Hyundai ImageQuest L91D

Another unexpected find, software called ImageTune that replaces the usual on-screen display (OSD) tools, arrives on an included CD. With it, you can adjust basic monitor settings such as brightness and contrast with a mouse instead of with the small, squishy membrane buttons under the bezel.

The L91D includes height and pivot adjustments, as well as tilt. Using a monitor at the proper height makes the user more comfortable; pivot adjustment helps in viewing long documents, Web pages, and the like. However, despite ImageTune's origins with Portrait Displays, maker of Pivot Pro software, this monitor lacks pivoting software. But even when you add the $40 price of Pivot Pro, the L91D remains the least expensive 19-inch monitor we've seen lately.

Although all these features seem like a steal for the price, there's one big compromise a buyer faces: performance. The L91D's image quality scores ranked among the bottom quarter for recently reviewed 19-inch LCDs. As we often find with flat panels, text appears crisp on our test screens; even a monitor solidly in the lower echelons can still receive a rating of Very Good. This one did so. It fared less favorably on graphics, with loss of detail in the lightest and darkest areas of our Web page test screen. The same problem, plus a cold blue tinge, appeared in our group photo as well. The L91D therefore earned an unspectacular graphics rating of Good.

We are used to mediocre sound from LCD monitor speakers, but the 2-watt units on this model also buzzed a bit. If you work in a cubicle farm, you may prefer to use the headphone jack instead--although you'll have to reach around to the back of the monitor to access it.

Upshot: The bargain-priced Hyundai ImageQuest L91D's screen is nothing to write home about, but it offers some unusual features useful for businesses.

Laura Blackwell