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-------------------------------------------------------------- This story was printed from ZDNet Australia. --------------------------------------------------------------
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Panel beating: 15 LCD displays tested March 25, 2002 URL: http://www.zdnet.com.au/reviews/hardware/components/soa/Panel-beating-15-LCD-displays-tested/0,139023397,120264126,00.htm
LCD flat panel displays save space, power, and eye strain, but until recently the upfront cost has been prohibitive. As they increase in popularity and come down in price, the arguments for investing in LCDs become more compelling. Has the time come to ditch the CRT for good?
LCDs are ideal for the office environment. If, like most work PCs, your computers are used for office applications, Web-browsing and other text-intensive applications, an LCD monitor can make a great difference to your workspace. They offer a good uniform picture, good colour, and have a lot to offer in terms of space saving and ergonomics. The best part is they are now more affordable than ever. Prices have plummeted since RMIT IT Test Labs last reviewed LCDs back in June 2000. Back then 15in displays were about $2500, and now you can pick one up for under $1000. However, this may be the bottom price for the time being. Several manufacturers expanded their production capacity in 2000-1, resulting in an oversupply, and LCDs were discounted heavilyââ,¬"more so in the US than in Australia. Some analysts are now predicting that the increased demandââ,¬"in part stimulated by Apple's new-look iMacââ,¬"could lead to shortages during 2002, and will almost certainly lead to price rises. However, the fluctuations of supply and demand are always difficult to second guess.
Advantages
On the other hand
Connectors
Warranty
Future Trends For this feature we only looked at 15in displays. We gave the opportunity to all the leading manufacturers of LCD displays to submit an LCD, and in total we received 15 displays.
By Kire Terzievski, Technology & Business Magazine March 25th, 2002.
AG Neovo F-15The AG Neovo was a little bit of a surprise to us -- we didn't know what to expect. It is an analogue display and on paper it doesn't have a lot going for it. Firstly it has a high response time of 45ms and it only has a vertical-viewing angle of 115 degrees, which is a little on the low side.It was the lightest display in this roundup, weighing in at only 3.1kg. This made it very easy to shift around, but also to tip over. The base stand didn't offer the stability we would have liked and wasn't very adjustable -- you could only tilt the display up and down. However, a wall mounting kit is available. We must admit the image quality was surprisingly good, despite not looking so great on paper. It was one of the few displays that successfully displayed hues from all ends of the spectrum. Text also appeared quite sharp and this display has a great OSD. We were able to fine-tune every parameter of this display; it even has two modes optimised for text and graphics.
By Kire Terzievski, Technology & Business Magazine March 25th, 2002.
Compucon H540S
The Compucon display is quite plain and limited in features. It's only an analogue display and it doesn't feature any audio connectors. But on a better note, it's fairly robust. It has a sturdy base and a stand that offers good support for the display.
There are four holes on the back of the display, which could be used to mount this display on a wall. Although this display uses a Samsung TFT, it was no match for the Samsung-branded monitor in display quality. The Compucon wasn't as bright and the colours didn't appear to be as vivid, but to its credit the Compucon was just as sharp. The Samsung is only slightly more expensive than the Compucon, making the Compucon a relatively poor choice.
By Kire Terzievski, Technology & Business Magazine March 25th, 2002.
Eizo FlexScan L375
Eizo makes state of the art displays. They cost a little more, but they come with additional features that put them way ahead of the competition.
Firstly the Eizo L375 features two DVI ports and 2 USB ports. This display does not have an analog port, so make sure you use it with a graphics card that supports DVI. The Eizo had the fastest response times, and was the brightest display with highest contrast. Its viewing angles were also among the widest; only the Viewsonic had a greater vertical viewing angle. The Eizo has a great base stand which allows side to side movement with little effort. The base stand also offers very good support and stability for the screen. The picture quality was outstanding. Text appeared razor sharp and the colour and brightness were almost perfect. However, this display showed some signs of vertical distortion and couldn't accurately display the lighter portions of greyscales.
By Kire Terzievski, Technology & Business Magazine March 25th, 2002.
Hercules ProphetView 720
The Hercules ProphetView sports an amazing design. Its design certainly drew the attention away from all the other displays in this roundup. It's unique yet robust, and is priced quite reasonably as well.
Its image quality was average, which was a bit of a shame. Our main concern was its contrast. Despite it being rated at 300:1 there were other displays also rated at 300:1 that offered much better contrast. It had a very difficult time displaying dark tones. Text didn't appear all too sharp and vertical distortions were also present, but to a lesser extent than some of the other analogue displays.
By Kire Terzievski, Technology & Business Magazine March 25th, 2002.
