ADI MicroScan A610

According to monitor analysts, the humble CRT will be usurped by LCD panels in the next four or five years. So far, there have been few signs of this theory becoming reality, with cynics pointing to LCD panels' poor viewing angles and excessive prices. Although the MicroScan A610 can do little about the last criticism, it rises to the viewing angle challenge with ease.

With this panel, ADI introduces a relatively new technology called Super TFT. With most TFT displays, each pixel (or more precisely, the crystal molecules that control the polarisation of the pixel) is driven by a single transistor, but Super TFTs use two transistors instead. The end result is a superior viewing angle, which in the MicroScan's case is 160 degrees both vertically and horizontally. On paper, this may not seem too different to the 120 degrees of the Sharp (reviewed below), but in practice it means that several people can crowd around the monitor at any one time, and all have a perfect view without having to adjust the screen's angle.

There are a couple of drawbacks to Super TFT, however. The biggest is the loss of contrast, which is due to twice as many transistors being located on the lower glass plate. To compensate, manufacturers are forced to put a more powerful backlight into their panels, and this in turn leads to greater power consumption - for instance, the ADI uses around 35W compared to the Sharp's 20W.

In the MicroScan's case, there's also a visible honeycombed effect, similar (although to a much lesser extent) to that of cheaper CSTN screens. In practical use, this very marginal loss of clarity won't make too much difference, and it only became obvious when we placed the Mitsubishi LCD580 (reviewed opposite) next to it. Side by side, the Mitsubishi's image wasn't only clearer, but the colours were also more vivid, making photos and any 24-bit images much more realistic.

Where the ADI monitor shines is in its ease of setup. Once attached to our test machine, just pressing the Auto Adjust setting in the OSD optimised its brightness, contrast, colour levels, positioning and - most importantly - its clock phase. This is one setting that can severely affect the image quality, so it's comforting to know that you can just plug the screen into any system and get the best possible results. We'd still prefer to see flat panels with a digital interface, as this completely avoids the digital-to-analog then analog-to-digital conversion problems.

There are a couple of other neat touches that mark the MicroScan out from the TFT flat panel crowd. Its 179mm depth is what we'd expect, but its weight of 4.5kg is very light compared to the opposition, and ADI also builds a useful carrying handle into its bezel. There's no USB as standard, but £20 will buy an optional USB hub with four downstream ports. Another potentially useful optional extra is a special arm-stand, making it easy to mount the panel away from a desk if necessary.

At £709, the MicroScan isn't cheap, but it does include a few bonus features to help justify the price. If viewing angles and ease of use are all-important to you, the MicroScan is undoubtedly the TFT screen to choose. However, if you want image quality for a single user, the Mitsubishi LCD580 is the clear winner.

Author: Tim Danton