An impressive monitor all-round, the Philips 170B4BB came near the top of the pile for its great mix of specifications, and did extremely well in all of the testing. This was the only monitor in the roundup to rate three perfect scores in performance: with impeccable clock timing and phase locking, the clearest desktop of all tested displays, and the only monitor capable of displaying a truly dark black.

All the other scores were either equal to the baseline or well above it, which made this monitor formidable. It also didn’t require a lot of fiddling to set up -- like most of the models here it automatically auto-tuned itself for the displayed image; however none could beat Philips’ immediate adjustment to a superb image regardless of type (movie, 3D, text etc).

It has a good stand with a long neck that keeps the display high, and there’s plenty of leeway for adjustment.

The only area where the screen was let down was with Philips’ ‘Zero Bright Dot’ guarantee, which covered the monitor for three years against any bright defect, but not for any dark dot defects. Overall a top screen that just misses out on an award.