Hitachi CML153XW
The Hitachi display looks identical to the Viewmaster, and they are almost identical on paper as well.
The Hitachi has a slightly higher contrast ratio and a higher price tag. The Hitachi's LCD screen was of a higher quality grade than the Viewmaster, which impacts on image quality and longevity. The Hitachi appeared to produce a better image than the Viewsonic, but not by much. Colours appeared more vivid and text appeared somewhat sharper.
By Kire Terzievski, Technology & Business Magazine March 25th, 2002.
LG 575LE
The LG is quite a large display, just shy of 5kg. The display panel is quite thick and the front of the panel sports a larger than normal bezel. The build quality of the display panel is reasonably good but the stand could have offered a little more support for the panel. We found there was a lot of play between the panel and the stand.
The LG features soft touch buttons, which are a bonus as they will let you adjust the display much faster. However, the LG is only an analogue display. It doesn't have built in speakers or any audio connectors either. The image quality was quite good. Text especially appeared nice and sharp but there were some interference patterns that we could only get rid of by manually tweaking the display. The auto adjustment in this case didn't provide us the best picture. Also like many of the other displays, there were some vertical distortions present in some of our tests.
By Kire Terzievski, Technology & Business Magazine March 25th, 2002.
HP L1520 D5063A
The HP features a large base, and the display is fixed very high-only the Philips stands taller, and only when it's in portrait mode. The display can also be tilted back a fair bit, but won't tilt forward very far. It is also one of the heaviest displays-the chances of it tipping over are very low. The base has a neat handle so you can easily carry the display around. This monitor has single DVI and VGA connectors.
The display quality was quite good in analog mode, and in digital it was excellent. Images appeared extremely clear as did text and fine lines, but what was most impressive were the vivid colours. There was some vertical distortion but it was minor compared to some of the other displays.
By Kire Terzievski, Technology & Business Magazine March 25th, 2002.
Mitsubishi DV158
The Mitsubishi display is an analogue-only display that also features built in speakers. It has a unique swivel base, which can be folded back flush with the display screen. We're not quite sure what this would be useful for, other than to make transporting the display easier. This base is also removable, and the display can be wall mounted with a supplied bracket. The Mitsubishi display was one of the lightest displays we tested, weighing in at only 3.6kg.
The picture quality of the Mitsubishi was mediocre. It did a good job displaying light hues but it struggled to distinguish dark tones. Text also appeared a little fuzzy at first. The auto calibration didn't work well and we had to manually tweak the phase adjustment to get the text nice and sharp. To its credit, the Mitsubishi had fairly large viewing angles and faster response times than many of the displays tested.
By Kire Terzievski, Technology & Business Magazine March 25th, 2002.
NEC Multisync LCD1550V
The NEC is one of the few displays priced under $1000. It looks quite heavy because it has quite a thick panel, but to our surprise the NEC is the third lightest display-and that includes the built-in power supply.
The base is very small. In order to tilt the screen up and down, you need to hold down the base, because otherwise the display will tip over. It can be wall mounted, but the mounting bracket is sold separately. The image quality of the display was average. The display struggled to display dark tones properly and we noticed some minor vertical distortions as well. Text also appeared a little washed out. Fortunately, there were no problems displaying fine lines. We say fortunately because if there are problems they can only be fixed with a clock adjustment, and the NEC doesn't have one.
By Kire Terzievski, Technology & Business Magazine March 25th, 2002.
Philips 150P2E
The Philips was by far the most adjustable monitor we looked at. It has a swivel base and the stand can be raised or lowered. The base can come off entirely if you want to mount the display on a wall. And the Philips was the only display we reviewed that can be turned 90 degrees and viewed in portrait mode-ideal for heavy duty word processing or desktop publishing.
It doesn't end there however. You can buy a USB hub, which slides to the back of the base. You can also buy a multimedia base, which sports two front firing speakers. We did not have to do much to calibrate this display. The Phiulis has clock and phase adjustments that can be used to fine tune the display, but the auto calibration worked just fine. The image quality of the Philips was very good despite some mild vertical distortion. Plain text appeared sharp, but what impressed us the most was how the rich the display was in colour. The display was a lot cleaner in digital mode than analog. However we did notice a fair bit of decay each time we dragged windows of all sizes across the screen. Some of the other displays also showed some signs of ghosting, but with the Philips it was generally more obvious.
By Kire Terzievski, Technology & Business Magazine March 25th, 2002.
Samsung SyncMaster 151S
The Samsung display is great all round unit, which is only analogue capable. The Samsung features a tall yet robust stand that sets the screen quite high. The tilt angles were quite good, as were the viewing angles. Samsung had also positioned the OSD buttons down the right hand side of the display. This was certainly different but also quite stylish.
