The EIZO Nanao FlexScan F2-17EX is an excellent monitor with a crisp, bright, sharp display. It has a 0.26mm-dot-pitch and a 17-inch, flat, square shadow-mask tube with a maximum resolution of 1280x1024 at an 80Hz refresh rate; it can go as high as 1600x1200 (with a 66Hz refresh rate). An antireflection, antistatic coating reduces glare, dust and static electricity. It's NUTEK and VESA DPMS-compatible, consuming 95 watts normally, dropping to 10W in standby mode and less than 5W when asleep. The monitor supports current low-radiation standards and is DDI-compliant as well.
Adjustments include brightness, contrast, pincushioning, trapezoid, horizontal and vertical convergence, tilt, horizontal and vertical moir reduction and color, energy conservation settings, and the size, position and language of the on-screen programming menu. You operate the menu and make adjustments with buttons and a thumbwheel. There are buttons to select horizontal and vertical position and size, brightness or degauss sans menu. Settings can also be made with ScreenManager Pro software and a cable that runs from the monitor's back to your serial port. It also includes Colorific color-management software.
EIZO Nanao FlexScan F2-17EX
Price: $999
Pros: Picture quality; resolution
Cons: None
Platforms: Windows 3.x, 95, NT
EIZO Nanao Technologies
800-800-5202, 310-431-5011
WinMag Box Score 5.0
The Samsung SyncMaster 17GLsi maintains geometric accuracy right to the screen's corners-regardless of image brilliance or content. It displays great focus, and its horizontal resolution is inspiring. The monitor produced a slight moiré pattern, and its horizontal convergence could have been a bit better, but all the more-important positive results easily outweigh those two hard-to-notice shortcomings.
The drop-down control panel is slick and very easy to use. It features four arrow keys arranged in a diamond pattern and eight function keys. You select a function like image position, then use an arrow key to adjust that feature. During adjustments, a screen pops up showing the effect each arrow key will have. Four of the buttons have alternate functions, accessed by pressing them twice in a row. The remaining four buttons select the color temperature, recall settings, degauss and switch between the monitor's two video inputs. Thumbwheel controls regulate brightness and contrast. Convergence and moiré adjustments are lacking.
The manual painstakingly describes how to manipulate the controls, and includes a good discussion on hue and saturation. It also has a flowchart on how to install the monitor.
Power-wise, the Samsung is a miser. And features like DDC 1 and DDC 2B Plug-and-Play compatibility make it a hard monitor to beat.
Samsung SyncMaster 17GLsi
Price: $1,019
Pros: Picture quality
Cons: Some controls missing
Platforms: Windows 3.x, 95, NT
Samsung Electronics America, IS Div.
800-933-4110, 201-229-4000
WinMag Box Score 5.0
The ViewSonic 17GA PerfectSound monitor will take your breath away with its rich color and sparkling sound. The unit measures only 16.46 by 17.24 by 17.24 inches. The on-screen menus include controls for volume/mute, horizontal and vertical position and size, pincushion distortion, tilt, trapezoid/parallelogram adjustment, color adjustment and video-signal level.
The 17GA displays 1024x768 pixels at an ergonomic 86Hz refresh rate. Resolution peaks at 1280x1024, and the refresh rate at 160Hz. The 0.27mm-dot-pitch Super Contrast screen and Invar shadow mask help produce a sharp, crisply focused image. The antiglare coating works well. The colors are more than vivid-the image the ViewSonic 17GA produces is awesome.
We didn't expect quite as much from the speakers as we cranked up the volume on an audio CD, but they pumped out clear, rich, distortion-free sound even when turned completely up. Included are a front-and-center built-in microphone, a headphone jack and external microphone port on the unit's left side, Windows 95 Plug-and-Play compatibility and Opti-Green software that supports four stages of power-down. The ViewSonic 17GA is MPRII and TCO-compliant.
ViewSonic 17GA PerfectSound
Price: $749
Pros: Image
Cons: None significant
Platforms: Windows 3.x, 95, NT
ViewSonic Corp.
800-888-8583, 909-869-7976
WinMag Box Score 4.5
The ArtMedia TN2185T 20-inch monitor offers very good sharpness and clarity, and passed diagnostic tool DisplayMate's tests with flying colors. While there was a slight darkening in the lower-right corner during the color-panel test, it's unlikely you'll notice any problem in applications. The monitor offers screen resolutions from 640x480 to 1280x1024 at 77Hz.
An on-screen display (OSD) controls horizontal and vertical convergence, rotation and pincushioning, vertical and horizontal picture size, and position, brightness and contrast. The OSD also shows the vertical and horizontal frequencies, and the current color temperature. You can also adjust the red, green and blue components. A tiny recessed reset button returns all settings to the factory configuration. There are also two video inputs.
The VESA DPMS- and Energy Star-compliant monitor typically uses 140 watts of power, dropping to 15W in suspend and 5W or less in the active-off state. It meets the TCO/MPRII low-emissions standards.
The unit measures 19.5 by 18.6 by 19.75 inches and weighs around 65 pounds. It degausses on start-up, has a tilt-swivel base and an antistatic/antireflection coating, and carries a three-year warranty.
