HD Monitor Review: The Hanns-G HH251HPB

Possibly, in the past couple of years, no one would have anticipated how LCD monitors would increase in size and in the number of features on offer, while proportionally getting more affordable. The Hanns.G HH251 clearly exemplifies this trend for computer displays.

Falling on the 25-inch form factor category, the HH251 is a simple device to behold with black for its color scheme. The bezel has a glossy piano black finish and, save for some soft curves along the edges, the overall design doesn't get any fancier and leans more towards straightforward functionality. Its base is a simple oblong pedestal, with a short neck that connects to the panel. The panel can be tilted up and down within a 20-degree range. To make things interesting, a speaker is embedded behind the display panel whose sound quality is somewhat lacking, to say the least. Thankfully, a headphone port is included. Also located on the rear panel are screw ports for VESA mounting.

While the outward appearance is not particularly spectacular, the display's features are more prominent as the display supports a wide 16:9 aspect ratio as opposed to the typical 16:10 - a feature that HD movie lovers can appreciate seeing as it would eliminate the black bars when watching HD media, or at least remove part of it in the case of media shown using theatrical widescreen aspect ratios of 1.85:1 and 239:1.

The panel is an active matrix display which allows for a response time of 2ms and is a more energy efficient solution, bringing the overall power consumption of the device to 50W. The HH251 also has a 15000:1 contrast ratio as part of its repertoire of features. Its interface consists of the standard VGA port and a pair of HDMI ports. The extra HDMI port effectively expands the display's range of use as it can be connected to either an X-Box 360 or Playstation 3. Or if the user would prefer, to a Blu-ray disc player for watching Blu-ray content.

Overall, while not as dazzling in terms of looks as some of its competitor's offerings, the 16:9 aspect ratio, bright and crisp display, and affordable price point for its given panel size gives the Hanns.G HH251 a strong case to argue among the gamut of LCD displays currently saturating the market. If you are looking to go larger than a 22" display and are looking for an affordable solution, then this could just be it.