High-End LCD: Samsung and BenQ

Deductions Possible For 17" Models

If the claimed response time is 25 ms , you're out of luck. There is little chance that the panel will be of high enough quality for gaming . A 17" panel is from an older generation and only usable for displaying text.

All of the 17" screens that we tested with a response time of 20 ms had LA's BOE-Hydis panel, which is used in the Hyundai Q17 and Iiyama AS4314UTG , in the PV920 Pro from Hercules , in Acer's AL1731 ...

So far, this has been the panel with the best response that we have encountered. The ghosting is very slight, imperceptible for most people. In any case, it less than on all the panels manufactured subsequently, even if in some instances the latter claimed lower response times.

Other advantages of this panel include good color rendering. It uses TN+Film technology, which is the least affected by breaking up during movie sequences.

The defects of this panel are that brightness is often patchy and the black can lack depth.

16 ms . Thus far, only there have only been two panel manufacturers who offer commercially-available monitors in the 16 ms category: AU-Optronics and LG-Philips. While both are excellent, we prefer the AU-Optronics monitor, which is a hair's breadth more responsive than Philips. However, both have more ghosting effects than the Hydis panel.

In the future, the CMO monitor will also have to be taken into account. At CeBit 2004, this manufacturer introduced its own 16 ms panel, claiming that it was perfectly comparable to that of AU-Optronics.

12 ms . Two manufacturers have gotten there - AU-Optronics and Samsung. That's all that counts in this new comparison - will the new 12ms panels beat the Hydis product? We certainly hope so.