Philips 107B10

Philips has never won any awards for its monitors in our Labs reviews. This is because its shadow-mask displays typically produce poor image quality. However, Philips is known for its innovation and has announced that it will be launching a new range of high-end monitors early next year based on the highly successful Mitsubishi Diamondtron super-flat tube. In the meantime the 107B10 has to soldier on, as an upgrade of the original 107 model.

New features for this model include a four-button OSD and new styling. The new shortneck tube also means that the depth has been reduced to a mere 375mm, the smallest 17in in existence along with the similarly specified Hitachi CM650ET. This is a useful feature to consider if you're short on desk space as it makes the Philips almost 3in shorter than the award-winning Iiyama Vision Master Pro 410. Unfortunately, the new four-button OSD isn't so impressive. It isn't very intuitive and lacks any advanced picture controls such as convergence or linearity adjustments.

However, the most important measure of a monitor is the image quality. Unfortunately, the 107B10 failed to impress us, achieving one of the lowest scores in the DisplayMate tests. As a result of the noticeable curvature of the screen, it failed nearly every geometry test, while the overall focus was also disappointing. However, power regulation was surprisingly good, especially compared to the Nokia 447Zi Pro. Colour purity and scaling were very poor though, which is surprising considering the nature of the shadow-mask tube. But, one overriding characteristic dominated our impressions of the 107B10: the poor moirÚ. Despite the two separate horizontal and vertical adjustment controls, we were unable to reduce the moirÚ to an acceptable level. At least the gun was able to intensify and de-intensify quickly enough to pass the three streaking tests.

Overall the Philips 107B10 is a disappointing monitor. Although it's much smaller than most other 17in monitors, its poor image quality puts it out of the running. A street price of £229 is a lot to pay for such a poor display, especially when an additional £5 can buy you the superior aperture-grille Mitsubishi Diamond Pro 710. If you're looking for a monitor to fit onto a small desk, the Hitachi CM650ET is a better choice.