Hanns.G may not be a familiar name to most PC users in this country, but this branch of the HannStar Corporation (which manufactures niche panel and LCD TV products) has already started to make an impact on the monitor market in the UK.

The HW191DP 19-inch monitor is slimline with a stylish silver frame and the controls deliberately concealed along the right edge. Aesthetically pleasing as this may be, it does mean you have to swivel the monitor every time you want to initiate an action or access the menu. The base, though, is sturdy and easy to attach, presenting you with a fairly basic 0-20 degree monitor angle. The overall horizontal viewing angle is 150 degrees, with 135 degrees for the vertical.

The accessories include a VGA cable, audio cable, user's manual (on CD, together with the necessary drivers) and a Quick Start guide. The OSD menu, which is explained in the manual, lets you tweak everything from the usual colour, contrast and brightness to phase adjustment, transparency, language and even DOS mode.

So, you ask, is there no digital connection? Yes there is a DVI-D port as well, but for reasons only known to Hanns.G no relevant cable is supplied. Apart from this irritation, it's both unusual and very welcome to have dual option available in a monitor at such a low cost, with the ability to switch between VGA and DVI.

Apart from the power lead, there's only one other input and that's for a basic audio cable. Without doubt you're going to need to supplement that because the two inbuilt speakers are tiny in size and output (2 x 1W) and sound suitably tinny. Call us greedy but maybe in the next upgrade a headphone socket and USB port could be relatively inexpensive but handy additions.

All that aside, the monitor certainly delivers when it comes to quality of picture. The widescreen (16:10) display offers 16.2 million colours at a resolution of 1,440 x 900 which results in vibrantly sharp and vivid colours. Gamers in particular will be happy with the 5ms response time, contrast ratio of 700:1 and 300 cd/m2 brightness. Shooting games like F.E.A.R., which rely on plenty of special effects and strong light and dark shading, virtually leap off the screen and DVD movies maintain authentic colour reproduction and strong dark tones.

Slim and elegant, this is a no-frills monitor of decent quality that allows you to alternate between analogue and digital sources at a surprisingly affordable price.