cheap, so we'll forgive the lack of adjustability. On the back you'll find a choice of DVI, VGA and HDMI, and there's also a 3.5mm audio input for a pair of integrated 5W speakers.
And these speakers are one of the Iiyama's greatest strengths: they're ear-splittingly loud for monitor speakers, yet they don't distort at high volumes. Understandably, they lack bass, which is understandable as there's no subwoofer, but they're more than powerful enough to fill a living room or study with the atmosphere of a good action film.
And movies will look good on this screen, with the 4,000:1 dynamic contrast ensuring detail remains visible at the dark and light extremes of scenes. In testing, gradients were smooth and the last few shades of grey at both ends of the scale were distinguishable from the background. Fast motion was handled with aplomb, and colours were fairly bright and vivid.
It fell down in a few areas though. Our greyscale tinting test shows up colour casts, and the Iiyama's was noticeably green - some shadowy scenes thus tended to slip into murkiness; a trait we've seen from Iiyama monitors before. The backlight on our sample was a little uneven around the top and bottom edges, and at angles beyond 45 degrees it started to look a little purple.
So it's not the best at reproducing the accuracies of digital photos. But it's that price that really sells us on the Iiyama PLE2607WS. A quick search online has the next cheapest 26in model costing at least £30 more, and most are well in excess of £300.
Whether it beats a 24in TFT depends on usage - for detailed tasks like image editing we'd still go for sharpness over the extra size. But if you want a big, loud and startlingly affordable screen for all your entertainment needs, the Iiyama is a great choice.
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