Mitsubishi's DV181 is almost identical to the BenQ FP882 we reviewed in last month's Labs (December 2002, page 76). The primary difference between these two is their plastic housing. This isn't really a bad thing as the FP882 was one of the best screens we tested, offering great value for money for an 18in LCD screen.
Diamond's DV181 even manages to go one better than the BenQ on this front – at only $1,999 it's $100 cheaper than the FP882. We tuned and tested the DV181 using DisplayMate, as well as using it for day-to-day office applications and 3D games. The display had excellent colour vibrancy and while it was a little dark close to the edges it had good screen uniformity on the whole – combined with large viewing angles and low reflectance, this makes it a good screen.
Like the BenQ, it had some issues displaying greyscale imagery, with the lightest high-intensity greys and creams becoming indistinguishable when displayed next to whites.
The DV181 is also a little slow in its average response time (the time it takes for pixels to appear and disappear on a TFT) of 50ms. Some flat panels go as fast as half this, and its high rate means it's not the best choice for gamers. Fast-moving imagery, such as that found in games, has a tendency to blur on any TFT with a response time above 30ms, and most CRTs rate at close to 15ms.
As is typical with most built-in speakers, the DV181's are passable, but certainly nothing to write home about. Fine for office use though.
Despite this, the DV181 still makes an excellent – and large – flat panel for business use, and furthermore, it's great value at this price.