MonsterVision LCDs

Entertainment: Games and Movies on LCDs

If you build an LCD for entertainment, will they watch? And will it look any different? To find out, we examined Sony's SDM-V72W Personal Entertainment Display, designed for games and movies, and compared it to Apple's Cinema Display for graphics professionals and to the general-purpose Iiyama Pro Lite 4821DT-BK.

The $1000, 17-inch SDM-V72W boasts a wide 16:9 aspect ratio and 1280 by 768 resolution (most desktop monitors have a 4:3 aspect ratio). To evaluate it, we watched Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones and played the game Return to Castle Wolfenstein. The monitor displayed reasonably accurate details, even in fast-paced scenes, though we saw some graininess. Its horizontal viewing angle was excellent (180 degrees, by our measurement). Our main gripe was the tight vertical viewing angle: Looking at the screen from about 20 degrees below produced horrid colors, so slouching while you watch movies or play games could be a problem.

Iiyama's 4821DT-BK held its own against the Sony monitor; it even offered a better vertical viewing angle. Differences in video performance were barely noticeable, though you don't get the Sony's wide aspect ratio (or its beefy built-in speakers).

For about $1500 more, Apple's 22-inch Cinema Display gives users a huge 16:10 screen. Though this monitor was designed primarily for use with Macs, it was superior to other LCDs, especially on fast-action sequences, when we attached it to our PC test system. (Apple will not disclose the monitor's rated pixel response time, but it appears to be quite sprightly.) It's a worthy choice as an entertainment display, at least for folks with fat wallets.