Philips Brilliance 190B6CG

The 190B6CG is the newest addition to the Philips Brilliance range. It looks almost identical to the more advanced 190P, which is no bad thing.

It has a thin outer bezel that doesn’t distract your attention from the main panel, has integrated speakers and features both digital DVI and analogue Dsub video inputs. Its chassis is also commendably compact despite it having an integrated power supply – a feature intended to help reduce desktop clutter.

Physically, the Brilliance 190B6CG is quite adjustable. It has a large base and a stand that lets you tilt the screen backwards and forwards or raise and lower it by a few inches. Unfortunately it can’t be swivelled into a portrait orientation like the Brilliance 190P and it lacks a multi-port USB2 hub. Instead, you get a single USB2 port extender.

This monitor delivers good image quality. Its panel is very bright and makes colours appear very intense. However, it had some difficulty recreating near black or near white tones, so some images lacked detail in very bright or dark areas. If your work demands accurate colour reproduction you may want to look elsewhere.

The Brilliance 190B6CG has a claimed response time of 8ms. This is great for playing games if you don’t mind the screen’s native resolution of 1,280 x 1,024.

Perhaps as a consequence of its low response time, this monitor has fairly limited viewing angles, despite Philips’ claims of it being 160º horizontal and 160º vertical. Colours and image clarity can change if you aren’t looking at the screen from a central position – something image-editing professionals and people viewing the screen in a group won’t appreciate.

Despite these gripes, the 190B6CG is a good all-rounder and worth buying.

See also:

LG Flatron L1980u

A 19in monitor viewable in landscape and portrait modes  17 May 2005

NEC Multisync LCD 2180UX

A 21.3in screen with good image quality  15 Dec 2004

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