Iiyama’s move downmarket has meant the company has dropped off the radar of more serious buyers, but on the evidence of this panel it would be a mistake to write it off completely. This isn’t an attractively styled product. The budget price point means that the stand is a fixed, clip-on mechanism with no height, tilt or swivel adjustment.

Visually, the looks won’t win any awards, with a rather squat appearance that’s even uglier from the rear. The OSD panel buttons are placed under the right-hand side of the bezel, and even though they’re perfectly reliable, they feel loose and don’t necessarily inspire confidence. The OSD itself uses the four buttons in a rather unintuitive way – it’s not the worst we’ve seen, but it’s not outstandingly friendly.

More positively, this is a large 26in panel and it includes HDMI, DVI-D and VGA – although the DVI-D socket is packed in tightly so the cable is bent sharply and trapped when the plug is inserted. This might be intended deliberately as a cable tidy, but it seems an odd design choice.

Visual performance is good for the price point. Basic performance is unexceptional, but the OptiColor option gives crude control of gamma, brightness and colour which can be fine-tuned by hand. ‘Picture’ mode is too dark, ‘Standard’ is too bright, but ‘Game’ mode looks reasonable. Viewing angles are limited and the brightness isn’t very even. Colour linearity is noticeably wobbly, and with a limited gamut even a calibrator can only do so much to bring it into line. But video performance is good, with fast switching and very little smearing.

The verdict isn’t entirely negative. Colour control and overall performance aren’t significantly worse than that of the other budget models in this round-up, which means that considering the price, you get a lot of monitor for your money. It’s unrealistic to expect a budget monitor to produce professional results, so this isn’t a cheap substitute for a high-end model. But it’s a plausible money-saving, entry level option for a start-up, offering good-enough colour performance at a very attractive asking price.