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The skinny on LCD TVs
By Sean Carruthers, posted 4/2/2004 3:36:25 PM

Big pictures on the small screen

The great thing about LCD televisions is that a 20-inch screen (which isn't big compared to old-school tube televisions) offers a fantastic, detailed picture and takes up very little space on your TV stand or shelf. That's thanks to the same flat-panel technology that has saved space on the computer desktop for years now. And with a drop in the price of the screens themselves, LCD televisions are now within reach of many budgets.

BenQ LCD TV H200

www.benq.ca
Estimated price: $1,999

BenQ's H200 is a 20.1-inch LCD television that can double as a PC monitor for those in cramped quarters. The screen handles multiple video inputs, including composite video, S-Video, and component, and the picture quality is great using any of them. As you'd expect with a television, it also has a CATV hookup on the rear of the screen. A 15-pin D-Sub connector allows you to hook it up to your PC. The screen has a resolution of 1,024x768, which is not full HDTV resolution, but it is compatible with HDTV signals (which it will display at a lower resolution).

The design of the screen is rather interesting. Like a lot of higher-end flat-screen televisions, this one features a smoked, protective acrylic layer over the screen itself. The stereo speakers included along the lower edge of the screen certainly provide the screen with a distinctive design, but they're not all that loud. They'd be fine for a small environment, but you might want to connect them to a more powerful speaker set or home theatre setup instead.

All of this brings the H200 to just over 13.5 kg (30 lb.), which is a bit heavy for a flat-panel screen of this size. Thankfully, it has a handle built into the stand, making it easy to move from one place to the other.

A television isn't really a television without a remote control, and the H200 comes with one that makes it fairly easy to navigate the screen's excellent on-screen menu system. Most of the frequently used features can be controlled using a single button, and it has a "freeze" button that stops on a single video frame -- even if you're watching live TV.

Overall, the H200 is a pretty nice little unit. The price as quoted seems a bit high, but if you shop around you may well see it available at retail for less.