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GCN Lab Review | Envision AOC 212Va-1
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Envision AOC 212Va-1 FINE PRINT: The AOC 212VA-1 did better with images than with text.
Image Quality: B
Features: B
Value: A
Price: $299
Pros: Best blue in review, good LCD for watching video.
Cons: Poor text display.
The AOC 212Va-1 is a 21-inch display aimed at the entry level of the large-format LCD market. It does not offer a lot of frills but surprisingly does conjure above-average image quality on most tests, and it is particularly good when watching DVDs or streaming media.
The 212Va-1 happens to have the truest blue reproduction in the review, which is often a hint that a monitor is designed for displaying movies and video.
It also does a great job with lighter images on a light background, down to just a 2 percent red or green bar on a white background.
The screen is not uniformly bright, with the corners 18 percent dimmer than the center of an image. This is still not quite at the level (a 62-lumen difference) where the naked eye can tell, but it’s on the border.
Also, darker colors tend to get a bit washed out on the screen, and text display is among the worst in the review — text needs to be at about 10.5-point size to be readable.
For extras, the 1,680 by 1,050 native resolution widescreen display has an anti-glare treatment, and the LCD is set up to deliver 720p/1080i video, so it can accept an HDTV signal or one from a modern console computer game.
The 212Va-1 offers above-average quality in most areas for a great $299 price. It’s obviously optimized for video and not that great with text display but, depending on your needs, might be a perfect way to get a large display without spending a lot of cash.
Envision Peripherals, (510) 770-0468, www.epius.com
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