Acer AL2021MS

Acer AL2021MS

If other screens moved from the professional to the general public category simply because of a price reduction, this isn’t necessarily the case for the AL2021M. Its shape, colors, and LED are closer to standard monitors available from supermarkets. But are the capabilities up to expectations? Is gaming possible with this screen?



Ergonomics


The AL2021M is a classic screen. The grey and black body correspond to the current trend (we’re even bored seeing so many in gray and black), the plastic finishing touches are just enough and the stand is non-adjustable.

There are two good points, however: the choice between DVI and analogical input and cables are channelled behind the screen to avoid desk clutter.

The stand is 20 cm wide.


Color quality

The OSD is sober and easy to understand, but not necessarily easy to use. This isn’t due to the OS itself but rather to the control button. Controls are invisible to the user, because they are located under the monitor and therefore all adjustments are made blindfolded. Initially you may take some time in finding the control knobs, but this is quickly worked out.

Our impressions concerning the monitor’s design is the same for colors. It’s destined for the general public. Instead of the usual pre-established color temperatures, there are only three options; “cold”, “hot” and “user”. These terms corresponds to ‘red predominant” “blue predominant” and “user”. We would have preferred the usual 9300K, 6500K and 5000K, which are more accurate than just “hot” or “cold”.

Calibration at 6500K with a gamma of 2.2 further tells us that graphic artists aren’t the targeted buyers of this product. Intermediate color quality is perfect and black is good enough for the eye, but not for an image professional as it lacks depth. Black is at 0.57 cd/m². To give you an idea the Sony SDM-S204H’s black attains 0.20 cd/m².

How to interpret the graph?

The X axis is 0 to 100, 0 is black and 100 is white.
When Delta E > 3 the desired colors is noticeably different from the one on the screen.
When 1 < Delta E < 2 colors are accurate. When Delta E < 1, the result is perfect.

The color scale graph shows how many colors the monitor is able to display, and not if they are necessarily accurate.


This graph’s only purpose is to see if the monitor is able to go as far as a standard CRT. It does as the reference Mitsubishi CRT’s results and the ACER LCD are superimposed in several areas. This doesn’t mean that color quality is equivalent. The CRT Mitsubishi works at 80 cd/m² and the Acer AL2021MS at 227 cd/m². The latter is clearly brighter and advantageous if you are working in a lighted room.

Viewing angles

Like many VA monitors, viewing angles are very wide. Even former CRT owners will be pleased to see that this monitor deals easily with reflections. The panel filters are efficient and direct and indirect light sources aren’t reflected on the screen.

Looking at the screen from the side (more than 90°) reduces the red level and looking from the top or bottom the screen lightens colors slightly.

Our conclusion is that it’s perfect in this area!

Interpolation

Here it doesn’t do as well as the previous section. In fact, it’s simply worse than usual. There is a noticeable blurring if a game or an application isn’t in the standard 1600 x 1200 resolution.

Games


This screen provided excellent results in tests with World of Warcraft amongst others. With management and strategy games, reactivity doesn’t matter.

It was however impossible to play UT2004. Perhaps we are too demanding, but after a few minutes we didn’t like so many blurred images, light trails and picture breaks. This definitely isn’t a hardcore gamer’s monitor (or one for occasional FPS players).

Video


The good colors revealed with our colorimeter were visible in the video test and the picture was quite pleasant. Our fear was that the slow response time would be obvious in action movies, but it isn’t. This panel is faster than many other VAs and it’s reactive enough for characters. Afterglow isn’t particularly disturbing. However, the screen scintillates stronger than many other VA panels. This effect quickly becomes unnoticeable, but it is surprising for a standard 8 bit monitor. It is however not as strong as the LaCie screen.

Verdict

Take a look at this manufacture’s dead pixel policy by clicking here!

Belinea 10 20 05

Belinea 10 20 05

Belinea is progressively surpassing Acer and BenQ. The German manufacturer tends to be faster in applying reduced priced policies than the competition. The proof is that the 10 20 05 is sometimes available for under 650 €, 300€ cheaper than most basic 20” models. This monitor is the cheapest of our survey.



