X-bit labs

Closer Look at 17" LCD Monitor Features. Part VII

Category: Other

by Oleg Artamonov

[ 02/09/2006 | 01:11 PM ]

Today we are going to continue our series of articles devoted to the features and performance of 17” LCD monitors. We will look at 12 monitors from BenQ, LG, Philips, Samsung, Sony and Viewsonic.

Table of contents:

• BenQ FP72V
  
• BenQ FP737s-D
  
• LG Flatron L1717S
  
• LG Flatron L1750SQ
  
• LG Flatron L1750U
  
• LG Flatron M173WA
  
• Philips Brilliance 170S6
  
• Philips Brilliance 170X5
  
• Samsung SyncMaster 720NA
  
• Sony SDM-S75A
  
• Sony SDM-S75F
  
• ViewSonic VG712s
  
• Conclusion
  

My previous article was entirely dedicated to the newly-born class of LCD monitors with response time compensation. This technology is indeed a new word on the market as it helps to dramatically improve the response time of a monitor in reality rather than only on paper (as it was the case with 8ms and 12ms monitors which could not be told apart without special tools because the speed of 8 milliseconds was only achieved on a very limited range of matrix state transitions).

Although I have no doubt that the new technology will sooner or later be implemented in the absolute majority of LCD monitors, the older RTC-less models still dominate the market today. Some manufacturers haven’t even yet produced their monitors with RTC. So, this review is all about 17” LCD monitors without response time compensation.

BenQ FP72V

The BenQ FP27V is surely going to differ from many other monitors with a diagonal of the same length just because of its appearance. The market of 17” LCD monitors being now less interesting for the manufacturers due to severely reduced prices, new models usually come out with a standard plain gray-colored office-like face. Against them the FP27V is far more attractive.

The base and the back of the case are made of a milk-white glossy plastic (it resembles me the new 760th series from Samsung in which the whole case is made of such plastic). The front of the case is painted a silvery color; there are black speakers on the sides (the back part of the speakers is milk-white, too). Some single elements of the case are also painted black.

The monitor’s matrix is covered with a protective glass, and you can see in the snapshot above how the glass is reflecting the daylight lamps hanging at the ceiling of our lab. There is anti-flare coating on the glass, as is indicated by the characteristic lilac color of the reflections, but its mirror-likeness is not disturbing at work (but if you have bright light sources behind your back, you will surely see them reflected in the screen).