Iiyama Prolite
XUB2495WSU-B1
Do adjust your set
In case you’ve been wondering, it’s nothing to do with llamas. Iiyama, spelled with a double ‘i’, is pronounced by its Japanese employees something like ‘ee-yamma’, although Brits are permitted to make it rhyme with ‘karma’. The company has been in business since 1973, and always specialised in monitors, having started out making components for TV sets. So it’s not surprising that they’ve got pretty good at it, and the discreet logo, with an infinity symbol linking those two i’s, is found on many of the best affordable screens.
The XUB2495WSU-B1 is a 24in monitor, smaller than the popular 27in size, but has a resolution of 1920x1200 pixels, giving Full HD plus a bit of extra height. This is a good compromise between widescreen, which suits video-watching and side-by-side windows, and a squarer format to fit more of a long document or web page on screen without scrolling.
With narrow bezels on the top and sides, it looks elegant from the front, although there’s no room for a built-in webcam. You do get basic stereo speakers, a headphone jack and a four-port USB 2.0 hub, and there are HDMI, Displayport and old-school VGA inputs to cater for most PCS.
The main selling point of this model, though, is at the back, where its chunky plastic stand offers an exceptional range of height, swivel and tilt adjustment as well as the abililty to rotate into portrait mode. Intended for offices where workers need to stay comfortable all day, it’s a bonus for anyone who wants to avoid back or neck problems by positioning their screen carefully: see www.snipca. com/30309 for tips, but you’ll need to find what suits you best.
Our test meter found the IPS LCD panel, which has a 60Hz refresh rate, covered just under 98 per cent of the SRGB colour range and exceeded Iiyama’s brightness and contrast claims, making it better than average for a reasonably priced desktop PC monitor.
A Delta E of 2.43 means colour accuracy won’t satisfy graphics professionals, and backlight drop-off in the corners reached 11.5 per cent. That’s fine for general work and even casual photo editing, but the similarly priced AOC X24P1 did slightly better across the board, is also adjustable and has USB 3.1 ports rather than USB 2.0, so it’s the better buy if this size and shape appeals.
A well connected monitor with a wide range of height, swivel and tilt adjustment