Ergonomics


We know the 10 20 05’s body, as it’s the same as the 10 19 02. Both monitors have the strategic position of being a basic model. There is one major difference, however, as the 10 19 02 features only one analogical input, while the 10 20 05 includes a DVI input. Those who think (we don’t agree) that it will improve response time and image quality will be pleased with this detail.


Other components are identical: adjustable stand, black and gray body, and basic integrated speakers.

Color quality

The OSD is rather classic, not very intuitive but at least complete. It is one of the few left to provide pre-established color temperature and in particular a 5000 K setting, which is very useful for professional graphic designers.

Tests at 6500K

Color quality shows that this monitor is a good MVA, colors are accurate and black is deep despite a rather bright white. The contrast ratio is good 812:1.

How to interpret the graph?

The X axis is 0 to 100, 0 is black and 100 is white.
When Delta E > 3 the desired colors is noticeably different from the one on the screen.
When 1 < Delta E < 2 colors are accurate. When Delta E < 1, the result is perfect.
The spectrum graph is here to show how many colors the monitor is able to display, not how accurate they are.



Tests at 5000K

As there was a 5000 K mode it was also tested. This was a positive, because color quality in this mode is excellent, better than a lot of CRTs tested under the same settings. White is a little less bright 197 cd/m²), and black a little darker (0.26 cd/m²). If you are a professional or amateur graphic designer, this is a good and inexpensive choice.



Viewing angles

Surprisingly, this monitor’s viewing angles are smaller than usual for VAs. The image starts to whiten over 100° for horizontal viewing. Compared to other MVA and PVA panels this isn’t much and compared to TN panels it’s excellent. For personal use this is largely sufficient.

Interpolation

After good color quality and surprisingly small viewing angles, results from the interpolation test were quite poor. The 10 20 05 is really a bad screen if it has to display text in a resolution other than 1600x1200. We don’t recommend even trying it.

Games


Results continued to be poor as display quality with games was catastrophic. We haven’t seen this kind of result for years. Those who don’t understand the concept of afterglow should take a look at this monitor, which is a perfect example. Blurred pictures, trails of light behind bight objects and even an object’s colors are mixed up. The 10 20 05 really has all the disadvantages in this area and can seriously disappoint you if you play an FPS.

Results are so poor that even some strategic games are problematic. It’s best not to have too many fast moving units on the screen.

Video


Colors are beautiful, but the high response time considerably reduces image quality. Characters are divided into two, three or sometimes even four and the edges on objects are blurred. If you currently have one of the first LCD TVs (of poor quality) this might be a step up. Everyone else will wonder if the movie or monitor is blurred.

Verdict

If you are looking for a cheap monitor only for editing pictures, the 10 20 05 is an excellent choice. For any other use you should choose another.


Take a look at this manufacture’s dead pixel policy by clicking here!

Dell 2005FPW

Dell 2005FPW

The 2005FPW uses two very interesting selling points. It costs less than 700€ US $600 (the EU price is only supposed to be a temporary promotional price) and it’s the only 16/10 monitor of this test (all others are 4/3). This unusual format should first of all attract movies fans, but also users who want to enjoy a kind of multi-display with only one monitor. The screen is so wide that it’s tempting to put two text pages side by side to copy and paste parts of text from one to another, or two Excel tables etc. (see verdict below), etc.


NB : the Dell monitor price is 697 € / US $561.75, and said to be only available for European customers until the 22/02. According to the manufacturer this corresponds to a 20% price reduction.

