Iiyama ProLite E2409HDS review

Iiyama’s ProLite E2409HDS seems great value on paper for a Full HD 24in monitor, but its plain design would look more at home in a business environment. Unlike a business monitor, however, it comes with both DVI and HDMI inputs, as well as VGA, and includes a headphone output so you can watch late-night films without waking the neighbours.

It’s not only business users who have to worry about bills, and if you also want to help save the environment, the E2409HDS’s Eco mode might help to assuage your guilt. Each mode lists how much energy it’s saving you in watts, and in our tests these figures were pretty accurate. If your room is dark enough to still be able to read the screen, the -25W mode actually reduces power draw from 40W to about 18W, which is better than most LED monitors achieve.

However it’s at full brightness that the E2409HDS shines, and it gives some LED-backlit monitors a run for their money. Even with a matt finish on the screen, we found colours to be vibrant and natural, with no discernable colour cast. With its bright and even backlight, the 2409HDS has excellent contrast, showing up the detail in dark areas, for example in our test copy of The Dark Knight.

We found the E2409HDS’s menu system a bit basic – the buttons aren’t clearly marked, but they behave in a standard way once you work out which is which. As well as basic image quality controls, you get six preset modes to suit a variety of tasks such as Internet and Movie. Colours controls include Gamma, plus three colour temperature presets, sRGB and user modes.

There’s a small set of internal speakers, but they aren’t much use as they’re very quiet. They project the sound from the rear of the case, so if the monitor’s not placed in front of a wall then you’ll hardly hear them.

While it may not have the same natural image quality as more expensive monitors such as the LG E2750V, the flexibility of the three inputs means it can fit into any environment, and at this price it’s great value. However the HannsG HF257H has similar image quality, a larger screen and costs less.