It seems like only yesterday that the sweet spot for TFT displays was the 19-inch panel, but some pricing adjustment by all the major players has resulted in sentiment moving towards the 22-inch panel. Although these larger displays have the same resolution as a 20-inch monitor, they are seen as having the more marketable size.

Iiyama, once one of the major players in the monitor market, especially in the CRT days, has been in the doldrums in the UK market for a while, but returns to the fray with a well priced 22-inch TFT, the Prolite E2200WS-B.

This unit has a contrast ration of 1,000:1, a native resolution of 1,680 by 1,050 pixels and, with a 5ms response time, it's ideal for the current crop of games. The Prolite E2200WS-B can connect to either analogue or digital video cards, as it has both 9-pin D-sub and DVI-D sockets on the back, while the only other port joining these two on the rear panel is a speaker socket.

As you would expect from Iiyama, the build quality is very good, although the overall design is nothing to write home about with the emphasis on function rather than style. The base provides backward and forward tilt and that's it; no height adjustment or swivel facility.

The black bezel has two 1W speakers built into the bottom edge, but these are best left alone as the sound quality isn't up to much. Above the speakers sit six clearly labelled and easy to use control buttons (power switch, menu access, two menu choice, auto and input) which make using the OSD simple and straightforward.

Straight out of the box the Prolite E2200WS-B gives good results with accurate, warm skin tones, but with a little bit of tinkering the images can be made better, as the factory defaults have the contrast set to high and a reduction in the red level helps no end.

Even though its brightness is quoted at 300cd/m2, it's not the brightest model around. Having said that, it still gives a decent white level, but it is prone to having slight bleeds at the top and bottom edges. With its 1,000:1 contrast ratio the Prolite E2200WS has a decent level of blackness.

Although the Prolite E2200WS-B is fine for watching DVD and video it's hampered when it comes to HD content. Its 1,050 lines support 720p HD DVD files but not 1080 and above, and in any case it's not HDCP compliant. Iiyama backs the Prolite E2200WS-B with a three-year warranty.

The Prolite E2200WS-B is pretty impressive but is hampered by having to compete against better equipped 20-inch widescreens units. But if you must have those extra couple of inches then it's not a bad choice for the money.