Eizo Flexscan L985EX

Eizo's latest LCD screen allows fine image adjustment and remote management

The Flexscan L985EX from Eizo is a large-format TFT LCD monitor aimed at graphics specialists, allowing a high level of control over its on-screen image. It is the first monitor IT Week has seen that supports administrator tools to let IT staff manage it, with a security feature to disable the screen when it is removed from a corporate LAN.

The L985EX, available now, has a screen diagonal of 21.3in and a native resolution of 1600x1200 pixels. In tests, we were impressed with the L985EX's image quality. The screen was uniformly well lit and showed no defects such as dead pixels. We could use Eizo's Screen Administrator tool - available separately - to remotely lock down the monitor's on-screen display (OSD) menu system, and to set and retrieve asset tracking information stored on the monitor itself.

Because TFT screens are often costly, firms will approve of the device's security feature. However, this can only be activated through the Screen Administrator tool. Once activated, the monitor tries to contact Screen Administrator whenever the PC it is attached to boots up. If it does not find Screen Administrator, the screen displays a warning, then turns itself off after a few minutes. We advise IT staff to use this feature with caution, as it could lock out legitimate users if the system running Screen Administrator were to go offline.

Using Screen Administrator, asset tracking data as well as a firm's name and contact details can be stored on each screen. This can be viewed from the OSD, which could aid recovery in the event of a stolen screen being found. The L985EX also has a slot for a security chain.

The L985EX ships with a tool called Screen Manager Pro that lets users adjust its settings from Windows instead of the OSD. While it replicates most OSD functions, the Windows tool also offers five Fine Contrast modes with default brightness and colour settings for applications such as desktop publishing or image editing, plus a sixth custom mode. Users can assign a Fine Contrast mode to a particular application, so the monitor automatically switches over when the application runs.

Each Fine Contrast mode has adjustable attributes such as colour temperature, gamma, saturation, and the intensities of the primary and secondary colours. External mode even allows the user to specify the colour space co-ordinates for the L985EX, allowing it to emulate the characteristics of other displays.

Screen Manager Pro communicates with the L985EX through a USB connection, which is also required for the Screen Administrator client. However, although Screen Manager Pro is able to run under Windows 98, Me, 2000 and XP, the Screen Administrator client only supports Windows 2000. Screen Administrator itself can run under Windows 2000 Professional or Server, but comes with a USB dongle - an electronic key - that must be attached to the administrator system whenever the program is up and running.

The Flexscan L985EX has two video inputs - a standard VGA-style port and a digital video interface (DVI) that supports analogue or digital signals. The power supply is integrated into the rear of the panel.

The L985EX can be used with a Vesa-compliant arm-mounting instead of its own stand. Its own stand lets the display rotate through 90­ for landscape or portrait orientation. But to make use of this capability, users will require a tool such as Pivot Pro - available separately from Portrait Displays - to rotate the screen image to match.

Price: £1,329 + VAT; Screen Administrator £189 + VAT up to 10 clients

Contact: Eizo or UK distributor Avnet on 01483 719500

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