The wonderful thing about buying into a monitor within the 21-24-in range, is the fact that 1080p will always look good if you have a nice screen. Factor in IPS and you don’t even need 4K until you hit 27-in or bigger. This is something you definitely notice with HP’s 22cwa 21.5-in monitor.
This is a great monitor for someone looking for a great picture yet looking to hold back a little on their spending. Right now, you can find it for around $99 and it works great for both entertainment and gaming alike. Notice there are a lot of uses of the word great throughout this paragraph.
We have had a pretty decent amount of luck with HP monitors as of late, so we did go into this one with a certain level of expectations. These expectations started to make sense as soon as we broke it out of the box. A simple design, yet still reminds you how far we have come from bulky screens that all look alike. The screen is thin and takes up a smaller footprint, allowing for a clean desk space.
Since it isn’t one of the larger screens, it doesn’t challenge the stand any for stability. There is little to no wobble out of it during normal usage (ie, average posture, typing and general moving about if you must).
If you are one who prefers to mount theirs via an arm or on the wall, sadly there is no standard VESA mounting option on the backside, so an adapter would be required if you wanted to go down that route (I believe HP offers an official adapter as well via their website). Although, if you’re clever, I’m sure you could DIY a method of your own via your local hardware shop. This is something that has really bugs us at times, as nearly every monitor should support VESA mounting in one fashion or another without the need of after market adapters and parts. Thankfully, not everyone prefers to mount theirs, so it’s not a complete show stopper.
What’s really nice about this screen is that it pops quite nicely compared to some of the other IPS screens we have lying around within its size. Competing against the likes of Samsung and ASUS, we found it to be a perfect all-around monitor.
The colors are bright, the clarity is where you need it and it reminds you that waiting for 4K can still easily be achieved. It is a back-lit LED without any bleeding, making it great for watching videos in a dark room and we suffered no distractions or lag while gaming.
You have the option of both VGA and HDMI on the backside of the monitor. It looks really clean back there, although I think it would have been best to swap the VGA out with something like DisplayPort, It will always be difficult to fully phase out VGA if manufacturers continue to include them in their hardware. HP also includes a VGA cable inside but not an HDMI cable, forcing you to get your accessory buying on vs simply throwing one in the box You would think an HDMI cable would cost less then a bulky VGA cable material-wise (maybe they are just trying to get rid of a crazy amount of VGA cables they have lying around their warehouses that nobody wants).
Although calibration wasn’t required, if you are an avid user who spends their time behind graphics software, you may find yourself making a few adjustments, but nothing that is going to stress you any. Of course, if you were, you’d probably be going after a larger screen anyway.
Our Conclusion
A great all-around monitor with a fantastic image and bright colors. Once again an IPS screen takes the cake in the battle against 4K (until prices come down at least). Simple to setup and get going with little to no calibration required. Mountable, but only with an adapter and the price is just right.
 | Our Rating | Average Price* $99.99 |
*Average price is based on the time this article was published
Additional Images:
Specifications:
LED feature | Specification |
Display size | 54.6 cm (21.5 in) diagonal |
Display type | IPS with LED Backlight |
Brightness | 250 nits |
Color gamut | 72% |
Color support | up to 16.7 million colors supported through FRC technology |
Pixel pitch | 0.3248 102 PPI |
Inputs | 1 VGA 1 HDMI (HDCP Support) |
Viewing angle | Horizontal viewing angle (typical): 178 degrees Vertical viewing angle (typical): 178 degrees |
Recommended resolution (H x V) | 1920 x 1080 |
Aspect ratio | 16:9 |
Static contrast ratio | Up to 1000:1 |
Dynamic contrast ratio | Up to 8,000,000:1 |
Response time | 7 ms gray to gray |
Power consumption | 24 Watts max |
Tilt | -2 to +25 degrees |
Dimensions | W x D x H (unpacked): 49.8 x 15.0 x 40.1 cm (19.6 x 5.9 x 15.8 in) |
Weight | Unpacked: 3.9 Kg (8.5 lbs) |
Are you a manufacturer or distributor that would like us to test something out for review? Contact us and we can let you know where to send the product and we will try it out.
Related articles
- Final
