Philips 220WS8FS

Philips has a good track record at PC Pro when it comes to TFTs, having held the A-List crown in both the 17in and 20in categories, but the 220WS8FS is a slightly different proposition. Instead of a fully adjustable, high-end display, this is a more basic 22in offering, with just DVI and VGA ports, no speakers and a tilt-only stand. But it's quality that counts most and, in this respect, the 220WS8FS makes a good fist of matching its predecessors.

You'll need to do a bit of tweaking to get there, though: out of the box, the colour temperature is set to 6,500K, a setting that produces a decent level of brightness but gives everything a yellow hue. After running through the options, we far preferred the colder tones of the Original Colour setting, and we proceeded to lower the contrast down from default to give a bright and even desktop.

Our white and black test screens were impressively bright and dark respectively thanks to the 1,000:1 contrast ratio, and that colour change also largely eliminated a slight backlight bleed that we'd noticed on 6,500K. Gradient tests were smooth in both greyscale and colour, and we appreciated the vivid blues on show in our landscape photos. Admittedly, the Original Colour setting does emphasise the blue in everything a little too much, but switching to User mode allows you to tweak the individual colours as necessary.

We ran our HD video clips and were dazzled by the crisp edges and bold colours, although it lacks the warmth of the best entertainment monitors we've seen. Motion was also completely smooth, and the Philips is HDCP-compliant for use with any HD players you may own. But there are better monitors around for that sort of usage: Samsung's 226BW is an obvious example and costs only around £10 more for a far superior visual experience.

But if the styling, extras and glossy quality of the Samsung don't appeal, as an office TFT the 220WS8FS is a joy to use. The 1,680 x 1,050 resolution offers plenty of space to lay out your applications, and window bars and menu boxes were clear. We're not sure many offices will roll out 22in TFTs, but those that do will be happy with the Philips 220WS8FS.

Author: David Bayon