Page 7 - Wrapping it up
GamingThe ProphetView 920 was made for it. No more ghosting as far as I could tell and also very vivid colors. I tried out the Lock-on demo for example, man oh man, it's jaw breaking on a 17" LCD. That has got a lot to do with the game itself though ;) Of course I also tried some first person shooters. A lot of action is in there and thus a lot of screen movement. Again I encountered no problems at all.
Normal usage
You always need to remember that the most time you spend on your PC is in desktop mode, browsing the web, writing document, spreadsheets etc etc. So an important factor in that process is of course your monitor in relation to how sharp it is. I've told this in the review already, it's not DVI-I, it however is very sharp. Personally I believe that any LCD should be equipped with DVI connector though. I'd like to have options. It of course would raise the price a bit and small sidenote, there is a DVI version of this screen available.
Movies
One of the better ways to test an LCD screen is by playing movies on them. Movies tend to have a lot of bright motion in them and have a lot of darkness. We can be short here, you'll love watching movies on it. The viewing angle however can be a problem. If you are with some friends the further they are to the left or right the worse colors will get. If you plan to hang this LCD to the monitor and want to watch a movie relaxed in a lower position then you'll run into problems though. The vertical viewing angle below the monitor is bad, really bad so the monitor needs to be on eye-hight or below that eye hight. I just viewed The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen on it and it was a joy to view. Very vivid colors, very nice.
Conclusion
I have to face the fact that it really is difficult to review a monitor, writing a conclusion on it is even harder as these things tend to be personal. The 920 is in it's price range very competitive and offers a lot of bang for your bucks. The contrast ratio is more than fine, and as far as I'm concerned the ghosting effect is gone. I was not able to find it at all, and I've played a lot of games on this screen (reviewing is such a hard job to do). Although the image quality on the 920 is razor sharp it's not as sharp as on a DVI model. There is a DVI-I model available in the Hercules line but I fail to see why LCD's still have to be connected over the analog VGA connector. LCD's are made for DVI period and vice versa. Once you hook up the ProphetView 920 towards your gaming rig you need to adjust your screen to the resolution you are working in. Of course you have selected 1280x1024 for this monitor, you'll love it. The Auto Adjust function will help you setup the screen reasonably well, yet I needed to go into the menu manually to fix the 'phase' settings properly as with auto adjust the image was not sharp enough. Dead pixels then. It's simple, a lot of LCD screens have a few dead pixels. You can see them quickly with for example a black screen, the dead pixel could light up red or blue. I found exactly one dead pixel on this screen.
The policy from Hercules right now is a maximum of 4 dead pixels as acceptable, which is definitely better then ISO-2 regulation demands. I have to agree here, that's a fair number for a screen in this price range. But hear me now .. if you have more dead pixels on your screen then do not even dare to accept it ! Return the rat instantly. One or two is acceptable for me personally. Just don't stare at them and you'll never notice them again. Also, props for this one, if you indeed have more than 4 dead pixels in whatever color or place then the screen will be returned on-site (in Belgium/Netherlands that is). Again, that's pretty nice service for a product in this price range.
Set aside these small remarks and you have one hell of a LCD screen. A joy to look at, a joy to use and a joy for the space on your desktop. I can also seriously recommend this screen for LAN freaks who need a stylish yet light monitor.
The suggested retail price for the screen is 499 yet we spotted it in the shops already for just over 400 , and that's a really nice price for a 17" LCD here in Europe. Can't wait for the 19" version ;)
Product: Hercules ProphetView 920 Pro
Manufacturer: Hercules
MSRP: 499
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