Group test: Vista-ready monitors

With Windows Vista just around the corner, there’s an exciting bundle of new features to look forward to, but plenty of confusion about hardware compatibility.

Those of us who appreciate the enjoyment to be had from ‘new stuff’ will want to combine our love of high-definition (HD) video content with both current and forthcoming PC operating systems.

We’ve already upgraded our TVs to HD-ready models, we’re ready to pounce at the first affordable Blu-ray or HD-DVD drives for our PC and we’re anticipating being able to enjoy future HD content on our PCs in much the same way as we’re able to watch DVDs on our PCs today.

Unfortunately, things just aren’t that simple – with all this incredibly high-quality video flying around inside our PCs, the potential for piracy is just too perilous – and Hollywood doesn’t trust us to keep it to ourselves.

To cut a long story short, if you want to view high HD content on Vista you’ll need equipment, both software and hardware, that is guaranteed to be ‘trustworthy’.

For displays, the mark of trust is HDCP (High bandwidth digital content protection). Only compliant devices are allowed to display the protected content. This means if your new widescreen monitor isn’t HDCP-compliant, there will come a day when you won’t be ‘allowed’ to use it to view protected HD video.

The way to protect your investment is to buy an HDCP-compliant monitor now, or budget for one in a year or so.

Of all the widescreen monitors capable of excellent high-definition video, very few are HDCP-compliant. Here we look at five that are available in the UK. PCW will be covering new additions as they arrive over the coming months.

This article is part of a group test of HDCP Vista-ready TFT monitors.
See also
Dell 3007WFP
Samsung SM205BW
Samsung SM215TW
Sony MFM-HT205
Viewsonic VP233wb
The HDCP chain
How we tested the monitors
How HDCP works

Performance graphs and table of features can be read via our pdf downloads

Editor's Choice is on the next page

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