Iiyama Prolite B2712HDS review

At 27-inches, the Iiyama Prolite B2712HDS is great for media playback and games alike

Iiyama Prolite B2712HDS
Enjoy your media on the big screen

TechRadar Verdict

Pros

  • +

    Good contrast ratio

  • +

    Quick response times

  • +

    Connections

  • +

    Price

Cons

  • -

    Auto-contrast system not very good

  • -

    Some colour inaccuracies

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The Iiyama Prolite has a native resolution of 1,920 x 1,080 pixels, and will handle HD content from a number of sources thanks to the DVI, HDMI and VGA connectors.

At this price, it shouldn't come as much of a shock that this is a TN panel. Response times are good, with no noticeable blurring in games or movies. Contrast is impressive, with the deep blacks, though whites can be a little washed out – not a problem for gamers, but if you spend a lot of time working or on the internet then a TN panel may not be for you.

The horizontal viewing angle is a bit of a downside, with a yellow tint creeping in on lighter areas of the screen if it's not viewed straight on. This is only really an issue if you're planning get the whole family round to watch a film.

The screen brightness is set extremely high by default. This is fine for gaming and watching movies, but your eyes won't thank you if you leave it in this mode for general work and web browsing. The contrast is easy enough to turn down, or alternatively, if you want to leave the brightness high for media, you can use the often-ignored Economy mode.

The other unusual default setting is the Automatic Contrast Ratio option. The problem here isn't the concept, but the implementation. Instead of smoothly adjusting the light levels to make the most out of the contrast and lighting present, it jumps up or down in large steps.

This means everything suddenly gets brighter or darker depending on what you're doing. When you're browsing or working, a sudden jump in lighting can be unsettling. Thankfully it can be turned off and ignored from that point forward.

Overall, this is an incredible screen for the money. It's big, bright and versatile, which makes it a bargain – especially for films and games.

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