Philips Brilliance 234CL review

Strangely, these presets seemed to have no link with the manual image controls, and with no User option, you can’t save your favourite setup as a SmartImage preset. We tried turning brightness down and contrast up, but we couldn’t correct the washed-out image, and the SmartContrast figure, while it added more contrast, also introduced edge sharpening that added an unnatural sheen to images.

A matt finish helps to reduce the glare from reflected overhead lighting, and we were pleased to find that the backlight was evenly bright. We’ve been spoiled by some great screens recently, so although colours seemed muted to us, they are still natural, as long as you leave the screen at its default settings.

Those looking for an LED-backlit monitor purely for aesthetic purposes might initially be drawn to the 234CL’s svelte screen, but on closer inspection the finish will turn them off. Meanwhile, image quality isn’t any better than most CCFL-backlit monitors, and worse than some we’ve seen. There really is no justification for the premium on this model, and the build quality is disappointing. For less money, you can get the larger Iiyama ProLite E2409HDS, which has far better image quality, and will turn heads for the right reasons.