Ergonomics

Analogical, DVI; vertically adjustable, satisfactory panel incline angle, HUB USB (!), two ports on the right side of the screen (for webcam, USB key…), cable guide on the back, thin body. This isn’t just a list of features but a lesson in ergonomics to its competitors. This monitor also features an S-Video and composite input to connect your DVD player, for example. You will be able to fully enjoy the PIP functionPicture In Picture, (accessible via a control in front of the computer) putting a game, some text, or current work on the left and a video recorder on the left. It’s useful to spot the end of commercials when viewing your favourite program or even watch a movie while you are working (may harm productivity!). Of course, some of you may be unhappy about the quality of the composite signal and would have preferred component signals etc. But let’s just say it’s a great start.


All these features are included in an excellent design and crystal clear OS. It’s really great, intuitive, clear, complete etc…We really fell for this screen!

In addition, the monitor features an IPS LG-Philips panel. There’s so much to be excited about. Let’s hope that it will be at least as good as the Philips…

Color quality

Tests at 6500K

The 2005FPW is very, very bright. The white is at 353 cd/m²! It is maybe because Dell’s engineers put more effort in video quality than for other possible uses, and that they wanted to have a perfectly visible image even in a well lighted room. This choice (we feel that it wasn’t the best) also has a huge disadvantage. IPS technology tends to produce a less deep black than VA technology, and with this screen this effect is amplified. The black is at 0.76 cd/m². This figure is far from the impressive 0.20 cd/m² of the Sony SDM-S204H.

Intermediate colors, however, are perfect. This is another positive for movies.

How to interpret the graph?

The X axis is 0 to 100, 0 is black and 100 is white.
When Delta E > 3 the desired colors is noticeably different from the one on the screen.
When 1 < Delta E < 2 colors are accurate. When Delta E < 1, the result is perfect.
The spectrum graph is here to show how many colors the monitor is able to display, not if they are accurate:


Tests at 5000K

Because this screen is not an ordinary monitor, and it might be interesting for graphic designers who want to work on an image and have a colour palette in their work space, we have tested it with a color temperature of 5000K. Brightness is reduced to 297 cd/m², and the darkness is slightly deeper at 0.67 cd/m². Intermediate color shades are still very good.

It’s important to know that only a few CRT monitors are able to reach under 0.5 cd/m² for black.

Viewing angles

The picture is perfect until 120°, and good until 150°. Beyond this the image whitens, but we don’t find anything wrong here.

Interpolation

The result is so good that you probably won’t notice you aren’t in standard mode.

However, if the lower sharpness and distortion effect disturbs you, activate the window mode via the OSD. As we mentioned before, the OSD is so pleasant that we don’t mind using it again.

Games

Here it’s a little disappointing : the 2005FPW is less reactive than the Philips monitor. It’s better than VAs but afterglow is still noticeable. It is low enough to use with FPS games from time to time. For other games which don’t require too much jumping around it’s perfect.


Another unfortunate downside is with standard settings the picture isn’t wider on this screen, it’s less high. We could have imagined the same height but with a wider picture, but this isn’t the case. Horizontal framing with standard settings remains identical. So the picture is cut on the bottom and top. This result is obvious in the Far Cry screenshot.


Far Cry standard setting 1650 x 1080 - Far Cry 1280 x 1024

However, don’t despair. A lot of games, most of them FPS, offer the possibility to manually change the user’s viewing angle, via the console and FOV command + the viewing angle. With standard settings players see at 90° (picture above). This is the result with a 110° viewing angle.


FarCry 1680 x 1050 with 110° FOV

The result shows that we could even increase the angle to 120° to have the same vertical framing as a picture in 1280 x 1024.

Useful, a US forum Widescreengamingforum.com, has listed all games which have identical problems with wide monitors. So check first if the game you want is affected before buying.

Video

There is a twinkling effect, but it’s negligible as soon as we back away from the screen. Viewing angles are wide, reactivity is enough for video, and the panel format is ideal. It’s great for movies!

Verdict

It is a little less reactive than the Philips but has impressive ergonomics. Also, you can really use it like two monitors:

It is possible to simultaneously display two text pages.



Take a look at this manufacture’s dead pixel policy by clicking here!
PS: some forum readers mentioned a lack of uniform brightness especially visible in the corners. Our model didn’t have this problem.

