Like Apple, Sony has used touch-sensitive buttons for accessing the OSD. But unlike Apple's, Sony's work well. Using the OSD was easy; the controls were responsive and the available adjustments are worthy of a professional monitor.

Connectivity And Equipment

Sony is aiming at the pro market with the SDM-P234. Accordingly, equipment has been kept to a minimum. The transformer is built in, which explains the monitor's thickness. There are dual DVI connectors, and that's all.

Sony SDM-P234: Hi-Fi?

Our calibration tests on the Sony SDM-P234 showed very good fidelity.

We found that 90% of the colours were perfect, and 95% were good. However, the darkest colours didn't render well. So this Sony didn't come close to matching the ViewSonic VP930.

The panel's contrast was good but can't match the latest models. Brightness, for once, was at a good level, and the black level was respectable. Note, too, that Sony has left off its X-Black filter, which is supposed to be a miracle solution for getting unprecedented contrast. As you know by now, we don't like X-Black, and Sony's not using it on their top-of-the-line monitors proves we're right.

In any case, the contrast showed very good stability without the X-Black filter.

We tested the display's colour gamut.

Sony hasn't gone out of their way. This unit covers the sRGB standard and no more. Note that for optimum performance, especially for photographic use, you'll need to tweak the adjustments yourself. The default sRGB setting was a little cold, as was the 6500K preset. But it didn't take much to get the desired temperature. We got the best results with manual adjustments at R=125, G=128 and B=126.