Iiyama Vision Master Pro 513

I chose this particular make of monitor for two reasons. Firstly, I have a friend who chooses Iiyama for his web design business and he was singing their praises. They produce a stable and detailed image suitable for professional use so that was a good start.

Secondly, I wanted a really large monitor for PC games and this one's a whopper. It's a 22". The latest releases with their tremendous detail and realism come to life on this massive screen. DVDs seem perfectly clear.

One thing I noticed on this monitor that I hadn't experienced before was the loud and clunky way it selects it's screen resolution for games and at certain other times. I'm used to that now but I thought it worth mentioning.

The degauss function is easy to find when you work out the menus and identify how to operate it but a simple button marked, 'degauss,' would have been nice.

In Windows XP I found that Quake 3 (my favourite game) appeared to flicker and that was uncomfortable to look at. This turned out to be something that could be solved by turning up the refresh rate to 85 instead of the default 60.

Only today a friend thinking of buying a new monitor for his gaming came to visit and Iiayma is the direction he's heading in too. They appear to have a good reputation among online gamers.

For me there is only one downside and this is it: although the screen size is impressive and the flatscreen picture a joy to behold, please consider the 'footprint' of this monitor. It's a heavy thing and it goes back a long way on your desk.

In fact, it goes back so far that, in my case, I could only make room for my keyboard by actually pulling the desk itself a foot or so away from the wall behind it. Then I was able to slide it back further and it became a bit more viable.

So, to sum up: this is a great monitor but it goes back quite a way. If you have the room then the Iiyama Vision Master Pro 513 could be a good choice. If space is a priority then LCDs are improving all the time.