LaCie Photon20Vision II

LaCie Photo20Vision II

Because of LCD monitor price cuts, even LaCie, the graphic designers favourite manufacturer is now affordable. The very famous Photon20Vision II’s price is now under 1000€ / US$1000 in online shops. So is this manufacturer’s excellent reputation justified?



Ergonomics

LaCie has made an efficient monitor. The foot is vertically adjustable, it has a pivot mode, the power supply is integrated, cables are guided behind the monitor to avoid clutter, the monitor rotates (to easily show something to another user), and it features one USB hub (2 ports) to easily connect your keyboard, mouse, digital camera, USB key etc.


In addition, the screen body is very thin to avoid any waste of space, and there are good viewing angles. This monitor features everything except a device for wall installation. To put it on the wall you need to buy a VESA arm or one offered by LaCie. We would have preferred to remove the monitor foot and simply hang it to a couple of screw on the wall.


Color quality

The OSD menu is a standard. It’s sober, easy to read and use. It isn’t, however, the most complete and this surprised us. LaCie usually targets graphic designers and the 5000 K color temperature hasn’t been included in this model. The second surprise: the analogical color quality is slightly poorer than DVI quality.

Finally, the IPS technology panel (manufactured by LG-Philips) has viewing angles slightly inferior to the VA monitors tested here. This screen claims176°, but we feel that this is overestimated. Another downside compared to VA panels is that the LaCie black is less deep. We performed two calibrations, one at 6500 K, and the other one at 5000 K. The first result was 0.47 cd/m² and the other 0.45 cd/m². This figure is far from the excellent 0.20 cd/m² of the Sony SDM-S204H. Intermediate colors, however, were excellent as we can see from the graph and extracts.

How to interpret the graph?

The X axis is 0 to 100, 0 is black and 100 is white.
When Delta E > 3 the desired colors is noticeably different from the one on the screen.
When 1 < Delta E < 2 colors are accurate. When Delta E < 1, the result is perfect.
The spectrum graph is here to show how many colors the monitor is able to display not if they are accurate:


This monitor’s range is wide and comparable to our reference CRT. It isn’t as wide as other LCD monitors, even basic models like the Hyundaï L90D+.


Viewing angles

The Photon20Vision II claims a viewing angle of 176°. This is quite enthusiastic and to reach this result you must turn off all lights and work in the dark. Otherwise, the monitor tends to reflect some ambient light and pictures are paler when we look at the monitor from the side.

Viewing angles are very wide, this is true, but not as wide as claimed and especially not as wide as VA panels. Some IPS monitors have wider viewing angles.

Interpolation

This is always a screen’s weakness. Only a few manufacturers make efforts in this area. Still a lot of software and even some games (sport simulation) have low resolutions. As usual when resolution is reduced the picture is blurred.

Games



IPS technology provides better results than the MVA, but not good enough to say it’s perfect for games. With the graphic card’s vertical synchronisation deactivated, picture flow isn’t continuous. We feel that this makes gaming undesirable. Once the synchronisation is activated pictures flow, but afterglow is slightly more perceptible. Between the two modes, however, it’s by far the better. Use it to for occasional gaming but not for hours of UT2004. There are more suitable 19” TN monitors.

Video


It’s really disappointing to see marketing introduce disadvantages to products so that they can look better on paper. The Photon20Vision II displays in 8 bits, and so logically the video image should be perfect. But to attract photographers, who demand perfect results, or customers who like high end products, the Photon20Vision II adds dithering to reach 10 bits. According to the fans of this technology, it provides more accurate color gradations especially in magnified black and white pictures. Photographers and doctors who may use the screen to view x-rays might benefit from this technology. The expert eye can discern more than 256 basic colors. But the problem is that dithering isn’t better between 8 to 10 bits than between 6 to 8 bits (for TN monitors). The result is (like in basic models) a “twinkling” effect in wide colors areas in movies. This effect disappears from 2 meters.

