Verdict: Cheap, and you get what you pay for.
Years ago, when lumbering CRTs ruled the PC world, the name Iiyama was one that knowing PC enthusiasts instinctively associated with top-notch quality. However, when the monitor world went flat-screen, the company struggled and all but disappeared from the scene. The brand has enjoyed some resurgence lately, although it's now associated more with value than visual excellence.
The ProLite E2202WS can be picked up for less than £175 and follows Iiyama's familiar style cues, including the same plain black bezel that we're used to seeing. The OSD controls and two 2W speakers are located along the thicker lower edge. You shouldn't rely on these speakers, though, as they're fairly quiet and lacking in quality. Similarly, the OSD buttons fail to impress; they're recessed into the fascia, so they're awkward to operate. The OSD comprises rather dated-looking icons, and the only significant options it offers let you choose between 9,500K, 7,500K, and sRGB colour temperatures.
While the uninspiring plastic stand tilts 20 degrees backwards and 5 degrees forwards on its wobbly hinge, it fails to offer anything else except to provide a place to stash your pens.
As with virtually all 22in screens, the Iiyama employs the cheaper TN panel technology in order to hit its enticing price point. The major downside of TN technology is the poor viewing angles, and this panel suffers more than most. Colour distortion occurs when viewing the screen off-centre, both vertically and horizontally.
At the rear of the screen you'll find the audio input, and both DVI and D-SUB ports. There are no niceties such as USB or HDMI ports, but the DVI input is HDCP-compatible, which is handy in these Blu-ray DRM times.
While this screen won't have many people swooning over its looks or salivating over its features, it's the quality of the panel itself that really matters. Our demanding DisplayMate tests were first up, and delivered mixed results. The Iiyama impressed us with its ability to display the various shades of a greyscale ramp, indicating that the 1,000:1 static contrast ratio handles nuances of chrominance well. We therefore hoped that shadowy areas of the test games and films would be rich and detailed.
The colour ramp tests are designed to show how accurately colours from the graphics card are displayed. We saw clear banding (where shades of colours merge), indicating that the Iiyama doesn't have much in the way of fine colour control. The colour scales also faded unevenly to black, indicating that one colour will overpower others in shadowy areas, and warning us to look out for unwanted tinting in shadowy areas of test images.
The DisplayMate test screens of pure colour (green, blue, red and white) were also patchy, indicating inconsistencies with the backlight. To top all this, the colours weren't bright and vibrant enough to be truly pleasing - this isn't a screen that will bowl you over or draw the eye.
The indifferent colours and the lack of vibrancy we noted in the DisplayMate tests were indeed evident in the game tests. In Crysis, we've seen the sun's rays filter though the trees and reflect off the water with much greater warmth. We were also underwhelmed by the Iiyama's attempt to display the sun-drenched Middle Eastern streets in Call of Duty 4. However, there was a pleasing lack of motion blur, and the 5ms response time made for little lag.
While this screen doesn't deliver full 1080p, it's HD ready. As such, on Blu-ray, 'Harry Potter' showed plenty of fine detail, although skin tones lacked realism.
We found that the Dynamic Contrast Ratio setting (labelled DCR), which boosts the contrast from 1,000:1 to 3,000:1, was too distracting and can lead to dullness while gaming. However, it did help the contrast range during movie playback. With our 'Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring' DVD, we saw brighter whites with DCR enabled in the snowstorm on the Caradhras mountains and a moody darkness when the heroes ventured into the mines of Moria. However, as the greater contrast range comes at the expense of brightness, it's only suitable for use in dim lighting.
Conclusion
While the Iiyama ProLite E2202WS is a serviceable monitor at a low price, we'd urge you to invest in a superior screen. The muted colours, uneven backlight and dull design of the ProLite E2202WS are likely to become grating over time, so the £25 you'll save by opting for this screen over a high-quality monitor such as the 22in ViewSonic VX2255wmb will seem completely insignificant.
As such, unless you have an extremely tight budget, we'd opt for the ViewSonic. For the same amount of cash as this screen, however, you could opt for the 20in Samsung SyncMaster 206BW, which is smaller, but far more pleasing to look at.
