Product Reviews

The price of LCD displays has fallen dramatically in the last year or so. In some cases, the price of 18in panels has more than halved. Unfortunately, it's rumoured that prices are about to rise again. If you're thinking about replacing your old CRT with an LCD display, now is a good time.

The MultiSync LCD1850E is NEC-Mitsubishi's entry-level 18in LCD display. At £669, it's one of the cheapest panels on the market with an 18.1in viewable area. This is equivalent to 19in and some 20in CRT monitors, albeit without the high resolutions that CRT technology can offer. As with other 18in LCDs, it has a native resolution of 1280 x 1024 pixels.

Panel beater

The LCD1850E is a good-looking panel available in cream or black. It isn't the thinnest we've seen, but it's certainly no eyesore. Measuring just over 1cm on the sides and around 2.5cm at the top, the bezel provides a suitable frame for the screen without being distracting.

From the side, the panel is a bit bulky with a depth of 7.5cm from the front to the back. However, the LCD1850E is well moulded with very few ugly right angles to be found. A power socket and two VGA ports (sadly no DVI or ADC input) are housed under a panel at the back, which tucks cables out of sight.

The panel's

ADVERTISEMENT

one-legged stand gives it ample support, while a rotating disk under its foot allows the screen to swivel easily. With a bit of force, the screen can also be tilted, but sadly its height can't be adjusted and is fixed at 10cm above desk level.

NEC says the LCD1850E has a viewing angle of 1601 and this is fairly accurate. On a white background, you can read text from very narrow angles. However, the panel's brightness fades as the viewing angle increases, which makes it difficult to see the same level of detail on dark backgrounds.

Warm feelings

Seven buttons control the LCD1850E's on-screen display. Navigating the menus takes a bit of getting used to, but there's good access to such controls as contrast, brightness and sharpness. The menus also have an excellent range of colour settings that allows you to customise the warmth of the display if you choose not to stick to the monitor's presets: native or sRGB.

At its native 1280 x 1024 pixel resolution, we have few complaints about the LCD1850E's image quality. Despite only taking analogue inputs, the monitor performed very well in our moire screen test and showed excellent colour consistency across the panel with no loss of colour or sharpness in the corners.

When the screen was filled with black, it was difficult to tell whether the monitor was on or off. However, filling it with white was a different story, and results looked a bit grey and lifeless.

The LCD1850E can't double up as a USB hub, and it doesn't have built-in audio capability or feature a portrait mode. Put simply, it's a no-frills display that offers good image quality for less than £700.

If you're looking for the latest and best in digital LCD technology, it may not be your panel of choice. However, the LCD1850E is solidly built, pleasant looking and does a good job at a good price.