PC Pro - UK 2021-12)

@PCPRO FACEBOOK.COM/PCPRO LabsMonitors

HP’scommitmenttogreatbuild XUB 2492 HSU-B 1

qualityisobvious,butinallother

areasthismonitorfallsbehind

Everythingweexpectfrom

Iiyama:lowonfrills,solidon

quality,aggressiveonprice

Thismonitorfallsbehindthebest

forquality,althoughsome

featureswillappealtoITteams

PRICE£235(£282incVAT)

fromyouritdelivered.com

PRICE£138(£165incVAT)fromscan.co.uk

PRICE£278(£336incVAT)

fromuk.insight.com

H

Piscurrentlypromotingtwo

variantsoftheEliteDisplayE243 on

itswebsite:the£347E243dwith an

additionalUSB-Cconnection fordocking,

andthe£2 39 E243mwitha webcamand

built-inspeakers(butnoUSB-C).TheE243

istheoriginalbutnotthebest,withno

reasontooptforitoverthecheaperE243m

forinstance.

Still,thisbasemodelhasthesamepanel

specificationandgeneral design,soyou’ll

knowwhattoexpectif youdochoosethe

E243m.Tostart with,anaccomplishedif

unadventurous23.8inIPSpanelwitha

1,920x 1,080resolution,andonethat

proveda solidperformerinourtests:it

covers90%of thesRGBgamutoutof100%

volume, andcanjust aboutstretchto71%of

theDCI-P3colourspace.

WhileHP offersa bunchofcolour

profiles,atbesttheychangethecolour

temperatureforeasierreading (LowBlue

Lightor Night mode).TherearePhotoand

Multimediamodes,but alltheyservedtodo

inourtestswastodropcontrastfromthe

panel’s native1,400:1toaround1,200:1.We

don’tseethepoint. Some usersswearbythe

HPEnhance+mode,whichismeantto

enhancecontrastandsharpness,butonthis

panelitmadezerodifferencetomeasured

contrastandonlysharpenededges.

Therearepluspointsto theEliteDisplay.

Theonscreen displayisquicktorespondto

controls(evenifit’sannoying to navigate),

andthethinedgesandsleek lines givethe

display a modern,almost designerlook.

Thehardwareisrobustlybuiltandrotates

smoothlyinto portraitmode,too,andit’s

alwaysniceto seeUSB-Aportseasily

accessible from theside.

Alltold, though, theEliteDisplay E 243

doesn’tperforminanelitemannerinthis

company.Ifanything,itlivesat theother

endofthescale.

I

t’sa signofthetimesthatwhenwe

testedIiyama’salmostidentical ProLite

XUB2493HSU-B1lastyear(seeissue

313 ,p 76 ),itcost£130.Thisyearseesa £ 35

jumpforverymarginalgains,butthat’s the

faultofmarketforcesratherthanIiyama–

andinthecontextofothermonitors,this

23.8inscreenisstillsuperbvalue.

Itsbiggest strengthis thewhites

generatedbyitsIPSpanel,whetherthat’sin

theStandardmodeorthe 650 0Koption

(there’snosRGBpreset).Itwasslightlyoff

that 6 500Ktarget– we measured 62 71K–

butit’sclose,anditcoversa respectable

88%ofthesRGBgamutwithanaverage

DeltaE of 1.46.That’snotperfect,buta

maximumof 3.52means youcanbefairly

confidentofthecolours youseeonthe

screen.We wouldn’trecommendthispanel

tophotographers,however,asit’sonly

capableofcoveringaround65%ofAdobe

RGBand68%ofDCI-P3colourspaces.

Iiyamaincludesa pairof basic2W

speakers,but,as is so often thecase,these

aretooweakformusic.Thinkvideocalls

instead. Basicisagainthewordtodescribe

theinputs,withnoUSB-C inputbut a trio of

DisplayPort,HDMIand(unusually)VGA

connectors.There’sa USBhubtoo, butboth

areUSB2 andtucked awayattherear.We’ll

usetheword“functional”forthe onscreen

display, whichiscontrolledbyfive

bottom-mountedbuttons.It’snotintuitive,

butyou’reunlikelytouseitthatoften

beyondcontrollingthebrightness,withour

samplehittingamaximumof264cd/m^2

comparedto thestatedfigureof 250 cd/m^2.

Wherethismonitorgoesbeyond the

basics areitsslim bezels (aside from the

bottomone)to giveanairofstyleaswellas

makingit a goodchoicefora dual-display

setup,andpraise tooforthestand’s130mm

ofheightadjustmentandsupportforpivot.

S

harpNECisoneofonlytwo

companies to sendawhite

monitorintothis Labs,andwhata

refreshingchangeitis.Asidefromthe

USB-Ccable,eventhesuppliedcables

arewhite. This reflectsits saintlyethos,

withEcooptionsabounding,andthere’s

evena “humansensor”thatyoucan

activatetoswitch offthescreenonce

theusermovesawayfromthedisplay.

Ifwhiteisn’tforyou,incidentally,a

blackversionisalsoavailable.

ThisisoneofthemoreIT-friendly

monitors aroundthankstosupport

fornetworkadministrationsoftware,

allowingteamsto lockdowncontrols.

Notthat most userswillenjoythe

experienceofnavigatingthemenu

themselves,witha clumsy hierarchythat

ensuresevensimple taskssuchaschanging

brightnessinvolveseveralkeypresses.

Thereareoptions to change thecolour

presets, butit’sfiddlingattheedges. You

mightaswellkeepthepanelinitsnative

settings,whichwillgive you86%coverage

ofthesRGBgamutand 6 9%oftheDCI-P3.

A punchy1,352:1contrasthelps,andwe’re

happywitha 6424Kcolourtemperature

againsta 6 500 K target,butcolouraccuracy

ispoorcomparedtorivalswith an average

of1.51andmaximumvaluesof5.41.

Thephenomenallyflexiblestandearns

theEA242F a fewplaudits,with a whopping

35°backwardstilt(handyforkiosks)and a

150mmofheight adjustment. Addthebuild

quality you’dexpectofanNECdisplayanda

comprehensivethree-yearwarranty,and

thisfeelslikea monitorthatcanbepressed

intopublic-facingservice.NotetheDICOM

colourmodeformedical audiences,too.

Thisallhelpstojustifyitsrelativelyhigh

price,andwe canseeits appealto vertical

industries,buttherearebetterchoicesfor

general officeduties.

SCORE

SCORE

SCORE

2

4

• 2
  5
  IN
  M
  O
  N
  IT
  O
  R
  1 , 920 x S
  1 , 080 23.^8 in

90 %

sRGB

71 %

DCI-P 3

1 , 920 x

1 , 080 23.^8 in

88 %

sRGB

68 %

DCI-P 3

1 , 920 x

1 , 080 24 in

86 %

sRGB

69 %

DCI-P 3