Key Specs
21.5 inches1,920x1,080
16-to-9
20,000-to-1 (dynamic)
300cd/m2
5 milliseconds
One
One
One
None
None
Something is clearly going on in the LCD-monitor market. Just six months ago when we reviewed the LG Flatron L227WTG, $359 wasn’t terribly expensive for a solidly performing 22-inch monitor with standard 1,680x1,050. But prices fell throughout 2008, and in January 2009, Acer announced the 23-inch, $229 H233H bmid, with a film-friendly 16-to-9 aspect ratio, full HD resolution, and an HDMI port. As impressed as we were with that screen, the Asus 21.5-inch VH222H is a better buy if you don’t need a screen quite so large. It sports similar specs (like 1,920x1,080 resolution and an HDMI port) as Acer’s H233H, better performance, and a list price of $189, making it the least-expensive 1080p display we've seen.
As is often the case with budget displays, there’s nothing stunning about this monitor’s aesthetics. The bezel is typical glossy black plastic, but angular touches on the top and bottom do give the monitor a bit of clean-line style. Six well-labeled buttons on the bottom right make navigating the onscreen display (OSD) fairly easy, though we wish the buttons labeled with up and down arrows adjusted volume by default, not brightness. The translucent-orange power button is easy to find, if slightly garish. Thankfully, the button isn’t backlit, and the rest of the controls are black.
The display's body has no built-in USB ports, but that’s to be expected with a budget monitor. What we didn't expect was the generous inclusion of bot DVI and VGA cables in the box, which isn't at all common with budget displays.The connection options are fairly standard for an HD multimedia monitor; you’ll find VGA, DVI, a single HDMI port, and SPDIF audio out, as well as analogue audio in (for the built-in speakers). There’s also an audio out/headphone jack, but tucked as it is behind the display, it’s not all that useful.
In DisplayMate testing, the VH222H performed quite well. While most monitors we’ve seen lately have faltered a bit on the high end of the gray scale, the VH222H had no problem distinguishing the lightest shades of gray from white in both the White-Level Saturation test and the Low Saturation Colors test. On the Extreme Gray-Scale with Bars test, the monitor performed well, indicating solid performance in distinguishing the darkest shades from black. Text was surprisingly crisp and legible all the way down to 5.3 points. There was some slight backlight bleed on the bottom of the screen, but it was only noticeable on a dark background, and not nearly as pronounced as on the NEC EA221WM, a monitor that costs twice as much.