NEC LCD3000
PRICE: $9,999
SUPPLIER: NEC 13 16 32
INTERNET: www.nec.com.au
SPECIFICATIONS: 30in; 0.5mm pixel pitch; 450 cd/m2 brightness; 350:1 contrast; 25ms response; 170° horizontal viewing angle; 1,280 x 768 max res; RGB D-Sub, DVI-D, BNC VGA, composite, S-Video;
USB; speakers
VERDICT: A viable alternative to plasma, but you might want to diligently compare specs.

SAMSUNG 172W
PRICE: $2,099
SUPPLIER: Samsung (02) 9763 9700
INTERNET: www.samsung.com.au
SPECIFICATIONS: 17in; 0.289mm pixel pitch; 450 cd/m2 brightness; 400:1 contrast; 25ms response; 140° horizontal viewing angle; 1,280 x 768 max res; RGB D-Sub, DVI
VERDICT: Great-looking, but the price is only justifiable if you want widescreen.

I've predicted 2003 will be the year of the TFT, with massive price cuts on the way that will give CRTs a run for their money. The year is already looking good with these three models entering our testing Labs.

Although all three screens are presented here on the one page, they represent a large cross-section of the TFT market: the AOC LM800 (top) is a basic 18.1in model with some surprising features; the 17in Samsung 172w (middle) is a little more specialised for entertainment; whereas the 30in NEC LCD3000 (bottom) is primarily for corporate presentations.

Although only the AOC can be classed as one of the new 'budget' models that heralds the massive TFT price-drops to come this year, our hats are doffed to Samsung for its pleasantly priced 17in widescreen beauty.

AOC is a new name in the Australian display industry, although the company has been an OEM manufacturer of LCD panels for other companies for nearly 20 years. The LM800 is the first AOC LCD that we've reviewed in the magazine, and we're impressed.
Its 18.1in screen features good image quality with excellent contrast, but its brightness isn't as high as it could be, leaving some images a little dark. A problem evident in the DisplayMate (www.displaymate.com) test suite that we used was that the screen's horizontal frequency was not that good, resulting in some flickering on extremely complex, but static images. Aside from this, the screen was uniformly solid across the board.

Although it's ideal as a work monitor, with generous dimensions and an easy-to-use OSD, its response time of 23ms means it's perfect for a bit of gaming or movie watching outside work hours. It boasts a fairly high resolution, with 1,280 x 1,024 as its standard, native maximum resolution, which is great, and it's quite possible that you'd never notice the horizontal scanning problem.

A better performer was the Samsung 172w, which didn't present us with any problems at all in the DisplayMate test. This is a unique looking monitor: it's a 17in model, but in a widescreen form factor. Like the NEC LCD3000 below, its maximum resolution is 1,280 x 768, which accommodates the design quite well. The pixel pitch is small and in DisplayMate's more detailed tests the 172w performed admirably, and was capable of displaying small text font types clearly in Word, although some smaller lower-res icons and graphics did appear dotty.

Ideally suited for the home with its design screaming out for DVDs, it's also a great model for firing up a game or two on. It's equally appropriate for the corporate environment, as you can display two pages side-by-side, although the $2,099 price tag may be a little hard to justify just for the widescreen appeal, when a 4:3 screen like the AOC can be purchased for much less.

NEC's LCD3000 is at the other end of the pricing scale, with a price tag just shy of $10,000. It's a big screen TFT alternative to plasma, so it has plenty of tech packed into its frame.

Oddly enough, the NEC LCD3000 and Samsung 172w have almost identical specifications: 1,280 x 768 resolution, 25ms response time and equal contrast ratios, but the NEC wins out on connectivity options and functionality.

The larger screen size but equal resolution obviously makes for a larger pixel pitch, so we weren't surprised by the graininess that greeted us when it was plugged in. This isn't a screen for close usage however and when it's wall mounted (or placed in a display area) you won't notice the
lower res.

It has a wealth of connectivity options, plus NEC's CableComp technology which anticipates and negates the effects of signal degradation over cables up to 100 metres long – which means you can have the LCD3000 well away from your display source.

Unfortunately, we were unable to test this as we don't have cabling long enough to degrade a signal.

If you're considering shelling out for a plasma screen, make sure you add the LCD3000 to your comparison list.