Iiyama ProLite B2274HDS-B2

The new ProLite B2274HDS-B2 has the same basic specs as the ProLite B2274HDS-B1, which scored four stars in our original review.  Now that Iiyama has launched a successor to its 22'' Full HD monitor with a 2 ms response time, will it manage to maintain its predecessor's strengths—accurate colour reproduction, responsiveness and a practical design—and iron out its main weakness, below average contrast?  Let's take a closer look ...

Design: that stand works wonders

It's impossible to tell the two version of the B2274HDS apart just by looking at them.  The same three video inputs, VGA, DVI and HDMI are still there, while 2 x 1 W speakers pick up the audio from the HDMI cable.  If you'd rather use a DVI or VGA cable, which don't carry sound, a mini-jack line-in is also available at the back.

The stand is hardly the most attractive piece of design we've ever seen but it's very handy, allowing you to slide the monitor up and down and rotate the display to portrait mode.  Being able to get it lined up just right for working or playing gives it a clear advantage over most other monitors we test and means that the B2274HDS earns four stars in this section

Ghosting and Input Lag: B2 beaten by the B1?

What's going on?!  The first version of the B2274HDS had very limited ghosting once it was set up correctly, but the B2 leaves us choosing between a rock and a hard place with ghosting times equivalent to a 5 ms TN display or reverse ghosting.  Very disappointing ...

Responsiveness
Light Background	Dark Background	Average

That means we can only recommend this new version for office work, but you'll still need to make sure 'OD', Iiyama's name for overdrive, is turned off.  You'll find plenty of other monitors if you're looking to play games, even if you only pay very little attention to how sharply fast-moving objects are rendered.

At the same time, the input lag is low, meaning that at least it won't be your monitor holding you back if you do decide to use it in multiplayer mode.

Colours: same old story ...

Here again the new version of the B2274HDS is a disappointment.  With the first version, we enjoyed an average deltaE of 2.9 with the default settings which fell to just 2.3 once it was configured properly.  Here though, we had to make do with a default deltaE of 4.4 that we couldn't improve upon despite our very best efforts.  The only way to hope for more accurate colour reproduction is to try a calibration profile.

deltaE with the default settings

The only good news is that the contrast ratio is now 890:1 instead of 740:1 on the earlier model.  That's pretty slim pickings compared to all of the other problems that have crept in in the meantime ...