Almost every Eizo monitor we’ve reviewed has delivered excellent quality, but has been accompanied by a hefty price — not least because supply to Australia is limited. But while $995 is a lot to spend on a 19in monitor, in the case of the FlexScan S1931SH, you really do get what you pay for.
Take a look at the graphs on page 85 and one thing becomes clear from the start: this isn’t an entertainment LCD. The only reason it doesn’t score six for quality is the fact that it struggled through some of the real-world tests. But this is slightly unfair, since the S1931SH isn’t meant for watching video and playing games.
However, for photo editing and detailed colour work, it’s fabulous. The secret lies in the 10-bit gamma correction (most LCDs sport 8-bit), which effectively upscales the output of your graphics card to use more tones for each primary colour. It’s therefore able to more smoothly blend colours into each other. The result was superb accuracy in all our photo tests.
The only points dropped in the technical tests were due to some minor unevenness in the backlight and a slightly dull white level. Maximum brightness is only 250cd/m2, which provides the explanation, but the 1000:1 contrast means the black level is remarkable and in all other technical tests quality was nearing perfection.
The S1921 comes with a choice of three stands, and the SH model’s Columnar Foot is one of the best this month. It’s height adjustable by 100mm, swivels far enough to be useful and pivots for editing portrait photos. The single upstream USB port allows the ScreenManager software to communicate with the LCD, even changing colour modes automatically for specific applications.
The integrated speakers are poor, but there’s a rare headphone output for convenience. There’s also an ambient light sensor, although as with others here we found this often dimmed the brightness too much, so we quickly disabled it. Finally, it’s a shame the warranty isn’t C&R, but it does cover the LCD for five years.
If you need accurate colours, consider the Eizo. It’s far more affordable than the professional models such as LaCie’s 319 and easily deserves its Recommended award this month.
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