REVIEW: HP LP2475w Part 15

Video / DVD

It doesn’t matter if it is a high-end workstation with DisplayPort, a desktop PC with DVI-D, a Playstation3 or any other HD player device with HDMI, an XBOX or a laptop via D-Sub to DVI-I, video cameras via S-Video or other sources via Composite or Component Video. Since any imaginable connection is present, simply everything is possible.

Furthermore, home cinema fans will be pleased that the audio stream which is delivered via a HDMI cable can be forwarded digitally, so without loss, by the monitor to a surround sound system via a SPDIF connection.

Thanks to 16:10 format, the bands at the top and bottom of the screen during the playback of a DVD are not nearly as wide as on a monitor with an aspect ratio of 4:3 or 5:4.

The size of the monitor is sufficient to allow the viewer to recognise the screen content well even from a distance of a few metres. However, 24-inch monitors are too small for use in large rooms. Thanks to the S-IPS panel, you do not need to worry about maintaining the correct viewing angle as can be the case with TN panel monitors. Thus, even dark scenes are reproduced rich in detail even for viewers who are not in ideal seated positions.

Full HD videos in a resolution of 1.920 x 1.200 are of course played back in razor-sharp quality by the monitor, regardless of whether the image is played back via DVI on the PC or via PS3 and HDMI.

At 1.280 x 720 pixels, the loss of quality is minimal. The settings in the OSD allow the user to select from pixel-precise 1:1 display, justified stretched display and full-screen stretched display, as mentioned above. Justified display demonstrated good sharpness with optimal use of the screen in the test. If you lower the resolution to 576p and continue to play back the signal via HDMI, even the coarseness of the pixels in the low resolution can be seen.

Scene from the film "300". Left to right: 1080p, 720p and 576p played back via HDMI from a PS3. Right: beside the legs of the horse in front, porticos can be seen in the village whereby the differences in quality are clearly visible. At 576p, the columns are hardly recognisable, but at 1080p, they are displayed in fine quality.

Analogue video playback via Composite Video is considerably more affected by loss of quality. Although 576i (PAL resolution) is also displayed, the image quality deteriorates visibly. Below, another scene from the Blu-ray film "300" is depicted in three different resolutions. Colour deviations are more clearly visible from the large, single coloured stones in the background. At the seams of the stones, the differences in quality between the different resolutions can be seen easily.

Another scene from the film "300". From the left: 1080p and 720p are played back via HDMI as above; the third picture shows 576i via Composite.

Thanks to its 6 ms response time, action scenes are played back without a problem by the HP LP2475w. In the case of very slow, even camera movements, small juddering motions could be seen occasionally which could not be reproduced. However, this is only if you look very closely. Colour reproduction was powerful but not unnatural and was most neutral in the user-defined mode. The low black value and the perfect grey gradient resolution also allow even dark scenes to appear in great detail.

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