MaximumPC 2008 10

the new wave of LCDs

We are ashamed to have mentally cast off

Envision’s G2219w1 at fi rst glance because

it looked like a budget monitor. It’s budget

in price only, for this 22-inch display off ers

exceptional picture quality for its class.

It wasn’t perfect, though—Envision’s dis-

play didn’t reach the same level of gray detail

at the dark end of the grayscale as Gateway’s,

but it was extremely close. Envision’s display

beat out Gateway’s at the light end of the spec-

trum by, again, a very close margin.

Given their relative similarity in black-

and-white gradients, we didn’t expect to see

a huge diff erence in the monitors’ respective

color saturations. But the G2219w1 was able to

display a full range of lighter colors against a

white background far better than the HD2201.

The latter showed acceptable performance

on its blue and red shades and completely

crapped out with its greens.

Given its strong DisplayMate performance,

we expected the G2219w1 to perform well

with real-world content. And it did. While the

overall color saturation was stronger on the

G2219w1 than the HD2201, the latter brought

out additional detail and improved coloration

in darker scenes. For example, we’d much

prefer the HD2201’s picture when staring at

the murky steps at the beginning of BioShock,

but we’d take the G2219w1’s depiction of the

fl ames in the game’s opening scene any day.

No banding or color-tracking issues

popped up in our tests, nor did the display

suff er from any image ghosting or other

abnormalities in our real-world tests. But we

did encounter a frustrating problem with the

display’s DVI input. Due to the proximity of

the port to the display’s base, it was diffi cult

to attach a DVI cable to the monitor. It wasn’t

enough to reduce our appreciation of this dis-

play’s overall prowess, however. We place this

monitor above the Gateway HD2201 in overall

quality. It’s not a perfect 22-inch display, but

it’s the best one we’ve ever tested.

Envision

G2219w1

We can envision only a

few improvements for

this sweet monitor

46 | MAXIMUMPC | OCT 08 | http://www.maximumpc.com

We want to like this monitor, but too many

issues stand in the way.

In DisplayMate, Gateway’s HD2201 con-

sistently reproduced dark grayscale values,

pushing out more dark shades of gray against

a black background than we typically fi nd

from monitors of its class. The same can’t be

said of the HD2201’s merely average ability to

reproduce light shades of gray against white.

When tasked with reproducing Display-

Mate’s more demanding grayscale ranges,

the HD2201’s performance was marred by

banding, in which dark lines of compression

disrupted what should be a smooth, contigu-

ous transition. Mild color-tracking issues were

also evident in these scenarios. This problem

makes shades of gray take on a subtle red,

green, or blue hue at random intervals. And

like Planar’s 22-inch LCD, the HD2201’s grays

are tinted warm by default, in both Display-

Mate and real-world environments.

The display’s defi ciencies resulted in

diminished detail in brighter scenes, such as

the fl aming wreckage of BioShock’s opening

segment. Still, the HD2201’s contrast, colors,

and detail shine in darker scenes—thanks

to an assist from the display’s glossy panel.

Such screens tend to produce richer colors

and a deeper black than matte panels, and the

HD2201 is no exception.

The monitor is laden with connection

options, though it lacks optimized presets for

diff erent multimedia content.

Even given its technical failings, the

HD2201’s splendid darker coloration and

input options are enough to squeak it past dis-

plays like Planar’s PL2210MW—but barely so.

Were it not for the HD2201’s glossy panel, we

don’t think we’d be as impressed with this

monitor’s picture.

SPECIFICATIONS

VIEWABLE AREA 22”

NATIVE RESOLUTION 1680x1050

INPUTS VGA, DVI, HDMI, Component

PANEL TYPE TN

SPECIFICATIONS

VIEWABLE AREA 22”

NATIVE RESOLUTION 1680x1050

INPUTS VGA, DVI

PANEL TYPE TN

VERDICT

$320, http://www.gateway.com^7

GATEWAY HD2201

Gateway

HD2201

Technical fl aws reduce

the value of this monitor

We would ask that sub-

sequent versions of the

G2219w1 address the

limited space between

the display’s stand and

its DVI connector.

VERDICT

$270, http://www.envisiondisplay.com^8

ENVISION G2219W1