19" LCD Monitors: The Spring 2006 Collection

19" LCDs: The Spring Collection

Many still contend that the ViewSonic VP191b 19" LCD monitor offers the ultimate value for its price tag. It's true it was an exceptional monitor, and you can still find one for about $500. Not since the Hyundai Q17 has an LCD monitor achieved such fame. However, it no longer wears the champion's belt.

Yes, the VP191b was exceptional, but more-recent monitors have even better stand-out qualities of their own. As our tests show below, there are some truly exceptional, all-purpose monitors that are good for gaming, photo retouching and other applications. We also found the new Tom's Hardware Guide response-time champion.

BenQ FP91V+

Pay close attention - here's a test of two monitors from BenQ that are very close but are radically different: the FP91V+ and the FP91V. Despite what you might think, the FP91V+ is older than the FP91V. The FP91V+ uses a 6-ms panel that has an optical "glare" filter (oh, great). The FP91V is classified as 4 ms, but doesn't have the optical filter. Just to make things a little more confusing, both monitors obviously have the same plastic shell. Anyway, first our test of the FP91V+: