Asus T1: Monitors that turn into tellies

By Rich Trenholm on 16 July 2009, 1:12pm

Asus has announced a series of monitors that double as high-definition TVs. The 22T1E, 24T1E and 27T1E allow you to watch Freeview and terrestrial telly with built-in DVB-T and analogue tuners, as well as plugging into your computer for gaming and other computer-y tasks.

There are 21.5-inch, 23-inch, and 27-inch models, which almost explains the model numbers. Each gives 16:9 1,920x1,080 high-definition resolution. They boast two 7W speakers, which can be set to four sound presets: vocal, rock, soft and boom, selected depending on whether you're listening to music, watching TV, playing games or going boom, apparently.

Gamers also get the magificently named Splendid Game Mode, which boosts the brightness and contrast of dark corners without affecting lighter areas, so you can see any lurking baddies. A smart contrast ratio feature boosts contrast to a claimed 20,000:1.

Connections include two HDMIs, two Scarts, VGA, component, S-Video and composite inputs, as well as S/PDIF out and a CI slot.

The Asus T1 series will be available in Europe only for now, but pricing and availability is yet to be confirmed.