Philips 190P5EB 19IN LCD .294MM 12X10 ALOG DIGTL SPK BLK

When retested under our new lighting and ergonomic protocols, the Philips Brilliance 190P5EB fared even better than before. Its high performance on all of our graphics test screens earned the highest graphics score of any recently tested 19-inch monitor. For the most part, text looked crisp, but other monitors made our Microsoft Excel test screen look clearer. On our Web page screen, text looked sharp and colors balanced.

Our judges' only complaint about the 190P5EB's graphics was a slight ruddiness in the screen of people; in hands-on tests, a little tweaking of the color settings cleared this up nicely. Our test photos looked much brighter and sharper--in some cases, a little too sharp--when we viewed them viewed using Philips' LightFrame technology. The overall effect was pleasing, though some details looked artificially sharp.

The 190P5EB offers tilt, height, pivot, and swivel adjustments and a heavy, secure base. PivotPro software is included. The bar-shaped buttons would be easier to work with if they were larger, but at least the color contrast of black buttons against a bar of silver makes them easy to locate.

Upshot: Excellent graphics quality and a full range of physical adjustments make the Philips Brilliance 190P5EB a good buy.

Laura Blackwell