Philips 300WN5QS

Philips' multipurpose 30" TFT screen can serve as either a monitor or LCD TV. The 30" display incorporates a 16ms panel and runs in a 15:9 widescreen format at a native resolution of 1280 x 768 pixels. The screen weighs in at 16kg and measures 87 x 51 x 18cm. It also includes an analog TV tuner, so it can be used to watch conventional broadcast TV. What's more, it's HDTV ready, featuring full support for 480i through to 1080i HDTV, including progressive scan modes.

The default image is bright enough to handle a range of lighting conditions, up to office fluorescent lighting, and the comprehensive menu allows fine-tuning of image properties. The screen offers a viewing angle of 176 degrees, which is ample for any office or lounge room. The screen can be set up within five minutes (after bolting on the base and connecting cables) and ships with a lightweight plastic remote control that's used to tune the screen and access the on-screen menu. The screen can also be wall mounted if preferred. The onscreen display is clearly laid out and easy to navigate; it takes just a few minutes to fine-tune brightness, contrast, and colour balance settings.

The CD bundled with this monitor contains an electronic manual, display drivers, and image adjustment software. DVI and S-Video cables are also included.

Input options include component, composite, S-Video, VGA and DVI. Only power and DVI cables are bundled, though. Composite output is provided along with RCA and headphone audio connectors. An RS232 (serial) port is also included for network operation.

The image quality from both analog and digital sources is outstanding: clear, bright, and balanced. The two 5W bolt-on speakers offer adequate sound for watching TV or reproducing system sounds, but serious movie buffs would want to supplement the audio with a surround-sound amplifier and speaker set.

The screen is rated to operate between five and 35 degrees Celsius and it didn't heat up during testing. Philips offers a three-year warranty with the screen, and boasts 50,000 hours of operating life for the panel.