Iiyama Prolite E2207WS-B2

The Prolite E2207WS-B2 is billed as a 22'' monitor that's 'cheap but responsive', and we'd be tempted to agree after looking at its tech specs. 

Note that the E2207WSV that we tested last year looks identical, but has fewer video input: the E2207WS-B2 has DVI and VGA, while its predecessor only had an analogue video input.  From one model to the other, the response time has fallen from 5 ms to 2 ms.  In short: everything has improved and the price has remained just as competitive. 

Nothing has changed in the audio department, with the same pair of 2 W speakers.  That's not going to wow music fans, but at least they're there.  There's nothing else to report, though: no USB ports, no height-adjustable stand, no pivot mode ...

Gaming

Coloured    Transparent
Average ghosting over ten frames

In theory, adjusting the response time from 5 to 2 ms should produce a more fluid display of movements.  In practice, though, what the E2207WS-B2 has instead is reverse ghosting, a sort of dark shadow image that's visible as soon as you set eye on it.  Even more irritatingly, you have to put up with it the whole time as there are no settings available in the menus to combat it.  In our opinion, given the other monitors that are already on sale, this screen is finished for games already.


That doesn't necessarily mean it's entirely unusable, though.  It's perfectly capable of handling office work, and the reverse ghosting effect is only visible when you scroll through a document or web page.  The 19 ms input lag (equivalent to just over one frame's delay) shouldn't pose a problem, either.   Or, put another way, it's entirely invisible to the human eye.

Colours

Colours with Default Settings

The higher the bars, the worse the colours ...

The problems keep on coming with the E2207WS-B2, and we went went on find fault with both its colour handling and brightness.  The latter struggled to make it over 155 cd/m².  To get any further than that and reach a level of 200 cd/m², the recommended brightness for everyday use, you need to dramatically increase the contrast.  The result is that whites become burned out and you're guaranteed a headache if you look at it for too long.

Staying at 150 cd/m² isn't too problematic, though.  It might seem a little dark at first, but your eyes quickly get used to it.  Unfortunately, though, that does nothing to improve the accuracy of the colours.  Black shades tend towards red, while other colours are dominated by blue.  In these conditions, even our best efforts to adjust the settings on the screen couldn't make much improvement.  We measured a DeltaE score of 6.4, but the best screens manage to get under 2.0.  The colours are, therefore, pretty mediocre and won't be good enough for graphics use or photographers ... or anybody else, for that matter.  The contrast, which we measured at 770:1, is about average for today's monitors.    

Finally, as usual, this isn't a screen that can handle video itself.  So, like with other monitors, you'll have to rely on your source to produce a signal with decent upscaling and limited noise.