Hanns.G HL231 monitor review

Recently we looked at the BenQ V2220 LCD monitor with an LED-backlit display and were impressed with the slim-line designs that are possible with this new technology.

Hanns.G is becoming increasingly prominent in the display market, and it's no real surprise to see the firm following suit.

The Hanns.G HL231 is the firm's first LED-based display. It's similarly (but not quite as) slim at 17.5mm, which contributes to an extremely lightweight build and a very stylish design.

The 23in 1920 x 1080 native resolution (1080p) panel is finished in gloss black with a protruding "crystal-like material" (read Perspex protrusion) at the underside that we can only assume is for aesthetic qualities, though the reflection of the controls off this surface does make them slightly easier to locate at a glance.

Our only real issue with the design is that the tilt-stand provided doesn't make for a particularly stable base, which becomes apparent when you realise you need one hand to hold it to the desk when the tilt angle is adjusted. This isn't a major drawback, but does detract somewhat from an otherwise apparently solid design.

Hanns.G offers typical presets for custom environments - PC, eco, movie and games - and these and the other settings are very easy to locate through the on-screen display.

It's difficult to distinguish between the latter two, but we found that colour balance and brightness were effectively adjusted to typical requirements in these environments.

It also offers a range of colour schemes ('nature', 'cool' and 'warm') and manual adjustment. Those who prefer not to mess about with fine-tuning can use the X-contrast mode, which automatically seeks the darkest and lightest areas of an image and enhances contrast to improve clarity. We found this worked very well as the default mode for operation.

Performance is generally very good considering the nature of the display. We saw no real signs of ghosting or blur during faster scenes in games and video, and contrast balance is very effective.

Our main issue is that with the brightest 'PC mode' enabled, which is likely to be the default in well-lit office environments, colours can appear a little washed out. Those looking for better accuracy in this department are unlikely to be shopping at the 'budget' end of the market, however, so we can't be too critical here.

Hanns.G claims a 170-degree viewing angle on the HL231, though we found this a little optimistic. A rather average 160 degrees would be a more accurate measure for those expecting to crowd around the screen.

One advantage is that, in addition to the savings possible from LED-backlighting and the eco-mode if enabled, the display switches to a standby mode when idle, which drops consumption to less than 1W.

On moving the mouse or tapping a key it fires up smoothly in around a second, far quicker than the previous generation of screens.

The HL231 also has built-in speakers but, while these are fairly good in terms of reproduction and a lack of distortion, this is partly because they are very, very quiet, so would really be of use only in favourable environments or for Windows notification sounds.

Overall we were extremely impressed by the HL231. Despite a few minor niggles it performs very well as an all-rounder, is versatile enough to handle games and video playback if need be, offers a range of well-conceived preset modes, is thin and lightweight, and well priced to boot.

23in (1920 x 1080) LED backlight display, 1,000:1 contrast ratio (8,000,000:1 dynamic), 5ms response time, VGA, DVI-D, 3.5mm line-in inputs, 547 x 19 x 352mm, 3.3kg.