Image-conscious users will love this 15in widescreen flat panel.
Diamond Technology is keeping up the pace with frequent updates to its range of flat-screen displays. Its latest release is the DCM1521W, which weighs a mere 1.52kg and is little more than 1cm thick.
The DCM1521W is a radical departure from the norm, finished in matt silver and mounted on a semicircular plastic base.
The display itself is widescreen and measures 15.21in. This lends itself well to watching widescreen movies, but Windows doesn't allow the unusual native resolution of 1,152 x 768 pixels.
You can scale the picture to fill the entire screen, but this tends to make things look stretched.
Around the back you'll find three analogue inputs: Composite, S-Video and a D-Sub. Whichever port is used the auto-detect function seamlessly finds the video signal.
You can also manually switch between signals using the clear and comprehensive OSD. There's even a scalable Picture-in-Picture (PinP) mode for dual-video sources.
Alongside the usual adjustments for position, size and geometry are two gamma modes and four colour temperature settings, one of which is RGB user adjustable.
Overall, picture quality is good, scoring well in colour and tint graduation scales. However, it's not the brightest of displays, and finding a comfortable vertical viewing angle was quite tricky.
It's pricey too, but despite this the DCM1521W looks good and should appeal to the image conscious.
SPECS
DETAILS
PRICE: £581.63 (£495 ex VAT)
CONTACT Diamond Technology 01628 788 500
www.diamondtechnology.co.uk
Our verdict
Pros:LightweightWall mountable Composite and S-Video inputsPinPWide screenRemote control Cons:Not the brightest of displaysShallow vertical viewing angle Pricey Overall:If you're tired of your unwieldy CRT monitor and desire something slimline and attractive, then the DCM1521W warrants a closer look. It's just a shame the overall image brightness and the vertical viewing angle are not quite up to scratch
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