BenQ FP222W H review

£147
Price when reviewed

Not long ago 22in TFTs were a luxury, so the £128 price tag on this BenQ really knocked us for six this month. The design won’t win any awards, however, with a bland plastic base and plain angular looks. There’s no adjustable stand either.

BenQ FP222W H review

But what you do get is an incredibly well-rounded monitor for the money. Inputs aren’t just limited to VGA, there’s also DVI and HDMI – the only other screen to offer the latter is the £189 Dell. And image quality, while not perfect, is more than good enough for everyday use.

The backlight is bright and even, and it’s clear straight away that the dynamic range is biased towards the top end. Our black test screen wasn’t particularly deep and the dark segments of our gradient ramps were far thinner than they should have been. But on the other hand, video was bright and clear, the desktop pleasant and easy to read, and colour tracking generally pretty accurate.

Its weakness is contrast. At just 700:1, and lacking the now obligatory dynamic contrast function, the picture can appear a little flat next to the better models. We have a Japanese animation that has deceptive depth on the best TFTs, and the BenQ struggled to bring it to life. It also suffers from the awful placement of the control buttons – out of sight on the left side – which makes adjustments tricky.

So entertainment junkies will need to look elsewhere and spend a bit more money, but for a study or office the BenQ FP222W is an absolute steal. There’s no other monitor within £25 of its price, and for us that is good enough to earn it a deserved Best Value award.

Details

Image quality 4

Main specifications

Screen size 22.0in
Aspect ratio 16:10
Resolution 1680 x 1050
Screen brightness 300cd/m2
Pixel response time 5ms
Contrast ratio 700:1
Pixel pitch 0.282mm
Horizontal viewing angle 160 degrees
Vertical viewing angle 170 degrees
Speaker type N/A
Speaker power ouput N/A
TV tuner no
TV tuner type N/A

Connections

DVI inputs 1
VGA inputs 1
HDMI inputs 1
DisplayPort inputs 0
Scart inputs 0
HDCP support yes
Upstream USB ports 0
USB ports (downstream) 0
3.5mm audio input jacks 0
Headphone output no

Accessories supplied

Other cables supplied VGA
Internal power supply yes

Power consumption

Peak power consumption 49W
Idle power consumption 2W

Image adjustments

Brightness control? yes
Contrast control? yes
Colour temperature settings Reddish, bluish, normal, user
Extra adjustments Sharpness, picture mode, input, OSD language, position, timeout, lock, info, reset

Ergonomics

Forward tilt angle 5 degrees
Backward tilt angle 20 degrees
Swivel angle N/A
Height adjustment N/A
Pivot (portrait) mode? no
Bezel width 22mm

Dimensions

Dimensions 513 x 147 x 415mm (WDH)
Weight 5.800kg

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