HannsG HL251DPB

In the past, HannsG has managed to create a pleasant surprise on two separate occasions by producing monitors that represent great value for money with a great display quality.  We first developed a taste for the manufacturer's screens with the success of the HG281DJ, followed by the HH251HP.  Since then, we tested the HH241HP, which was a lot less impressive.  The Taiwanese monitor maker is back with a new 25'' display, the HL251DPB, so we took it for a test to see whether it would rate as a pleasant surprise or disappointing failure.

Hardware: Two inputs, two speakers ...

It's been a long time since we've tested a monitor with such disappointing hardware.  We haven't seen anything this basic for over three years, in fact, and today, speakers and a single VGA and DVI input just don't cut it.  Without any other accessories or an adjustable stand, it's hard to see how any monitor could score more than a single point in this section.

In reality, not having a HDMI port isn't the biggest problem ever, but it more or less rules out using this monitor with a games console, IPTV box or DVD/Blu-ray player.  If you just want to use it as a computer monitor for working on documents or editing photos, then you won't miss it.

Responsiveness: great for gamers

Responsiveness
Light Background	Dark Background	Average

This graph shows the time, measured in ms, that the monitor takes to entirely remove the previous frame. The shorter the time, the more fluid moving images will appear

 

The HL251DPB is very responsive, with a ghosting time of around 10 ms. 120 Hz monitors apart, that makes it one of the fastest 2 ms TN displays we've tested. To complete the picture, its input lag is invisible to the naked eye. To put that in more practical terms, it'll be a faithful companion to your gaming sessions, whether you're playing at home or online. Only a 120 Hz monitor could do better at displaying the fast-moving objects so common in FPS games more smoothly.

Colours: calibration strongly recommended

With the default settings, no single colour dominates the HL251DPB's output: instead, they all need reworking.  The colour temperature of grey is just about right, but the deltaE of every other colour we tested (there are around 25) was over 3.0, the usual maximum limit for colours to be considered accurate.


Despite our very best efforts, we couldn't do anything to improve the situation, and so we're forced to conclude that the monitor has an average deltaE of 4.6.  The only way to improve that is to calibrate it using your own equipment and specialist software.  If that isn't an option, you can try downloading a colour calibration profile.

The contrast ratio reaches 913:1.  Although that might be a long way short of the best of the bunch, which get up to 2500:1, at least we're above the average figure for our lab, 850:1.

Movies: as bad as ever

There's nothing good to say about the HL251DPB's performance with films: it's as bad as every other computer monitor we've tested.  As ever, you need to make sure you have a decent player so you can have decent upscaling of SD sources, whether that means using an external device or software.