Sony Multiscan CPD-G420

Most manufacturers make do with a small logo at the front of their screens, but it's no surprise to see a large Sony badge in the middle of the bezel here. Even the asking price of £369 screams exclusivity, so we were keen to see if the G420 could live up to the branding expectations.

It started off well in our geometry and distortion tests. The whole image kept its shape well, with just some bowing in horizontal lines at the extremes of the image - not a big problem.

The G420's fine form got even better when it came to focus, winning distinctions thanks to crisp character edges in all four corners. It wasn't quite so exceptional when it came to our horizontal resolution checks, but managed to pass them all nonetheless.

The only area where it fell behind the Iiyama was for colour and greyscale. In particular, the G420 failed to convince in our colour purity tests, with the bottom right-hand corner darker than the rest of the screen. Also, while the anti-reflection coating applied to the screen was good, reflections were more visible here than on the Iiyama.

Sony also loses out when it comes to the OSD. Not only is it tricky to activate the buttons on occasion, it also lacks some advanced geometric controls. But there are some nice touches elsewhere: the three picture effects (Standard, Dynamic for added brightness and Professional), the dual inputs and the four-port USB hub spring to mind. But we'd expect all this and more for the price, which is out of tune with the rest of the 19in monitor market.