Hyundai ImageQuest L90D+ Alabama

Rating: 8/10

The term, 'Gaming LCD', has long been seen as a contradiction in terms by the gaming nobility. To utter such a thing has, in the past, been enough to consign many to eternal shame and damnation - well, almost. Enter, the L90D+. Touting an 8ms pixel response time, it promises a serious improvement in displaying fast moving images and, therefore, a considerable reduction in 'ghosting' - the blurring of moving images - within games. Both DVI-D and VGA ports exist to allow for both digital and analog connection. A headphone port and audio input port to enable use of the monitor's speakers are also present. Though integrated speakers are not exactly famed for their quality, I found that the two 2 watt strips on this model produced clear and crisp, if slightly 'tinny' sound. While not sufficient for involved gaming, they provided entirely satisfactory audio for general PC use. Sporting a blue status LED (when not in standby), the monitor is certainly not an ugly creature while its thin silver bezel manages to emphasise the 19" panel and 1280x1024 resolution. In aesthetic terms, the stand is the only real let down.

It is able to tilt, rotate and adjust the monitor's height, yet there is no swivel capability and its grey and lacklustre plastic does not quite do the main feature justice. Build quality is high, though, as has been the case with other Hyundai models, the buttons you'll need to turn down the searing 300 cd/m² brightness are underneath the monitor and not exactly easy to press. Although the monitor holds the theoretical ability to be detached from its stand for wall mounting, it was no easy feat to actually separate the panel from the stand. Rather this than a monitor prone to falling apart but a slightly more user-friendly approach would be welcome in this area. In the gaming arena, the Hyundai shows some serious ability. When put through its paces in Counter Strike: Source, a game that highlights the ghosting some rival monitors are prone to, I found none. Image quality on the monitor is also impressive with a vibrant array of colours alongside crisp and well-defined edges thanks to a 700:1 contrast ratio. Gradients showed only limited banding (unsatisfactory transition from one colour to another). Narrow viewing angles will, however, make group viewing of DVDs or displays of your gaming prowess to your colleagues a little tricky though. Whether the gaming community will accept the L90D+ as one of its own and that the emergence of 8ms and lower rated LCDs will prompt hardcore gamers to ditch their CRTs remains to be seen. What is certain is that this Hyundai is a very respectable effort, capable of pleasing all but the most demanding of users. Though those that deal in serious image editing as well as high-end gamers may wish to retain their CRTs for now, the rest of us should certainly take this fine TFT into account when in the market for a new monitor.

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