Digimate L-2647WDH review

At £253, Digimate’s L-2647WDH is the cheapest 26in monitor here, although not by a huge margin.

The design doesn’t reflect the price, though: with a glossy black bezel and a mix of glossy and matt plastic on the base, it looks a lot more expensive than it is.

The menu buttons are located on the bottom edge of the screen and use the same system as ViewSonic’s VA2626wm: two pairs of keys, one pair to select and go back, and one pair to navigate menu options. The keys are tactile and once you understand the logic of the system, you can use them easily without having to look at them.

Unsurprisingly for a monitor at the budget end of the 26in category, the L-2647WDH doesn’t come with a fully adjustable stand. You can only adjust the tilt of the screen, although as the hinge is at the bottom you can easily tilt it by grabbing the top edge of the monitor. However, it doesn’t pivot forwards, so you won’t be able to place it above your eye line.

The L-2647WDH’s images are slightly darker than those of the other 26in models, with lower contrast, and colours appear more faded. Although it’s possible to adjust the basic colour temperature, the L-2647WDH doesn’t include the advanced options found on NEC’s EA261WM. Colour accuracy was good, however, and the L-2647WDH looked more natural than many other monitors here, although a slight blue tint was visible.

An HDMI port means you can plug a Blu-ray player directly into this monitor. However, its native resolution of 1,920×1,200 means that 1,920×1,080 full-HD movies will be streched to fill the screen or displayed with large black bars at the top and the bottom. This shouldn’t be too distracting, though.

Its high native resolution makes the L-2647WDH great for everyday use, but movies and games lack the punch of others in this category. It’s great value, but an extra £47 will get you the style, flexibility and punchier picture quality of Samsung’s 2693HM.