Verdict

The IPS would like to be the intermediate between TN and VA technology. Like TN, IPS get fast response times (16 ms) and from VA it has 16.7 million colors and very wide viewing angles. This is the idea, but in reality things are different. Pixel reactivity is far better than VA panels but isn’t as fast as TN 20 ms (and lower) ones. On the other hand, at least with this monitor, viewing angles are smaller than VA monitors. Also, because the wanted good results for movies they have the same problem as 6 bit screens. Finally, ergonomics are exemplary and it’s a very good for editing pictures or working with static 2D documents.


Take a look at this manufacture’s dead pixel policy by clicking here!

Nec LCD 2060NX

Nec LCD 2060NX

NEC has been the IPS specialist for many years and is the manufacturer who brought the most significant improvements (mainly in reducing response time). With LG Philips, which recently started up, it’s one of the few left to produce IPS panels. Will they survive the TN panel invasion (for smaller sizes) and VAs (for the bigger sizes)? At any rate, NEC seems to have understood that they need to adjust their prices to remain competitive.



Ergonomics


The 2060NX is a nice screen, but let’s face it there is a lack of finishing touches. Clearly, Nec hasn’t tried too hard to make an attractive monitor as this one’s design is quite crude. Everything is straight, stiff, and the overall impression is too serious. Included here are all aspects that make it a professional monitor; it easily rotates to turn to another user, is vertically adjustable (even able to touch the desk), and has both DVI / analogical interface.


It only lacks a USB hub (we like to have USB inputs) and a larger panel inclination angle.

Color quality


Tests at 6500K

This screen is very bright (273 cd/m²), and as usual black lacks depth (0.51 cd/m²). From light gray to white, however, it’s perfect.

How to interpret the graph?

The X axis is 0 to 100, 0 is black and 100 is white.
When Delta E > 3 the desired colors is noticeably different from the one on the screen.
When 1 < Delta E < 2 colors are accurate. When Delta E < 1, the result is perfect.
The spectrum graph is here to show how many colors the monitor is able to display not if they are accurate:



Tests at 5000K
Since this mode is available in the OSD, we launched a calibration at 5000K. The graph is still satisfactory but still has a lack of depth in black (0.51 cd/m²).



Games


Here it’s very disappointing. NEC the great IPS supporter isn’t as good as its competitor LG-Philips, whose latest panels are far more reactive. This one is just slightly better than the Belinea panel. Otherwise, it’s not as good as the other monitors tested here: pictures are blurred and objects have large trails of light. World of Warcraft is static enough to play but think twice about playing even occasionally Doom 3 or UT2004.

Video


There is some afterglow and a twinkling effect. If we step back, the quality, however, is good enough for a home use. But so many other screens have better results…...

Verdict

Despite its small price, we don’t feel this screen is worth recommending. The Philips is better in almost all areas.


Take a look at this manufacture’s dead pixel policy by clicking here!

Philips Brillance 200P4SS

Philips Brillance 200P4SS

With wider than average edges and a large bottom area which includes speakers and adjustment controls , the 200P4SS seems even bigger than a 20” monitor. However, it doesn’t need more space than the other screens, so make a little space (approximately 20 cm) on your desk for one of our current favourites.


Ergonomics


The 200P4SS isn’t like the others and this is a good thing. First of all, the design is unusual. It isn’t retro or futuristic so it won’t go out of style too soon . It features a rather odd but also very useful control named "Size" for when the picture displayed isn’t in standard resolution. It offers to display the image in full screen or in window mode with the right resolution (the image is then very sharp). It is simpler to use than searching for the option (when available) in the OSD menu or to look in the graphic card drivers.

On the back of the monitor are two analogical and DVI interfaces and a headphone input. The screen sits on a rotating plate to easily face another user.


There are several disadvantages. The stand is short and non-vertically adjustable. It is however possible to sufficiently tilt the panel.