ArtMedia TN2185T
Price: $1,888
Pros: Sharp, bright, adjustable images
Cons: Slightly dark in one corner
Platforms: Windows 3.x, 95, NT
ArtMedia, USA
800-Art-Media, 408-980-8988
WinMag Box Score 5.0
ViewSonic's 21-inch PT810 has a SonicTron aperture grille CRT with a large, 19.5-inch viewable area, making for a sharp display with rich colors throughout the screen. It supports a maximum resolution of 1600x1280 pixels at a 73Hz refresh rate and can even handle 1280x1024 resolution at 85Hz. That, along with the special glass and antireflection/antiglare coating, make it easy on the eyes. Under Sonera Technologies' Display Mate testing suite, the monitor proved exceptional, falling off slightly toward the edges under geometry tests.
The PT810 seamlessly configures itself under Windows 95. There are 13 preset and 19 user-definable modes, and the monitor automatically tracks signals from 30kHz to 92kHz horizontal and 50Hz to 120Hz vertical. It's TCO and Energy Star-compliant, and is compatible with VESA DPMS and NUTEK. This is a two-port monitor.
The on-screen controls include brightness and contrast, vertical and horizontal position and size, pincushion distortion, trapezoid distortion, degauss, pin/balance, parallelogram distortion, rotate, moiré, horizontal and vertical convergence, color temperature, and red, green and blue tuning. Other selections let you enable or disable VESA DPMS, set one of two computers as a primary system, alternate between ports, select a language, change the on-screen display's position and name the settings.
ViewSonic PT810
Price: $1,795
Pros: Image; controls
Cons: None
Platforms: Windows 3.x, 95, NT
ViewSonic Corp.
800-888-8583, 909-869-7976
WinMag Box Score 4.5
Samsung's SyncMaster 21GLs 21-inch monitor is blessed with good software. The included Colorific color-management CD-ROM made calibrating it a snap. Two color-reference cards are included-one for incandescent lights and the other for fluorescents. It takes just five minutes to point and click through the settings. The program then creates a color-correction profile for the monitor and your printer.
The unit did well in Sonera Technologies' DisplayMate tests. Colors were sharp, clear and well defined with no moiré or focus problems.
The monitor has a 0.28mm dot pitch and supports a maximum 1600x1200 resolution at a 68Hz refresh rate. The front panel consists of eight buttons that govern image position and size; pincushioning, rotation, trapezoid, parallel and vertical linearity; color temperature; horizontal and vertical convergence; and moiré clear. You can degauss the monitor and reset it to factory defaults. However, the control buttons have unintuitive icons.
The monitor measures 19.3 by 19.9 by 20.1 inches, so it takes up a bit more desk space than comparable units. The monitor meets VESA DPMS, EPA Energy Star and NUTEK standards, and complies with MPRII.
Samsung SyncMaster 21GLs
Price: $1,959
Pros: Software; screen quality
Cons: Controls
Platforms: Windows 3.x, 95, NT
Samsung Electronics America
800-933-4110, 201-229-4000
WinMag Box Score 4.0
Don't let the $599 price tag scare you: The Nokia Multigraph 449X is a 15-inch monitor-with a 13.5-inch maximum diagonal viewing area-that's loaded with features and has an excellent picture.
The monitor has a high-resolution (maximum 1024x768 pixels at an 80Hz refresh rate) Sony Trinitron tube with a 0.25-millimeter aperture-grille pitch, and a flatter-than-flat screen for brilliant colors and razor-sharp images. The Multigraph 449X is literally bursting with color and detail. The antiglare, antistatic coating is a great finishing touch.
The 15-inch Multigraph won't take up a lot of desktop space. It measures 14.6 by 14.6 by 15.7 inches and weighs a mere 33 pounds. Its sleek, uncluttered casing is sturdy and attractive. Two pairs of buttons on the unit's front provide easy access to myriad on-screen controls, including contrast, brightness, vertical centering, height, horizontal centering, width, pincushion, trapezoid, orthogonal, tilt and degauss.
Nokia Multigraph 449X
Price: $599
Pros: Picture; image controls
Cons: Price
Platforms: Windows 3.x, 95, NT
Nokia Display Products
800-296-6542, 415-331-4244
WinMag Box Score 4.5
The V70's 15.67-inch diagonal viewing area offers a stunning, distortion-free image of excellent quality. Its tilt-swivel design with an extended vertical pivot range provides an ergonomic advantage far greater than what most of its competitors offer.
The Compaq design team has produced a 0.28mm-dot-pitch, Invar-shadow-mask monitor that's nice to look at, even when it's off. With an antiglare, antistatic coated screen and weighing 44.1 pounds, this space-saving unit measures 17.3 by 16.6 by 17.3 inches. Concealed cable management at the back lets you place the V70 right against the wall. The monitor is Energy Star-compliant and meets MPRII standards for low electromagnetic radiation emissions.
The V70 offers a maximum resolution of 1280x1024 pixels at a vertical refresh rate of only 60Hz, but we wouldn't recommend this monitor for prolonged use at that setting. Lower resolutions, including 1024x768 pixels, are supported at 85Hz. Horizontal and vertical scanning frequencies range from 30kHz to 69kHz and 47.5Hz to 125Hz, respectively.
The easy-to-use controls include thumbscrews for brightness and contrast at the bottom left of the bezel. There are three small buttons arrayed at the bottom center: One calls up the on-screen menus, and the other two, labeled "+" and "-", let you make adjustments or choose from simplified menu selections.
Our tests with Sonera Technologies DisplayMate showed tight focus and rich saturated colors.
Compaq V70 Color Monitor
Price: $729
Pros: Distortion-free image; simple controls
Cons: Low refresh rate at 1280x1024 pixels
Platforms: Windows 3.x, 95, NT
Compaq Computer Corp.
800-345-1518
WinMag Box Score 4.5