Asus PG221 22" Widescreen LCD Monitor

 

 

The Asus PG221 has a wide array of video and audio inputs that allow users to connect the display to a broad range of sources.

 

Asus PG221 I/O
Analog and Digital Video Support



     

 

On the back of the display, from left to right, you’ll see a standard power connector, a DVI input, a VGA input, two sets of composite audio inputs, component, composite, and S-Video inputs, a 1/8” audio output, a USB port, a 1/8” audio input, and finally a connector for the unit’s sub-woofer.  On the side of the display are three more USB ports that can be used to connect any sort of peripheral, an SRS button to enable virtual surround sound and headphone and microphone jacks.  Overall, this is undoubtedly a nice assortment of I/O options.  We have liked to have seen an HDMI input, however.


Asus PG221 Controls
Virtual "Buttons"


 

To power-up the PW191 and access its on-screen control panel, Asus has outfitted the monitor with unique touch-sensitive controls that are all situated at one corner of the front bezel.  The virtual buttons are back-lit with amber and blue lights to illustrate exactly where to touch. There are nine buttons in total, one for the ‘Splendid’ video control, one for the ‘TruBass’ sensor, main menu, an input selector, a sound mode selector, brightness / ‘Light in motion’ up and down sensors, a volume slider sensor, and finally a power sensor.

We generally liked how these touch-sensitive controls looked, but in practice we found them to be somewhat of a hindrance.  Unless the front of the panel is perfectly clean, and we made contract with just the right amount of area surrounding the "button," they didn't always work.  Thankfully, once the brightness, contrast, and colors were set to our liking, we didn't have to fiddle with the controls very much unless we wanted to change the audio mode.


Marco Chiappetta

Marco Chiappetta

Marco's interest in computing and technology dates all the way back to his early childhood. Even before being exposed to the Commodore P.E.T. and later the Commodore 64 in the early ‘80s, he was interested in electricity and electronics, and he still has the modded AFX cars and shop-worn soldering irons to prove it. Once he got his hands on his own Commodore 64, however, computing became Marco's passion. Throughout his academic and professional lives, Marco has worked with virtually every major platform from the TRS-80 and Amiga, to today's high end, multi-core servers. Over the years, he has worked in many fields related to technology and computing, including system design, assembly and sales, professional quality assurance testing, and technical writing. In addition to being the Managing Editor here at HotHardware for close to 15 years, Marco is also a freelance writer whose work has been published in a number of PC and technology related print publications and he is a regular fixture on HotHardware’s own Two and a Half Geeks webcast. - Contact: marco(at)hothardware(dot)com

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