Color quality

In the OSD you may choose between several color temperatures (9000K and 6500K, but not 5000K), the sRGB, and manually adjust by channel (red, green and blue). It’s very complete.

As it happened with another Philips monitor, the calibration systematically fails. The procedure sends a message saying that the calibration failed in saving the created profile. So unfortunately, we are unable to give you the DeltaE graph. Here we give you our impressions and a couple of measurements.

Even with the contrast and the brightness set at the maximum, the picture is less bright than usual-quite surprising for a monitor named Brillance. This is no big deal, because it’s less tiring for the eyes. The main problem as usual with IPS monitors is the relative lack of depth in black. We insist on the word “relative”, because this may only affect a small percentage of users. Most will be pleased compared to the average black offered by CRTs (unlike the rumour CRT blacks are far from perfect). This lack of depth is only disturbing if compared to a good VA monitor. On the one hand there’s the 200P4, with a black at 0.68 cd/m², and on the other 0.20 cd/m² for the best monitors.

The spectrum graph is here to show how many colors the monitor is able to display not if they are accurate:


Viewing angles

This screen has very wide viewing angles, much better than VA panels. The picture is still visible even from the vertical of the monitor. We noticed two steps of quality reduction (lack of nuance and vividness), the first at 90° and the second at 130°.

Interpolation

This monitor provides better than average results. In 1280 x 1024, the picture is rather blurred, at full size it has two black stripes on the side and below and above. It’s better in 1024 x 768 as the picture takes up all the screen space and is less degraded. It’s even possible to play and work with this resolution.

Those who don’t want to have any image degradation can also use the “Size” control located on the front of the monitor.

Games

This monitor is the 20” equivalent of the L1920B tested last September. It’s a very good IPS and an interesting intermediate solution for the person looking for very wide viewing angles and occasional gaming.

FPS pros, look the other way as only TN screens (and some of you will even disagree) are good enough for play. The other, the occasional gamer, MMPORG addicted, and strategy game player will be completely satisfied, amazed by this giant monitor with low afterglow. Playing World of Warcraft is eye candy with this screen.

Video


We have come to believe that most IPS monitors are cursed as this technology seems to have real problems in displaying the claimed 16,7 million colors. Once again the result is intermediate between VA panels (most of them are perfect) and TNs that have a strong twinkling effect. There is a twinkling effect with this monitor, less present than on most TNs, but still difficult to ignore with a product of this size. Fortunately from 1.5 m it disappears. In other words, there will only be a problem if you look from very close, and not at all sitting comfortably on your couch watching movies.

Verdict

It almost passed with flying colors in every area. This screen isn’t the cheapest of our survey, but the good performance in all areas justifies the bigger budget. It is one of the few 20”s good for work, play and movies.

It is, however, not the perfect product that we expected. The black still lacks depth and reactivity is still far from excellent L90D+ and SyncMaster 913N.


Take a look at this manufacture’s dead pixel policy by clicking here!

Sony SDM-S204H

Sony SDM-S204H

Sony tried during the past few years to reproduce CRT quality on LCDs to facilitate the migration from one technology to the other. We have to say that they are closer to succeeding. We started testing LCD monitors years ago and have been quite impressed with the SDM-S204H image. It’s softer than usual and if you used to own a CRT you will be very pleased. Former LCD owners might need some time getting used to it.



Ergonomics


It is a very sober monitor with a professional look. It not only looks professional, but also has the ergonomics to back it up with one DVI and two analogical interfaces to share the monitor between several UC.


Controls on the front of the monitor are classic with only one innovation, the “Eco” control, which navigates between four preset brightness/contrast adjustments: user, high, average and low. Otherwise, we like the body’s thickness (15 mm on the side) and the fact that the power supply is integrated.


Unfortunately, the stand isn’t vertically adjustable, and so we aren’t surprised there is no pivot mode. It’s quite bulky at 23 cm deep or 15% more than most of the 20” monitors tested.

