TFT screens are notoriously expensive to manufacture and even more expensive to purchase in comparison to their conventional CRT counterparts. But because of their smaller size and lower power consumption, sales of TFT displays endure and their market share has been growing as prices fall closer in line with CRTs.

A TFTs footprint may be smaller, but the most important difference between TFT and CRTs is that TFT screen sizes are not as large as are possible with CRTs.

For a long time the largest TFT screen commercially available in any great quantity measured 18in, compared to a 21in and larger CRTs. Samsung has now upped the ante with the SyncMaster 240T: a monster of a TFT both in size and performance.

The first thing that you notice about this model is the sheer enormity of the display. It measures a whopping 24in (60cm) in a widescreen format. The 240Ts native resolution is a huge 1,920 x 1,200, which is around the maximum most top-end graphics cards can produce. Its worth stressing that this is its native resolution anything lower results in a hit to the picture quality as the screen pixels have to interpolate, giving a less sharp image.

The unit comes with S-Video and composite video as well as an RGB D-Sub and DVI input. Using the monitor with your PC is an obvious choice, and it can comfortably display two A4 documents side by side, with room for other applications and boxes around the sides. Designers would love the clarity of the display and size of the desktop, but its also an excellent monitor for gaming.

As well as the obligatory game playing, we also tested various DVDs (NTSC and PAL) on the unit and were exceptionally pleased with the results. There was slight letterboxing as the 240T has aspect ratios of 16:10, 5:4 and 4:3, (not 16:9 widescreen) but this was hardly noticeable as the bezel leads off with a black border. 1,920 x 1,200 is HDTV resolution, so we also tested out the monitor by plugging it into a digital set top box and watched the daily HDTV tests from the free-to-air television stations.

The screen is amazingly crisp, bright and clear. We found particular joy with the PiP (picture in picture) mode where we were watching TV in the background with the PC desktop superimposed in the foreground. There is a second mode, called PBP (picture by picture) that splits the screen in two, and displays different sources on each side. The screen also features 64x digital zoom, so you can really home in on movie details.

A small remote control is included, and the response from the monitor is extremely quick. The OSD (On Screen Display) and configuration controls are detailed but intuitive, but we found that leaving the monitor alone and setting it to automatically configure itself for new inputs worked a treat.

The SyncMaster 240T costs a small fortune so its highly unlikely that anyone will be buying one so they can just notch up frags in style. For a similar price you could buy a plasma screen at around twice the size, but the problem is that you lose around half the resolution. Most of the SyncMaster 240Ts are being snatched up by designers, medical imagers and military simulators, although the temptation to have one on your desk is a strong one.

For the majority of us without deep pockets, next months Labs will be on 19in CRTs. Sure theyre clunkier than TFTs, and lack the sex appeal of the 240T, but they are very much in the price/performance sweet spot at the moment, and youll get plenty of change back after buying yourself one.