Hyundai L22WG review

Hyundai’s L22WG is the cheapest 22in LCD TV we’ve reviewed this month.

Like the other televisions in this category, it uses a more standard 1,680×1,050 resolution, as opposed to the 16:9 1,920×1,080 widescreen format found on BenQ’s E2200HD. Unlike Toshiba’s 22DV555DB, however, the L22WG supports the full 1,680×1,050 pixels under Windows when using the VGA input.

Setting up Freeview channels took four minutes, and the picture quality wasn’t worth the wait. While the colours were vibrant, the image looked fuzzy and suffered from a lot of noise, and there’s no digital noise reduction to compensate for this. Contrast was terrible, so if you try to compensate for the over-exuberance of the colours, the picture becomes faded and detail is lost. Movies looked overblown and lacked detail in dark and light areas. The only compensation was the fact that the built-in speakers were loud and clear.

PC connection was hampered by the fact that the input has to be chosen manually. We were immediately struck by the lack of contrast. Windows looked washed out, and no matter what we did to try to improve it, we couldn’t get detail, especially in bright images. The dated menu system is basic, and you’ll need to use the remote control to navigate it because the buttons under the screen are fiddly and it’s easy to press the wrong one.

Games also suffered from the awful contrast ratio. We hoped the rich colours would bring out the best in our gaming test, but they looked distinctly faded.

What seemed at first to be vibrant colours turned out to be an overcompensation for the lack of contrast ratio. As soon as you try to tone down the colours to achieve accuracy, the picture becomes washed out and lifeless.

If you’re looking for a monitor, BenQ’s E2200HD is a better choice. If you want a TV as well, LG’s 22LG3000 is worth the extra.