Larger Screens, Smaller Investments

Looking to upgrade from your old CRT display? Today's large-size LCD monitors are more affordable than ever.

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Looking to reclaim some of the desktop space lost under your giant CRT, but unwilling to settle for a low-cost 15-inch LCD? Today you can buy a good 18-inch flat-panel display for under a grand, or a 19-inch model for as little as $1100. Admittedly, those prices are two or three times higher than the price of a CRT with a similar viewing area, but for some users the space and energy savings may justify the cost.

We tested three new 18-inch LCDs--BenQ's $935 FP882, Dell's $950 UltraSharp 1800FP, and Eizo Nanao's $1089 FlexScan L665--and ViewSonic's $1099, 19-inch VX900. All four units have skinny profiles and check in at 16 to 17 pounds, far lighter than CRTs that offer comparable viewing areas. Each shipping model takes standard digital (DVI) and analog input and has a native resolution of 1280 by 1024 pixels.

Under $1000

The two least-expensive units, the BenQ FP882 and the Dell 1800FP, share several features, notably a respectable horizontal and vertical viewing angle (vendor-specified at 160 degrees), which made for good image quality even when we weren't sitting directly in front of the screen. Both monitors also have a contrast ratio of 350:1 (about average for this class of monitor), which permits them to display a wide range of light and dark tones. And both support a decent response time of 30 milliseconds, meaning they redraw their screens quickly enough to avoid image blurring (important as you scroll through text or view moving images in games or DVD movies).

For its higher price, the Eizo Nanao FlexScan L665 has more-robust specifications, including a 170-degree horizontal/vertical viewing angle (most useful when multiple viewers are present), and a 400:1 contrast ratio. It also offers adjustment options for such color variables as hue, saturation, and color temperature (referring to reds and blues, often adjusted to accommodate different ambient lighting conditions). The FlexScan L665's response time of 40 ms is a bit slower than the BenQ's and the Dell's, however, so you might see some blurring.

The BenQ and Eizo Nanao models come with built-in stereo speakers that free up yet more desk space. Nevertheless, for listening to CDs, watching DVDs, or playing computer games, most people will want to use more powerful desktop speakers. The BenQ FP882 offers additional USB 1.1 ports (one upstream and two downstream), as well.

An Extra Inch

Moving up from an 18-inch LCD to a 19-inch model used to entail a hefty surcharge, but at $1099 the ViewSonic VX900 breaks that pattern. It sells for just $164 more than the BenQ, $149 more than the Dell, and $10 more than the Eizo Nanao.

In addition to providing about 12 percent more viewable screen space than the 18-inch models, the VX900 boasts a significantly higher contrast ratio (600:1), which creates a wider range of tones. The unit offers a faster response time (25 ms) and more-powerful speakers, too--on a par with many low-budget tabletop PC speakers. It's also the only unit that comes with color calibration software to help viewers print on-screen colors more accurately.

Hands On

All four models were easy to connect to standard analog monitor ports, using included cables. But only Dell and ViewSonic were considerate enough to include a digital cable (digital connections generally provide better image quality). The ViewSonic and Dell monitors offered easier on-screen navigation controls than the BenQ or Eizo units.

When we simultaneously viewed the four monitors connected via their analog interface, we observed that the Dell and Eizo Nanao models had the starkest contrast (for example, the darkest blacks), which produced vivid images for most of the graphics-based tests. The Eizo Nanao also distinguished itself by providing the best color hues and saturation, while the Benq and ViewSonic models did the best job of displaying highlights and shadows in our graphics tests. In the text-based tests, all four monitors came through with bright, sharp, and legible text.

Overall, we rate the ViewSonic VX900 as the best choice in this group, thanks to its larger screen size, extra features, and very reasonable price. But for image quality alone, the Eizo Nanao FlexScan L665 is our hands-down favorite.

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