w2228h

With a similar design and features to the w2448hc, HP's w2228h is another solid multimedia monitor. It offers moderately better image quality than its larger compatriot and has some of the same bells and whistles, such as HDMI connectivity and USB ports, making it a solid choice for media enthusiasts.

As is standard for a 22in monitor, the w2228h has a native resolution of 1680x1050. The rather bulky design and the inch-thick black bezel make it seem quite a bit larger than the typical 22in monitor.

One of our main complaints with the w2448hc was the colour balance — on certain presets it was quite inaccurate. Fortunately, that seems to have been corrected in this model. In the text mode everything was in order, with accurate primary shades and a rich tone that will please movie watchers. Some colours such as yellows and greens looked a touch pale but overall we were satisfied.

Unfortunately our other issue with the w2448hc hasn't been rectified: a reflective coating covers the panel. During dark scenes you can see yourself and your surroundings clearly reflected in the screen, which becomes extremely distracting. We understand that a glossy look is stylish and that stylish is good, but it should not come at the detriment of functionality.

Aside from that, the w2228h produces a pretty nice picture. Text was crisp and sharp with no visible aberrations or artefacts. Blacks were fairly good but the reflectiveness made this somewhat difficult to judge. There was some minor backlight bleeding towards the top and bottom of the screen, but it was quite subtle rather than big and blotchy. Contrast was handled well, with nice differentiation between blocks in our intensity ramps and good detail in dark areas during video footage.

Viewing angles were fairly standard, with some minor colour shift when moving off centre but nothing too dramatic. The panel has a 3ms response time, which is quick. Although it did handle motion reasonably well, there was some ghosting evident in our standardised test.

Once again, activating the movie preset mode results in the Dynamic Contrast option also being activated, but we didn't take issue with it like we did on the w2448hc. Its changes seemed much more subtle and didn't jar quite as much.

One great thing about this unit is it needs little in the way of calibration. It was fine for most tasks right out of the box. That said, there is a fairly extensive array of options if you do wish to change things, including colour temperature and saturation, brightness and contrast.

The monitor has an HDMI port for high-definition devices, along with the standard DVI and D-Sub connectivity. There are also two USB ports on the side and some integrated speakers, although they are passable at best.

Aesthetically the w2228h is quite attractive, with the aforementioned glossy bezel jutting out slightly from the frame. The screen can also be moved up and down, angled forward and back, and rotated to a portrait view.