Obviously, at that rate, we're not racing the engine - and the oscilloscope traces showed no evidence of excessive voltage. According to our new test method, the MFM-HT75W has a Class A Overdrive, below 0.5 frames.

In Use

This monitor is well suited for office applications - provided you lower the brightness, or you'll tire your eyes needlessly. But at low brightness the color rendering isn't as good. So this monitor is not well suited for photo retouching.

Playing video games was more tolerable compared to earlier generations of Sony monitors. But I won't go so far as to say it was fun.

Video Games

We rate the unit's suitability for gaming on a scale of one to five. To do it, we try the panels with different games - FPS, RTS, RPG, etc. The panel's reactivity is obviously the first point we're interested in, but the quality of the colors also has its importance with certain titles.

Latency was quite a bit less bothersome with video. That means that this monitor would be perfectly acceptable as a backup TV set. Video noise was fairly low and the viewing angles are very wide. Even with less-than-ideal connectivity like S-Video, the image quality was surprisingly good. Once again we have to mention the presence of the dreaded X-Black filter, whose only purpose is to visually increase contrast and attract shoppers to hypermarket TV displays. Once you take it home and put it anywhere near a window, the panel becomes a real mirror. It's time that Sony reconsidered their use of this proprietary technology. The sound, however, is very well engineered. It lacked a little volume in the midrange, but the bass was clear and the highs didn't hiss too quickly when the volume was increased. You can forget the SRS-WOW mode. It's a useless gadget.

Video

Here again we use a five-point rating system. While latency plays a role, we also evaluate the amount of video noise induced by the unit. Good viewing angles are also crucial for multimedia use.

Performance/Price

Rather than estimate a quality/price ratio, we prefer to concentrate on the price/performance ratio. What's the difference? Quality in an LCD display is a perception that varies from one individual to another. On the other hand, performance is measurable. So this rating is a synthesis of the monitor's performance as compared to THG's benchmark.

Conclusion

We liked the MFM-HT75W. It's not perfect, but the basic concept is carried to its full realization. Sony's aim was for the MFM-HT75W to be both a PC monitor and a TV set. And Sony has succeeded. The video performance was acceptable, and the picture format is well- suited for screening DVDs. You'll end up with a bigger picture on a 17" 16:9 than on a 19" monitor in standard 4:3 format. Still, the MFM-HT75W is expensive and is suited mainly for people who aren't interested in gaming, given its woefully high latency.