AG Neovo E-W19 19-Inch Wide-Screen LCD Monitor

The E-W19 comes with glossy NeoV Optical Glass, AG Neovo's specially hardened glass that resists cracks and scratches. It's also why the monitor costs $399 (as of December 10, 2007), substantially more than most other models on our 19-inch wide-screen monitor chart. For the price, you get impressive image quality but few physical adjustments.

The company touts NeoV Optical Glass as ideal for those who want to use the display in a public area, such as libraries and public kiosks. The E-W19's even more expensive sibling, the X-19, has the same optical glass but offers a few more connectivity options (such as S-Video) and a slick metal casing.

Tested for our February 2008 feature "The Wide World of Monitors," the E-W19 demonstrated a flair for both text and graphics, earning a score of Very Good in both categories. The monitor is nothing if not consistent, collecting impressive scores on many tests. Wonderfully readable text on office documents and Web pages should make for a happy office worker or surfer (or both). A good balance of colors and brightness meant that skin tones looked natural and objects such as fruit slices exhibited an enticing ripeness.

In a viewing of Lord of the Rings: Return of the King, the E-W19 delivered true-to-life colors with fairly natural skin tones and background shrubbery pleasingly saturated with green. The monitor revealed beautiful coppers, yellows, and oranges in a fall sunset scene. Velvet costumes were invitingly textured and overall suffused with a balanced color, particularly reds and dark blues.

Well-integrated speakers located at the bottom of the monitor have very fine vents that are hard to see except up close, making them look like part of the monitor rather than stuck-on parts. The speakers are adequate except for low-volume instances, e.g., whispered dialogue or classical music. In those cases, you'll have to strain to hear emanating sounds. These speakers would be useful for common office tasks, such as beeps and warnings from your PC, or e-mail alerts, but not for robust multimedia applications.

Those who need to physically adjust the monitor a lot would do well to look at other options. The E-W19 only offers a tilt adjustment, a feature that allows you to move the display back to a respectable 25 degrees. I also found AG Neovo's on-screen display (OSD) a little difficult to use. Buttons aren't labeled clearly and they serve different functions within different menu contexts. The E-W19 offers presets for game, movie, graphic, and text.

Still, the AG Neovo E-W19 is a good-looking monitor with durable glass, and it offers top-notch display performance.

--Roy Santos