Sony SDM-HS73P

Sony's SDM-HS73P is the first desktop screen we've seen to employ X-Black technology. Using two lamps in the backlight, as well as concentrating on the quality of the panel's light prism layer, enables a wider colour range with a stronger, more even backlight. The good news is that is has a noticeable effect.

When turned off, the panel is incredibly reflective, although the effect is much reduced in use. That's partly due to the high level of brightness, and we had little trouble using the screen in even bright sunshine. We were fairly happy with the default settings, but used the reasonably simple menu system to make finer adjustments. Options include brightness and contrast settings as well as a separate backlight control.

We had no complaints in general use; graphics and text appeared sharply defined. We were pleased with DVD playback too, the excellent contrast once again being shown off. Viewing angles are reasonable, and particularly good in the horizontal plane. While compression artefacts were visible, they weren't distracting, and response times are swift enough to avoid motion blur during action-packed scenes.

Performance was similarly impressive in our round of technical tests. The colour range is broad and balanced, with clear separation at both extremes of the spectrum. There was no banding on full-scale colour ramps or greyscale gradients, indicating an accurate colour response. In our colour combination test, there was a good level of visibility on even tricky mixes, such as green text on a cyan background.

The stand's design is sturdy but lacks height or swivel adjustment, and cable management is helped enormously by the back panel cover and integrated power supply.

The reasonable feature set and good performance of this panel don't come cheap, and we certainly wouldn't recommend it for general office use. The reflectivity will become distracting after long periods of close-up work, and while there's little glare, it's likely to cause eyestrain. For a media PC or general-purpose system, though, the HS73P's living-room chic makes it an attractive candidate.

Author: Ross Burridge