Hanns.G blurs the line between LCD TV and
LED monitor
‘A lovely big screen for those that like PC games or
enormous spreadsheets’
Let’s get the not so wonderful things about
the HL272 out of the way up front. A monitor of this scale and price wasn’t
going to be styled by Pininfarina, and it wasn’t going to show German
engineering. It was probably going to be made of plastic, and not offer IPS
panel viewing angles and colour accuracy. And, if I haven’t convinced you to
move along yet, mine came set with German as the default language.
Hanns.G
HL272 27” LED display
I could also mention that with the default
settings the image is a little washed out, and the backlighting isn’t as
consistent as it could have been. The speakers are the small end of the
definition, the pair delivering just 2W each. These are all the things that I
associate with a budget monitor, and mostly par for the course.
If that was all there was to the HL272,
then I’d certainly be telling you to look elsewhere, because nearly $300 is at
the high end of what you might expect to pay for an LED LCD display these days.
However, that’s the high end of what you’d
pay for a 23” or 24” one, and not a 27” monster like this one. It’s still
offering 1080p resolution, and not the bigger 2560x1600 that you see on the
Dell 30” U3011, a screen that costs about $1,350.
Those things said, what the HL272 does, it
does nicely enough. You’ve got all three standard inputs: VGA< DVI and HDMI.
It’s got a line thing bezel, which measures about 18mm at most points, and it’s
just 4cm deep at its thickest point.
Hanns.G
HL272 27” LED display
To get the most out of the panel you really
need to go through a tweaking session using a calibration tool, or application.
But once you’ve got the gamma adjusted and found the performance sweet spot,
the HL272 was actually much better than I’d anticipated.
Being big, however, does have a few
drawbacks, not least the depth needed to see the whole screen comfortably. My
desk is a typical 76cm front to back, but that’s not deep enough to sit in
front of a 27” monitor without feeling like a spectator at Wimbledon.
You need either a deeper desk, wall mounts
(and VESA mounting is supported) or some other ergonomics to allow you to get
the right distance from this panel.
If you can solve those problems, this is a
lovely big screen for PC games, enormous spreadsheets, movies or as a gaming
console alternative to the TV.
The price is competitive when you’re
looking at products from liyama and Asus, though I’ve seen AOC and Philips
designs for marginally less. The quoted cost is RRP, so I’m anticipating a
retail price that I’d consider to be an absolute bargain.
It’s also worth mentioning that every
HannsG monitor is supplied as standard with a three-year manufacturer’s
warranty – another plus that makes this video monster worth considering.
Details
Price: $300 Inc. VAT
Manufacturer: Hanns.G
Website: www.hannspree.com
Required spec: PC or output device with VGA, DVI or HDMI
connectors
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Specs
Product Code: HL272HPB
Display Size: 27” Widescreen
Brightness: 300cd/m2
Contrast Ratio (typ.): 1,000:1
X-Contrast (dynamic): 30,000,000:1
Resolution: 1,920 x 1,080 (Full HD 16:9)
Response Time: 5ms (typ.)/2ms (GtG)
Viewing Angles: H/V 160o/160o
Inputs: VGA, DVI-D (HDCP), HDMI 1.4
Speakers: 2x2W
Dimensions (mm): 635 (w) x 438 (h) x 40 (d)
Tilt: -5o~15o
Power Saving: Energy Star 5.2
VESA Wall Mountable: Yes
RRP: 300 inc. VAT
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