The image quality on the Samsung was excellent. It was definitely one of the best analogue displays we tested. The display was very bright and vivid as well as razor sharp. There were no issues with interference patterns, but like all the other analogue displays, it was prone to vertical distortions. However, they were very minor. The Samsung also offers very low response times.
By Kire Terzievski, Technology & Business Magazine March 25th, 2002.
Sony SDM-M51
The Sony display looks very sexy, and is extremely adjustable. You can change the height and angle of the display, and can tilt it so far backwards it almost faces the ceiling. We're not quite sure what practical applications this has, but if you can think of one, rest assured the Sony can handle it.
The Sony is a pure analogue display that also has two built in speakers, although sound quality isn't the best. The picture quality of the Sony wasn't that impressive. Text appeared a little blurry and we had problems successfully displaying dark tones. Its response times didn't seem to be as fast as Sony's promotional literature suggested. There was a fair bit of decay when we dragged and dropped windows onto our desktop.
By Kire Terzievski, Technology & Business Magazine March 25th, 2002.
Targa TD15A-TFT
The Targa display is the heaviest display at 5.9kg. The lightest display in comparison is almost half that, at 3.1kg. The screen is really thick and from the front of the display you would think you were looking into a CRT.
The front bezel is huge and makes this display look very unattractive. Despite its weight, the Targa isn't the most robust display either; like the LG it displayed some concerning play between the base stand and screen. The Targa however has a few handy features that make up for its appearance. It has two front firing speakers and a handy s-video out connector. The image quality wasn't the best, but it wasn't bad either. Even though this was one of the poorest performing displays, the actual image quality wasn't that bad in comparison to some of the best displays.
By Kire Terzievski, Technology & Business Magazine March 25th, 2002.
Viewmaster CS555
The Viewmaster CS555 is the least expensive display coming in at only $885, but is analog-only. It has a small yet sturdy base and a non-adjustable stand. The stand is very strong and robust though, and the unit does appear to be built a lot better than some of the more expensive displays.
The actual panel is quite thin and features two one-Watt speakers, which sounded rather thin. The image quality was average. Text appeared a little too blocky for our liking and we also noticed some vertical distortion. Even after trying to adjust the clock, we still were not able to correct the problem. This happens when the LCD tries to produce the same number of clock pulses as the dot clock of the graphics system.
By Kire Terzievski, Technology & Business Magazine March 25th, 2002.
ViewSonic VX500
The VX500 is one of the most expensive displays. The extra money goes into the styling, soft touch menu system and digital port. The VX500 is also one of the few displays to feature speakers. The sound quality was quite poor, but we didn't expect much from it in the first place.
The brightness and contrast of this display were was outstanding. Images appeared bright and vivid, and text razor sharp. In digital the image quality was even better. We noticed some vertical distortion, but we got used to this, as we found it in every other display as well. This display offered the best viewing angles of the lot as well as the best on screen display menu. The menu system was well laid out and quite large which made it easy to use.
By Kire Terzievski, Technology & Business Magazine March 25th, 2002.
What to look for when buying a LCD display
LCD VS CRT displays
Scenario 1:Company: Micallef Mining This company is moving to a new office and wants to replace the 15in CRT monitors of 20 staff with 15in LCD screens.Approximate budget: AU$1200 per monitor Requires: 20 15in LCD monitors Concerns: This company is mostly concerned with saving space on desktops. Image quality and ergonomic features of the monitors are also under consideration. Best Solution: The Samsung SyncMaster 151S display would be the best solution here, as it's priced under AU$1200 and offers a good balance of image quality and build quality.
By Kire Terzievski, Technology & Business Magazine March 25th, 2002.
