Last year was a good year for LCD technologies, many of which began to see application in large, 17" monitors. Indeed, 17" LCD monitors offered the best contrast performance and the fastest response times last year. Meanwhile, 19" monitors became more affordable, although they were still based on older panels and not very suitable for games.

2004 Is Going To Change All That

First, there is a shortage of panels, which is even worse than the supply constraints two years ago. This is because laptops and LCD TVs have sold much better than forecast, so the price of monitors has been rising since late 2003.

Fortunately, new production geared to make up for the 19" monitor shortfall is up and running. This means that gamers, 3D graphic artists and other users for whom screens are of paramount importance can now look forward to high-performance 19" LCD screens.

Most-awaited Monitors

The long-awaited launch of the Samsung SyncMaster 193P is upon us. This is the first LCD working at under 20ms with PVA technology (the Samsung version of MVA ). It is supposed to deliver extra wide viewing angles along with true a black rendering and very fast response times.

The Sony HS73P is another recent blockbuster. Its Black LCD technology should make it the first 17" with TN technology to respond at 16ms and with the really deep black needed for image retouching, movie viewing, etc.

Moreover, monitors that are not as flashy but more than comparable performance-wise is a new LCD monitor crop from Hitachi, Nec and Sharp.