A 22in monitor is obviously a very large unit. The ColorPro 22D that came into PC Authority was also an engineering sample, which goes some way toward explaining the lack of embellishment. On the top left of the bezel there is a vertical groove that looks as if its there by accident rather than design, though the bottom right of the bezel possesses one too, revealing it to be a nominal attempt at style. The OSD (On Screen Display) interface is tucked away underneath the monitor, and consists of a wheel that you can turn and press to navigate around the available menus. On offer is a comprehensive range of tweaking options for adjusting the screen geometry, as well as colour purity and temperature, convergence and moir. Operating the OSD, the wheel proved to be a rather impractical affair, making it hard to zero in on the desired option, and then to scroll continuously to adjust that option to the desired setting. If aesthetics was the reason, I dont understand the aversion to having a simple button style interface on the bezel.

The Auriga connects to your PC via a non-captive D-Sub cable and also offers BNC connectors. Coming without drivers, the Auriga should install as a standard plug and play monitor. The excellent Diamondtron flat-CRT tube makes up the 20in viewable screen that is capable of a maximum resolution of 1,920 x 1,440 at a refresh rate of 75Hz, a little low for a screen of this dimension. Tested at the TCO 99 standard resolution of 1,280 x 1,024 and refresh rate of 85Hz, the ColorPro 22D was put through the rigours of DisplayMate Multimedia testing (www.displaymate.com). Geometry tests revealed the usual shortcomings of Flat-CRT tubes where screen framing and aspect ratio are concerned, the test circle pushed into an oval-like shape with slight angles evident between lines that should be parallel. The biggest shortcoming revealed in DisplayMate was the video bandwidth tests, however, where thin white lines rendered against a black background must be equal in intensity to thicker white lines, and vice versa. In this case the thin lines were decidedly grey in tone, lacking in sufficient intensity to match the thicker lines. This can largely be pinpointed to the relatively low video bandwidth; 200MHz is fairly minimal for a 21 or 22in monitor, considering that many 19in displays have a video bandwidth of up to 230MHz.

Colour-wise the ColorPro 22D is similarly average, offering adequate colour purity and uniformity, though there were minor colour registration issues in testing. Subjectively, the same conclusion can be reached, as the testing seemed to indicate. The Auriga is a stock-standard unit, that comes at a very inexpensive price for Flat-CRT of its size. While it may not be suitable for a professional with money to spend, it will certainly appeal to those who just want a big screen, or those who need the size on a budget.