The Good, the Bad and the Beautiful: 17" LCDs Reviewed

Design According To Sony

The monitor we tested was shipped in the black version. It won an iF 2004 Design Award. You can say what you like about Sony, but one thing is sure: This Japanese manufacturer builds the most elegant-looking monitors. The lines of this one are perfect, and while the majority of the parts are plastic, the finish is exemplary.

Ergonomics

The ergonomics of the HS74P are slightly above average, and no more. The control buttons are located under the panel, perfectly accessible. However, the monitor's tilt range is extremely small. A removable back cover lets you stow the cables away. The transformer is built into the monitor, which accounts for the unit's thickness. It has both VGA and DVI connectors. Sony has decided not to build speakers into this monitor - which I have to say I think is a good choice. The speakers in LCD monitors are almost always poor in quality and all but useless.

The OSD is not the most intuitive one I've seen. Navigation is somewhat tricky. Sony has chosen to separate the brightness adjustment from the backlighting adjustment. It's an interesting idea. In fact, backlighting increases the luminance of the panel, which explains the rating of 400 cd/m² claimed by the manufacturer. However, this type of adjustment leads to confusion. Sony offers result programs for adjusting the backlighting (low, high, medium, and user). But in fact only the "user" program gives you access to all the usual adjustments. So power users will go with that one.