Eizo S2242W - 22in widescreen TFT review

Item: Eizo S2242W - 22in widescreen TFT review
Author: Jeremy Laird

Written by Jeremy Laird

August 14, 2009 | 09:01

Tags: #analysis #evaluation #image #lcd #monitor #quality #review #tft #widescreen

Companies: #eizo #test

Features & Build Quality

The Eizo brand has long been synonymous with top notch professional LCD monitors. In terms of specification, features and build quality, the S2242W is no different. Admittedly, the rather dowdy, corporate chassis design is short on style. But with familiarity, the sheer class of its conception and construction lend it a subtle but undeniable desirability. If you appreciate quality, you'll love this display.

As you would expect, it's extremely solidly put together and features a fully adjustable stand allowing users to trim the panel's position to perfection. Height, rotate, swivel, tilt – you name it, the S2242W has it covered. Its LCD panel looks pretty nifty on paper, too, and not just because of the fulsome 1,920 x 1,200 pixel native.

The PVA technology translates into extremely broad 178 degree viewing angles in both planes and also enables a static contrast ratio of 1,200:1. The latter is a clear notch above the 1,000:1 figure that has become commonplace for PVA panels.

Eizo has also bestowed the S2242W with an exceptionally well specified OSD menu. Along with the usual brightness, contrast and RGB colour controls, further options for gamma, hue and temperature are included. Indeed, the extremely broad 4,000K to 10,000K range of the temperature control is symptomatic of this monitor's enormous tweakability.

As if that's not enough, Eizo has added an ambient light sensor, enabling automatic adjustment of the backlight intensity to suit viewing conditions, a feature known as EcoView. Eizo says that EcoView can reduce power consumption by 52 per cent, as well as reduce eye strain. On both counts, those claims are tricky to assess objectively. What we can say is that this kind of dynamic backlight adjustment isn't awfully compatible with finely tuned colour and contrast calibration.

Elsewhere, there are a couple of minor shortcomings. Firstly, with just one DVI socket and a D-Sub port, connectivity is not a strong point. While we wouldn't expect to see a wide range of analogue video interfaces on such a finely honed professional panel, it's always nice to have support for multiple digital sources. At this price point, the S2242W really shouldn't want for anything.

The only other niggle involves the backlight, probably the weakest point of this otherwise impressive screen. It's a conventional CCFL item, albeit with wide gamut capabilities enabling reproduction of 92 per cent of the NTSC colour space. CCFL backlights may remain the dominant technology, even in the professional space. But there's no doubting the superiority of the LED technology that is just beginning to appear at this end of the market. The expectation that monitors like this will increasingly be powered by LED backlights in the next year or so is certainly worth bearing in mind.