Review: Mirai DTL-722P302 monitor

The Mirai DTL-722P302 monitor is something of a hybrid. It’s a fully functional high-definition LCD television with all the basic features you’d expect, but it’s also a PC display with the same high resolution – 1,680x1,050 pixels – that you'd get from a standard 22in PC monitor.

More than just a monitor that can receive TV, it has dual digital and analogue tuners with Teletext, freeze frame, picture-in-picture controls and a full-size remote control.

It also has a full complement of inputs including two Scart sockets, VGA (which can also be used to hook up component video using an adapter), PC audio input and HDMI. This means you should be able to hook up just about any type of equipment, including Blu-ray players and games consoles.

PC displays are slightly taller and narrower than TVs, so a small proportion of the edges of the picture are cropped off when viewing widescreen broadcasts to avoid displaying black bars at the top and bottom of the screen.

Despite the range of aspect-ratio controls provided, none enabled us to view the full widescreen image, and Mirai has confirmed that this is by design. You only get a very small amount of cropping, however, so if you’re less fussy than we are you probably won’t find this too much of an issue.

If you’re planning to use this display primarily as a PC monitor you may be a little disappointed. The swivel stand has no tilt adjustment and the screen itself is set quite low, making comfortable desktop positioning a little tricky.

While its high brightness makes it a great choice for watching TV from the other side of the room, its deficiencies can become apparent when close up. It has rather poor contrast ratio, due to light leaking through what should be dark pixels leaving them somewhat washed out and grey – especially at the top and bottom edges of the picture. You’ll only really notice this, though, when you’re viewing dark images.

Given that this is a good-looking and very capable TV, it’s a shame it is proportioned like a PC monitor – a role it doesn’t pull off quite so convincingly.