Verdict: Great for gaming and good speakers too

All credit to Hitachi - it was one of the quickest manufacturers off the mark when it came to TFTs with a 16ms response time. While some are only now getting their backsides into gear, the catchily named CML175SXWB was winning awards six months ago (the B, incidentally, ensures you're buying the black rather than beige version). The question is, has time been kind to this panel?

When it comes to games playing, the answer is a striking 'Yes! Yes! Yes!'. The Hitachi showed no signs of lag, no matter how fast the action got in our session of Unreal Tournament 2003, and even in dark scenes we didn't need to adjust the gamma. Gorgeous! If you're desperately tight on space, you could even get away with using the built-in speakers, as they're the best we've heard on a TFT. Another nice touch is the volume control mounted under the bezel, so you don't need to faff around in Windows or the monitor OSD.

We wouldn't recommend this to top your shortlist if you want a screen for a home DVD cinema setup, though, as there were some notable artefacts on show in our tests. It couldn't quite match the best when it came to colour mixing either, with DisplayMate's tough checks highlighting the fact that - depending on how we set up the screen - colours are truncated at the brightest or darkest levels. For example, very dark grey simply looked black.

Mediocre vertical viewing angles again hinder the CML175SXWB. This means that the colours can vary in intensity across the screen unless you look at it precisely head-on; not a big problem, though, and we doubt that anyone who buys this TFT will find it a serious issue in everyday use. It's brightly lit, photographs look realistic and its naturally sharp focus means it's a pleasure to look at.

Then again, we can't recommend it outright at this price - the Iiyama ProLite proved to be a superior performer in our tests and costs a few pounds less. Unless you can find the Hitachi for something approaching £320, you're better off with the Iiyama.

• Cases - 21st November 2008
• Motherboards - 24th October 2008
• Gaming Headsets - 26th September 2008
• Dream PCs - 24th September 2008
• Headphones - 12th September 2008
• Media PC components - 22nd August 2008
• PSUs - 14th July 2008

• Intel DG45FC - Motherboards
• Intel X25-M Mainstream SATA SSD - Hard disks / storage
• OCZ Core Series 30GB - Hard disks / storage
• Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB - Hard disks / storage
• Asus EAH4870 TOP - Graphics cards
• Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Pro - Sound cards
• Multiwinia - Games