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RSS feedsIf you're short on space, combining your television and computer makes a lot of sense. One way of doing this is to add a TV tuner to your computer, but this often means opening the case to fit the hardware and installing the appropriate software.
A much simpler solution is to use a monitor that includes a built-in TV tuner. This will let you watch television even when your computer is switched off or whenever you want to take a break from the document you're working on.
Some even allow you to do both at the same time, with the television picture appearing in a small window on the screen. The case for buying an LCD TV monitor is even more compelling given that these units are now cheaper than ever before.
If you're already sold on the idea of having an LCD TV as your computer monitor read on, as we've looked at a variety of widescreen and standard aspect monitors with integrated TV tuners.
Bush LCD15TV012
Bush is better known for televisions and this is reflected in the design of the LCD15TV012. Its plain silver body is totally devoid of any buttons that might spoil its rather minimalist appearance. Instead, they are tucked away out of sight on the top edge of the monitor.
There are Menu, Program, Volume up, Volume down and Power buttons but their location means that they are rather fiddly to use and you'd be best off sticking to the supplied remote control.
The remote is very small and flat and while it's comfortable to use, you run the risk of losing such a petite handset down the sofa very quickly if you're not careful.
The on-screen menu is very easy to navigate but we were surprised to find that this model doesn't feature any contrast control when used in PC mode, with only the brightness setting being adjustable.
Shortcuts to different settings within the on-screen menu are displayed along the bottom of the menu and can be selected using the four coloured Teletext buttons on the remote control.
The screen itself is standard aspect ratio rather than widescreen and measures 15in across the diagonal.
Picture quality was good across the board for both still and moving images and although colours were vibrantly displayed, the edges of the screen were noticeably darker than the centre. The screen can be manually tilted up and down but there is no rotate feature.
Setting up the monitor is fairly easy, as a set-up wizard starts when you turn it on for the first time and then searches for available channels automatically. Unfortunately, though, there is no automatic setup feature for Windows mode.
All the connections you would want on a monitor are present on the back of the unit and in addition to the antenna, S-Video, composite video, headphones and Scart sockets there are stereo audio outputs.
This will be especially useful if you want to run sound through your computer, although the sound quality from the integrated stereo speakers mounted on the bezel underneath the screen was good.
The separate volume for headphones is also a nice touch, as is the child-lock feature to prevent your kids from tampering with your monitor settings.
The monitor also features Fastext, which stores the next six pages of Teletext from the page you are looking at to reduce the time spent waiting for them to load.
The manual was full of clear instructions, with pictures showing the back connectors and how they should be connected to other devices. This is by far the cheapest model on test here and worth considering if you're on a tight budget.
Price:£380
Contact: www.bush-radio.co.uk
Dell W1700
The first of our widescreen monitors comes from Dell. The W1700 LCD TV is a great all-rounder with widescreen format, a veritable wealth of connection options and great picture quality.
As with many widescreen 17in LCD monitors, the first impression of the W1700 is that it is quite small. This is really a trick of perspective as it is the same height as a standard 15in TFT monitor but the widescreen format makes it look squatter.
Before you use the display, the stand must be fitted to the unit housing the screen. This involves resting the screen face down on a surface, so take care not to damage it when doing this.
Once fitted, you can adjust the monitor's height and tilt the screen, which is very useful to reduce glare from overhead lights or light coming in through a window. The monitor features all the connections you would expect and is the only one on test that has a digital video interface.
DVI is a welcome extra rather than a must have, but will give the best possible quality if your computer has a DVI-out socket. A cable tidy tube is also supplied. The speakers are on either side of the screen and the control buttons are located on the bottom right of the bezel.
The W1700 works very well as a TV and there's a picture-in-picture option, which means you can watch TV in a small window on the screen while beavering away on a Word document. The antenna socket is turned through 90 degrees so the cables can be fitted without any problems.
The manual is very helpful and explains all of the functions and how to go about setting up the LCD TV. However, the buttons on the front of the unit are hard to read and it is much easier to use the remote control.
The remote is quite large and all of the buttons are clearly marked. The buttons are slightly smaller than most television remotes but they cover all of the features well.
Picture quality is good and the monitor will let you scroll around any screen that has been set to display at a native resolution higher than 1280 x 768. This is useful if you accidentally set the wrong resolution, as the monitor will still display your Windows Desktop.
Price:£509
Contact: www.dell.co.uk
Packard Bell 170 SW
The Packard Bell is a more curved unit with smoother lines than the Dell monitor. The buttons are set on the side of the unit to give the front of the monitor a sleek look.
There are standard Power, Menu, Input, Volume and Channel buttons and so it is possible to control most of the monitor without the remote.
The range of sockets on offer is par for the course in this test with PC audio and video in, Scart, S-Video, antenna, composite audio and video, and headphone sockets. You can tilt the monitor although it's not possible to adjust the height.
The on-screen menu was not the easiest to navigate but it includes all the options you need to set the monitor up properly, including colour temperature.
Image quality was good across the board in our tests and text was particularly crisply diplayed. The sound quality produced by the integrated speakers was also good but not quite on a par with that of the Philips monitor that we will look at next.
The remote control is well laid out with a dedicated button for most features. The remote is a generic model for this whole series of monitors and there are six buttons that actually have no job on the 170 SW.
