As stated in the introduction, there are only four real TFT panel manufacturers in the world, so it’s no surprise that you come across eerily similar products every now and again, as each OEM supplies displays for a multitude of companies.
There are usually differences with the electronics, the screen coatings, and the TFT’s surrounds (bezel, design, etc) which mark out each screen as an individual, but occasionally you come across two screens that are as alike as peas in a pod, excepting the small Company X badge that adorns the front.
Such was the case with the AOpen F75PS and the Gigabyte GD-1703BP TFTs. With identical builds came identical scores, which unfortunately meant that both the AOpen and the Gigabyte didn’t rate overly well in our rigorous testing compared to other monitors, with both showing slight problems with high contrast colours, some white-level saturation issues and a less than perfect rendering of the DVD.
It also meant that the main differentiator was pricing and warranty, and in the AOpen’s case this meant it lost to the $639 Gigabyte by a narrow margin.