Next-gen skinny screens light upA new technology is lighting up the eyes of engineers. Organic light-emitting diode (OLED) displays are considered the next trend in the world of screens. Still, manufacturers are carefully approaching how they bring products to market and are sticking with small screens at first.Manufacturers are interested in OLED because it could replace liquid-crystal displays (LCDs) for notebooks and flat-panel monitors. Unlike LCDs, OLED technology uses a light-emitting organic material that glows when an electrical charge is passed through it. This negates the need for backlighting, which eats up energy and adds thickness to the screen. "In the long run, OLEDs could be less expensive, brighter and thinner, and play video better than LCDs," says DisplaySearch analyst Barry Young. When mass-produced, the organic displays are expected to cost about 20 percent less than LCDs because the manufacturing process is more streamlined. The next-generation displays require fewer materials and fewer manufacturing steps than LCDs, says Young. Industry insiders, however, said that LCD technology still holds the reins of the industry and likely will for the next several years--at least among large displays such as those used in notebooks. "It will probably be at least 10 years before the efficiencies in OLED display manufacturing is high enough that we'll see them in notebooks and (PC flat-panel) monitors," Young says. Bruce Berkoff, executive vice president of marketing at LCD maker LG Philips, also sees the technology spreading slowly. "Consumers just aren't buying new displays all the time. They really only refresh every two or three years, which makes it difficult for a new technology to catch on quickly like that," says Berkoff. "They have a better chance with smaller devices like cell phones, which are growing like crazy." Other manufacturers are likely to develop OLED displays in the same small sizes, says Young. "Large-size displays would be a competitive bloodbath for a new emerging technology such as OLED," says Young. "It's easier to go after smaller devices for competitive and efficiency reasons." Young adds that manufacturing efficiencies tend to be higher in smaller displays, partly because companies can get more screens out of one piece of glass. However, the technology industry has been known to break a few speed records in the past, especially when major players, such as Toshiba, Sony, Samsung, Philips, Eastman Kodak and DuPont, have committed themselves to this emerging market. by Richard Shim, ZDNet
By Kire Terzievski, Technology & Business Magazine March 25th, 2002.
Editor's Choice
To pick a single winner from a field of 15 was difficult. If you have a little extra money to spend then go for the Eizo L375. Its image quality was second to none, it featured a USB hub and it offered two DVI ports. It also had the best build quality of all the displays. The Viewsonic also deserves honours for its excellent viewing angles and picture quality. And of course, as the best solution for our scenario, the Samsung also takes home an award.
The three LCD displays that receive the Editor's Choice are the Eizo FlexScan L375, the ViewSonic VX500 and the Samsung Syncmaster 151S.
How we testedThe test rig used was an AMD Anthon 1800+ with a Leadtek Winfast Geforce 3 graphics card. We evaluated each LCD at its maximum or "native" resolution, this was for the 15" displays 1,024x768 pixels. In all cases the display was 24-bit colour (16.8 million colours). Because of the relatively slow response rate of the TFT displays when compared to CRT for example the user does not experience any flicker that would be apparent from a CRT at relatively low vertical refresh rates. However, some of the LCD's at times experienced phase problems at tested refresh rate resulting in a "jitter" or "pixel crawl" along the edges or fine vertical stripes for example. In these cases we noted the steps we took to remedy the situation, which was usually a quick adjustment of the refresh rate up or down a couple of Hz.We also used a series of subjective "jury" display quality tests for this purpose we used the DisplayMate for Windows from Sonera Technologies (USA 1-908-747-6886; http://www.displaymate.com ). This series of images is designed to reveal the strengths and weaknesses of a range of attributes, including geometric patterns, colour scales, greyscales, uniformity, and resolution. The jury tests consisted primarily of examining screens from Sonera Technologies' DisplayMate for Windows, each of which is designed to highlight specific flaws. Jurors rated the monitors first by whether they showed any of these flaws. If they did, the jurors decided whether the flaws were "barely visible", "easily visible but not an issue for real-world use," or "distracting in at least some circumstances." Among the many DisplayMate test screens used in the jury test were several devoted to definition. For the horizontal resolution test, the pattern includes a series of adjacent white and dark lines of various thicknesses which displays any phase problems the LCD may have by producing interference such as ripple, speckle or jitter
We rated each of the displays in the areas of interoperability, futureproofing, return on investment and service. For interoperability we were concerned whether a display had a DVI connector, any USB ports or audio connectors and speakers. Also whether any of the displays required drivers and the operating systems that they support. With futureproofing we looked at the refresh rates that each of the displays were capable of and whether the display has a DVI connector and whether or not you can buy any optional accessories for your display like a USB hub. Build quality and whether the display was built to take a few knocks was also taken into account. For your return on investment we looked at the price of the display and the overall picture quality of the display. In regards to service we looked to see how long the warranty was for. We found that in some cases manufacturers will offer a 1 year parts and labour warranty on the screen and 3 years parts and labour on everything else.
By Kire Terzievski, Technology & Business Magazine March 25th, 2002.
SpecificationsSee the full comparative table of LCD screen specifications here.
By Kire Terzievski, Technology & Business Magazine March 25th, 2002.
About RMIT labs
RMIT Test Labs are an independent testing institution based in Melbourne, Victoria, performing IT product testing for clients such as IBM, Coles-Myer, and a wide variety of government bodies. In the Labs' testing for Technology & Business, they are in direct contact with the client supplying products. Their findings are their own -- only the specifications of the products to be tested are provided by the magazine. For more information on RMIT, please contact the Lab Manager, Steven Turvey.
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Master Test Pattern
Extreme Grey-Scale and Colour Bars Test
Colour Scales
Horizontal Resolution Test