17" LCD Part II: The Heavyweights Enter The Ring

Hercules Prophetview 920

Hercules has again won the prize for the most stylish monitor. The PV920 is the 17" version of the PV720 tested previously , only better. The design has been revised. The base can be removed so that the monitor can be hung on the wall (in landscape or portrait mode) with just a couple of screws. The casing, still in dark blue, has a nicer finish. The logo on the front is now in relief and the back is stamped with the manufacturer's hallmark. The base is still a metal crescent. The overall design gives the PV920 a look of quality and luxury and is, in short, quite irresistible.

On the inside, the PV720 had the screen workings of the Samsung SyncMaster 151MP. The PV920 and SyncMaster 171MP still have very similar screens. Likewise with the names: both have LTM170E references, probably because of the dates when they came off the assembly line. We found a few differences in the tests, one of them in favor of the PV920, which has very good differentiation of all the light shades without exception. The SyncMaster 171MP has a bit of trouble with blues.

In games, you may find that the screen reveals a flaw if you raise the brightness to lighten dark areas. When you work with the default settings (i.e., a color temperature of 6500K), the screen borders on pink, more so than with the 171MP. This is fairly common with Samsung and becomes increasingly noticeable as you move away from the ideal brightness and contrast settings.