The manual does a good job of explaining all of the features of the monitor including a very useful illustration of the on-screen menu. This enables you to adjust the hue of colours, giving a warmer or cooler look to the picture.
The monitor can store five different picture and sound settings that you can use to best suit what you are doing with the monitor.
The 170 SW will set itself up automatically for both computer and television use. This will save you a lot of work and speeds up the set-up process.
A nice touch is that the monitor displays the proper name of the input when you switch between them, which cuts down on confusion.
Price:£599
Contact: www.packardbell.co.uk
Philips 170T
The Philips 170T cuts a dashing line with a widescreen display and speakers encased in a stylish silver body. It can be tilted to avoid glare from lighting but there are no rotate or height adjustment functions.
The buttons on the monitor are handily located underneath the front edge of the bezel and each is clearly labelled. They are easy to access but do not spoil the lines of the monitor.
While the remote control is the most simplistic on offer here, it covers all of the basic functions of operating the monitor and you can navigate the menus easily enough with it.
Sadly, this monitor does not support Teletext but if you have a broadband internet connection you can get pretty much the same information just as quickly online - this does mean turning the computer on and using a mouse and keyboard, though.
It is also a shame that with so much space on the remote control the buttons are not bigger.
The image quality of the 170T in Windows was mixed. Text was extremely clear and easy to read but there was some discernable ghosting of the cursor (several arrows trailing the cursor if you move the mouse quickly). Having said that, moving images were clearly displayed.
There is an auto set-up option for both TV and monitor set-up and other options can be set manually, providing you with a good level of control over monitor settings. The auto set-up option for the TV mode detects all the available channels and it is possible to change the order in which channels are listed if you need to.
Sound quality has not been forgotten and you can adjust the set treble, bass and balance. For films there is a virtual surround sound option. It is effective but a dedicated speaker set-up will sound better, especially if it has a subwoofer.
Price:£500
Contact: www.philips.co.uk
Samsung SM710 MP
The Samsung SM710 MP is another standard aspect ratio monitor but has a larger screen than the Bush monitor, measuring 17in across the diagonal.
The plastic casing is dark grey and functional rather than stylish, with speakers built into the bottom of the bezel along with the control buttons, which are fairly discreet and do not spoil the appearance of the monitor.
The SM710 MP has fittings for a standard mounting so you can use a different stand or hang it on the wall.
One feature of the Samsung SM710 MP that shows it is not just an ordinary monitor with a TV tuner tacked on the back is the MagicBright control.
This is a set of preset brightness levels optimised for displaying films, television and ordinary Windows screens. A customisable option is also available if you prefer a setting that is not included as a preset.
The remote control gives excellent control over the monitor with fast access to several functions that are otherwise only accessible by trawling through the on-screen menu.
This is a little more complicated to use than some others in this test and might take some getting used to. Most of the remote control functions are simple enough to use but some buttons have more than one use.
Teletext support is included and setting up the TV channels is easy with automatic set-up, sorting and fine-tuning.
The SM710 MP works very well as a standard PC monitor, with automatic set-up options to help you set up the monitor the first time you use it.
These can be accessed either via the on-screen menu or directly from the remote control. On the whole, the image quality was good but colours tended to be a little darker towards the edges of the screen.
This was a fairly minor problem and, more importantly, text was displayed very clearly and was easy to read. Blacks were very well reproduced, which might sound like an odd comment, but as LCD monitors create colour by filtering light from a lamp behind them, black often becomes a dark shade of grey.
This was most noticeable when watching a widescreen movie, which did not reveal any difference between black in the picture and the dead area to the top and bottom of the screen. The sound quality of the integrated speakers was also surprisingly good for built-in units.
Natural Colour software is also bundled with this LCD TV, which helps match the colour displayed on the monitor screen and those reproduced by your printer, so you won't get any nasty surprises when you come to print images.
Price: £429
Contact: www.samsung.co.uk
Sharp LL-171ME
The Sharp LL-171ME is unique among the widescreen displays in that the speakers are mounted underneath the screen rather than on the sides. This makes it look smaller than the others, although the screen is actually the same size.
The control buttons are on the right-hand side of the monitor - apart from the power button, which conveniently sits on the front with the headphone socket. There is a cover for the AV input panel and a cable tidy at the back.
The stand can tilt up or down and there is a handle on the back, which makes positioning and moving the monitor easier. The first time set-up menu was easy to follow and covered all of the necessary functions.
Image quality was very good all round - text was clear to read and colours were vibrant. This LCD TV also offers a picture-in-picture option so you can watch the input from either the TV tuner or one of the AV inputs in a box on screen.
You can select the size and position of the box and whether or not the sound is taken from the box or from the computer. A TV feature that is also very useful is the ability to freeze the screen.
This should not be confused with pausing live television as you miss whatever happens until you press the button to resume play.
Price: £589
Contact: www.sharp.co.uk
See also:
Get the best picture you can from your flat-panel monitor by getting to grips with its sockets and going digital. We explain how 19 Aug 2004
Windows Media Center is set to bring your PC into the living room, but will this new form of home entertainment take off? 12 Jul 2004
As watching telly on a PC gets easier, the choice of devices gets wider. Let our guide help you find the best TV tuner for you. 25 Jun 2004Microsoft's Media Center has not taken home entertainment by storm, but the software giant has not lost hope. We look at the latest attempts to put the PC in the living room. 24 Jun 2004All Peripheral Devices
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