Color quality

The monitor’s standard setting is “User” at its maximum contrast and brightness. To be honest we don’t feel this is the best choice. Our impression is that white is too bright and black lacks depth. The colorimeter confirmed this. The “High” setting is much better. The white level is identical, but black is twice as deep. With these adjustments the color accuracy graph, is much better and looks more like the usual MVA panel graph.
Picture professionals will even prefer the “Average” mode as white is at 119 cd/m² and black at 0.20 cd/m². This result is close to the printing world’s standard. The “Min” mode is almost perfect: 0.13 cd/m². This result is far better than the CRT while white is bright enough at 0.66 cd/m².

We were surprised to see that the OSD menu only includes two pre-defined color modes, 9300 K and 6500 K. The 5000 K mode used by many graphic designers isn’t there and must be created manually (ideally) with a colorimeter like the one we used. We tried to calibrate the monitor with this color temperature, and the result is quite pleasant with only one disadvantage. There isn’t a real black and it stops at a very dark gray.

How to interpret the graph?

The X axis is 0 to 100, 0 is black and 100 is white.
When Delta E > 3 the desired colors is noticeably different from the one on the screen.
When 1 < Delta E < 2 colors are accurate. When Delta E < 1, the result is perfect.

The color spectrum as is usually the case with recent LCD monitors as good as the CRT Trinitron. In the LCD world only TVs and laptops panels are still behind.

Viewing angles

Like all VA panels, there are very wide viewing angles. From the top, the side or even below the picture is still very good. It’s possible to see the picture even from the top of the monitor, but it’s perfect only up to 45° in each direction. To be completely realistic it is better to say that vertical and horizontal viewing angles for a perfect image are 90°. This is already far better than TN screens.

Interpolation

This screen’s standard resolution is 1600 x 1200. Normally, if you bought this monitor it’s to use this resolution, for picture editing, video editing… Otherwise choose a 19” monitor with 1280 x 1024 pixels. What happened when we chose another resolution?

Well there was no big surprise, as the result wasn’t excellent. Detail levels decreased quickly and object outlines lost sharpness.

Don’t use another resolution other than 1600 x 1200!

Games


Here there were no high expectations. This is a MVA 25 ms screen with a 1600 x 1200 resolution. If you really enjoy Civilization (and the fourth version will be out this year) or the Sims it will be perfect. Avoid FPS and car games. In addition to requiring high end graphic cards, afterglow is very noticeable. We clearly saw trails of light behind bright objects in motion. It’s so significant that (and we are not being overly critical) we don’t recommend gaming with this monitor.

Video


It’s great here…if objects don’t move too much. The good thing is that with 16.7 million colors (and not 16.2, read this article to remind you the difference), there is no twinkling effect that is systematically present on TN panels. The picture is very good even from a short distance. Knowing that this monitor has very wide viewing angles and is quite big we would think to replace an ageing TV or to watch DVDs or DivXs. Unfortunately, this isn’t a good idea. Response time is once again the big problem. Forget the 25 ms claim (which means little) fast moving objects are seen double or sometimes worse in threes or fours. As you may have guessed it wasn’t ideal for watching the Matrix.

Verdict

We were clearly disappointed by this screen. The VA panel is very slow, true enough, but it isn’t the biggest issue. We don’t usually buy a 20” monitor to play UT 2004. But the response time is so low that movie viewing isn’t possible. In one area it does work. A 20” monitor means video and photo editing and for this use the 6500 K color temperature is perfect for any user. However, we can’t help asking why it doesn’t have the 5000K temperature commonly used in the graphic designer world. We also would have preferred a vertically adjustable monitor.


Take a look at this manufacture’s dead pixel policy by clicking here!

Conclusion

Conclusion

We were lucky to test all these impressive monitors, especially two of them: the Dell (our favourite) and the Philips. The first will please movie fans and those looking for a big monitor to simultaneously display two documents (movie and text, two texts, text and web….) The other, the 200P4, is a little more reactive and will be better for fast FPS type games, even if afterglow is more noticeable than with 17 and 19" TN panels.