Iiyama AS4637UT

Iiyama's AS4637UT is a high-quality 18.1in. LCD monitor. The screen's extremely narrow bezel -- barely 12mm -- ensures that the picture, rather than the frame, remains in the foreground. The well-specified AS4637UT's screen can also be rotated to work in portrait mode as well as the standard landscape orientation, and the stand's height can be adjusted by about 85mm to deliver an ergonomically optimal position.

The power supply is integrated, and at the rear there are two DVI-I inputs, a USB hub (four down, one up) plus S-Video and composite video ports. There is also a power connector for the optional pair of 1W loudspeakers.

The dual DVI-I ports allow the AS4637UT to accept two independent computer video signals -- each one can be either digital or analogue. Besides the power and video cables, Iiyama provides DVI-I and DVI-D cables, and also a USB cable. To protect the monitor from theft, the AS4637UT is Kensington lock compatible.

The AS4637UT has a native resolution of 1,280 by 1,024 pixels, rendering lower resolutions in 1:1 or interpolated full-screen mode. The IPS panel delivers horizontal and vertical viewing angles of 170 degrees, providing excellent visibility without undue loss of contrast. It’s also possible to tilt the screen upwards by about 30 degrees.

This rotatable 18.1in. display impresses above all with its sharp and detailed image quality, which makes it particularly suitable for graphics, CAD and DTP work. Brightness and colour fidelity are also very good. Optimum results are obtained with the AS4637UT with digital connections, as there is minimal degradation of the video signal in an all-digital path from PC to display.

If you have to use an analogue connection, you may need to adjust the monitor’s settings, which can be accomplished via the on-screen menu and a few small buttons on the display itself (which primarily serve to help navigate the on-screen menu). Adjustment options on the display are limited to the automatic setup function, brightness, contrast, the choice of signal source and the power switch. Navigation through the on-screen menu could be more intuitive, but is straightforward enough with practice. There are plenty of picture adjustment options available, but the auto setup feature works pretty well if you don’t want to spend too much time optimising the image.

With a response time of 35ms, the AS4637UT delivers reasonable results for a TFT display when displaying fast-moving games or DVD movies, but CRT monitors are generally better suited to these applications.

Eizo’s L685 offers more extensive functions -- primarily aimed at larger enterprises -- and a minimally better picture quality. It is, however, about £200 more expensive than Iiyama’s AS4637UT, which comes with a three-year warranty.

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