If you want to run your PC at a resolution of 1,600x1,200, you'll need a 20.1" LCD such as Sony's SDM-S205F. Its thin bezel draws attention to the screen and makes it look a lot larger than 19" models.
There's a gas-lift stand to adjust its height, but no pivot option. You can ditch the stand completely if you prefer and use any standard VESA mount.
As you'd expect for a screen of this size, there are analogue and digital inputs, though digital gives the best-quality input. The display's native resolution is 1,600x1,200. Other input resolutions are upscaled to fill the whole screen, except 1,200x1,024. In this mode, our screen stayed at its native resolution and displayed the Windows desktop in the middle of the screen with a black border around it. You don't suffer a loss of quality, but it's strange that there's no way to switch to a full-screen mode.
Colour reproduction is excellent and pictures look vivid. Our colour wheel test showed near-perfect colour gradation and our greyscale test showed excellent transitions between black and white. Viewing angles are superb and the panel is evenly lit. However, if you look closely at brightly lit parts of the screen, there's some light mottling.
If you want to adjust the picture, there's an excellent choice of controls. You can adjust the backlight's brightness, preventing eyestrain and saving money. The three ECO modes have preset backlight brightness levels, which should be fine for most users.
Large screens are usually quite slow, but the SDM-S205F's 16ms response time is pretty fast. It's a little expensive, though, and AOC's LM2028 is much better value.
System Specifications
20.1" widescreen LCD, 1,600x1,200 resolution, 16ms response time, D-sub, DVI-I inputs
Author: David Ludlow
Computer Shopper Online