BenQ Australia FP91E

BenQ positions its FP91E 19" LCD monitor as an all-rounder equally up to the rigours of handling office documents, viewing photos, and playing DVDs and games. The 19" panel runs in a native resolution of 1280 x 1024 pixels and measures 42 x 42 x 22cm. Both VGA and DVI inputs are supplied as standard, although there's not a huge amount of difference in image quality between the two.

The silver-and-black unit has a corporate-friendly appearance, and cables can be routed through the stand to suit a front desk. The base offers a range of tilt, but there's no height adjustment to suit different ergonomic positioning, which may be an issue for buyers looking to spec the BenQ screen up for business use.

The screen has a single button nestled between two 2W speakers in the middle of the bottom bezel. Marketing documents claim the screen offers SRS sound, and though the quality is quite tinny, it's good enough for system beeps. The screen is clearly pitched at a consumer audience, as it features SenseEye technology for switching between image presets like Movie, Photo, and Standard. Each one adjusts the image properties slightly to suit the target image.

BenQ's iKey auto-calibration does an acceptable job of configuring the screen, but we found we needed to tweak the image using the on-screen menu before we could get it perfect. Once adjusted, the image was acceptable, but some other monitors, like NEC's MultiSync 1980FXi, offer much better colour reproduction. The colour balance requires a little adjustment to achieve spot-on results. The FP91E offers viewing angle of 170-degrees, but the image quality dropped when viewed from either extreme.

The FP91E performs well, but it's held back by a couple of minor issues like small speakers, a lack of height adjustment and the need to adjust the screen to achieve the optimal image.

BenQ offers a three-year pick-up warranty on the screen, and will replace the monitor if you find a dead pixel (bright or dark) within seven days of purchase.