Philips 15IN LCD 1024x768 75hz 400:1 150p4cg White Built-in Spkr/mic

Something of a mixed bag, the Philips 150P4 has an industrial design that is simple to the point of clumsiness, and yet it has surprisingly sophisticated adjustment software. This well-designed, useful software includes a wizard-based application containing a series of adjustment screens. Most of these adjustments are for improving performance with an analog connection (such as tweaking phase and clock settings), but the one for brightness and contrast also works in the digital mode we used for testing. Another extra is the LightFrame hardware and software feature that lets you highlight a section of the screen by applying different image settings such as higher brightness or contrast (you can even specify the level of enhancement for each parameter). A button on the monitor toggles this feature on and off.

In contrast to its software, the 150P4 offers few physical adjustments: The tilt mechanism does not move smoothly, and the height adjustment is so stiff as to be almost useless.

We rated the screen quality as Good for both text and graphics, but this still leaves the 150P4 near the back of the pack of 15-inch LCDs we've tested recently. None of our test screens looked particularly bad, but neither were they particularly outstanding, with other similarly priced monitors rendering sharper text and more-accurate colors in photos.

Upshot: The Philips contains some interesting technology, but the display falls short in other features compared with similarly priced displays.

Richard Baguley