Iiyama ProLite E511S-B

Verdict: Sharp enough to cut the umbilical cord between CRT monitors and their fans

Isuppose I should start this review with a confession, 'Hello, my name is James, and I'm a CRT monitor fanboy'. Until today, I was a staunch supporter of the CRT monitor. I'm a fully paid-up member of the militant CFLB (CRTs For Life Brigade), and can't stand the sight of a poxy little TFT monitor on a silly, spindly little stand wobbling all over the desk.

It would be fair to say that until very recently TFT monitors were simply rubbish for gaming or even watching movies. The reason? The crappy little pixels couldn't be updated quickly enough, so you could see ghostly shadows lagging behind fast-moving images. Sure, you could save a load of desk space by using a TFT rather than a CRT, but you don't want to see double in games. Fortunately, things have moved forward and there are now loads of fast-response TFT monitors around for not too much money, although they're nearly all of the 17in variety.

A 17in TFT monitor is all well and good, but as the maximum resolution is limited to 1,280 x 1,024, you'll need a monitor capable of running higher resolutions to tempt diehard CRT fanatics away from their 21in Diamondtron pride and joy. Enter the Iiyama ProLite E511S-B. It's a 20in active matrix TFT monitor that's available in either black (E511S-B) or boring old beige (E511S). Bigger is always better when it comes to monitors, and 20in is really a bit of magic size. That's because most 19in TFTs are limited to a maximum resolution of 1,280 x 1,024, the same limitation as a 17in TFT, which begs the question: why spend more to get the same? Sure, images will be slightly larger on a 19in TFT, but you won't really be buying yourself any more screen real estate.

As a 20in TFT, the E511S-B can run up to 1,600 x 1,200 at 60Hz, so it can display loads more than any 17in or 19in TFT. More importantly, it's the first fast-response TFT capable of running this resolution that won't require you to sell your entire family into slavery to afford it. At just over £700, including all the taxman's nasty little tricks, it's not exactly cheap, but considering that a comparable quality 21in Diamondtron CRT will set you back £500, it's actually very aggressively priced.

Anybody who has the pleasure (nee luxury) of running Windows and playing games at 1,600 x 1,200 will find it painful to go back to a monitor running at a lower resolution, so the E511S-B is a joy to use. The Windows desktop is sharp and clear, making web browsing or, dare I say it, word processing, a real pleasure.

But fire up a game at 1,600 x 1,200 and the real strength of the E511S-B comes to the fore. The high-detail textures in Unreal Tournament 2003 are so sharp and focused they practically jump right off the screen. The dark murky shadows no longer provide protection for any lurking guards in Splinter Cell as you can now spot them a mile off. Most enjoyable, though, are the vibrant colours displayed on-screen. Blasting an enemy apart in Unreal Tournament 2003 results in a huge gush of viscous arterial red blood pumping into the air - a real treat for the eyes. If you're not as bloodthirsty as I am, then I'm sure that The Sims will look just as good (ahem!), while DVD movies such as Predator look good too (that's enough blood - Ed).

And because the screen has such a fast response time - a mere 16ms - you won't experience any ghosting or shadows lagging behind fast-moving images. I do have one minor complaint, though - the E511S-B takes a long time to switch between different resolutions when you're playing a game that runs at a different resolution to its menus. It only takes a couple of seconds for the monitor to adjust, but it's still quite annoying.

There are both D-SUB and DVI signal inputs, but Iiyama only supplies a D-SUB cable as standard. The monitor is powered directly from the mains, so you don't have to faff about with an external power brick. A pair of 2W speakers are integrated into the lower edge of the bezel. Considering how bad most integrated speakers sound, these speakers are actually pretty good, although there isn't all that much bass to go around.

CONCLUSION

Any monitor costing close to £700 must be something pretty special, and the Iiyama ProLite E511S-B meets our criteria head on. It's one of the few big-screen fast-response TFTs available right now and produces simply gorgeous-looking images. Gaming at 1,600 x 1,200 on a monitor that's just a few inches thick and tips the scales at a mere 8.2kg (making it perfect for taking to LAN parties) is a real pleasure, and may well tempt a few diehard CRT fans away from their 30kg glass behemoths.