LCD Comparison: 17" & 19" Under 20ms

Hitachi CML175SXW

Hitachi loves long and difficult-to-remember names. Its latest incarnation is the CML175SXW, following its CML174SXW .

This is AU Optronics' first v2 panel, following its v1 offering, which THG has tested in the past, but a second version. However, AU's website does not make any distinction between thev1 and v2 panels. However, the sticker on the panel makes the distinction.

The ergonomics of the monitor are its highlights: analog + DVI inputs, internal powering, narrow frames round the edges of the panel. However, the casing is in plastic, and there is a lack of height adjustment possibilities as well as absence of a USB hub. It's thus an average monitor, and will not stand out by virtue of its ergonomics or its design.

With the basic settings, the monitor shows a dominance of blue and is very bright. On the spectrogram, its brightness measures 270cd/m², definitely higher than average for a default setting. As a reminder, LCDs usually have a brightness of around 200cd/m², twice that of CRTs (80 to 110 cd/m²). Set at zero in the OSD, the minimum brightness is 142cd/m², and the colors are nowhere near as good. So it's best to stick to the default settings, which give you 92% of the colors. About 82% of them, the lightest ones, rate a DeltaE <1.

As we noted for the CML174SXW, when the CML175SXW is connected to a PC via its DVI input, several options, including contrast and color temperature, are no longer accessible, which is a shame.

Then for multimedia purposes, though this monitor boasts the AU v2 panel, it behaves like those in version 1, i.e. very honorably in games (better than those with a 16ms LG-Philips, but not as well as those with a 20ms Hydis) with noticeable flickering during DVD play.