Philips 190P7ES review

Philips monitors have recently done well in PC Pro, from the long-time A-Listed 200W6 (see issue 139, p114) to the newly crowned 17in 170B7 (see p34). Following in these footsteps is the flagship model of Philips' professional range, the 190P7.

While all other P7 models feature the more common TN panels, the 190P7 has a PVA panel for increased contrast. And while these panels often achieve this at the expense of brightness, the Philips is surprisingly strong in this respect. Even next to the blinding Formac (see below), it holds its own respectably, and we found it more than bright enough for all our needs.

The simple OSD offers several colour temperatures, although after resetting everything to factory default settings we found Original Colour to be much more accurate than anything we could get from 6,500K or sRGB. And brightness and contrast needed no adjusting to get the perfect tone, as proven by our technical tests.

While lighter images were particularly strong, the 190P7 didn't show any weakness at the opposite end of the scale either. In our contrast tests, it gave a far superior showing to that of the Formac thanks largely to its 1,300:1 contrast ratio. Plenty of detail was visible in dark scenes of movies, and we could distinguish between the lowest grades of black on the test scale.

Viewing angles are good without really excelling, but the stand is flexible enough that it shouldn't matter. It lifts through a full 130mm, swivels and tilts, and even pivots into portrait mode in case you can take advantage of it.

The 190P7 is also strong on features, with a pair of DVI ports and a two-port USB hub on the rear, as well as support for Philips' SmartManage technology for convenient LAN management. On the front sits a light sensor for the SmartBright function, which lowers the brightness if the ambient light level drops significantly.

With two high-end professional 19in displays this month, prices were never going to come close to the Samsung SyncMaster 940BW (see issue p144, p60), but the quality on offer more than compensates for the extra outlay. The Philips 190P7 is the better of the two here, and at £205 it represents pretty good value too - if you're looking for a top-quality 19in display it's our TFT of choice.

Author: David Bayon