Sharp LL-T15A4S 15

The LL-T15A4 is a basic 15-inch LCD monitor that renders text and graphics well enough for most office work. However, it is not ideal for demanding applications, such as photo editing or working with documents containing very fine detail. We noticed deficiencies, for example, in our gray-scale test, in which gradations were lost at both the dark and light ends of the range. In addition, colors were generally flat on our color-scale test, and the darkest hues were lost. Several well-performing models we tested alongside the Sharp, such at the Eizo Nanao FlexScan L367, offer notably better image quality for about the same price.

Sharp gave the LL-T15A4 an outstanding selection of advanced controls, including the ability to choose among five white-balance presets or to set a custom value by tweaking the red, green, and blue primary colors. Also, a mode button on the bezel allows you to toggle through three image presets labeled "standard," "office," and "vivid." The third mode made our test images look a bit freaky, though it could add a nice punchiness to video games; the second puts the monitor into a low-power mode that reduces the brightness and, according to Sharp, decreases the current the monitor draws to 18 watts.