Verdict: A good alternative to the Iiyama

ViewSonic was evidently keen to lift the VP171s away from the 17in TFT crowd when it set its designers to work, and it's certainly made a screen with a twist. Literally. The VP171s is the only TFT here to support pivoting, which means it can be used in normal landscape or portrait mode - useful for design work.

ViewSonic goes one better than the rest when it comes to video inputs too, with not one but two D-SUB inputs. Add the digital DVI input and you can connect no fewer than three PCs to this screen simultaneously. The only problem we found is that it takes a while to understand the OSD system, as we kept selecting different inputs when we tried to change the brightness.

All these features made us worry that ViewSonic didn't really have enthusiasts in mind when putting the VP171s together, despite the 16ms response time. Fortunately, a minute or two into Unreal Tournament 2003 and we'd cast any such doubts aside - the game looked fantastic. As did Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory, Halo and anything else we cared to try.

We were less impressed when watching DVDs. We weren't overly concerned by the tiny amount of lag that showed itself on occasion, but the number of artefacts it showed could easily ruin your enjoyment of the movie - so the Iiyama beat it here by some margin. It also suffers from worse viewing angles than the Iiyama, which results in slightly uneven brightness if you move your head away from the optimum position - namely head-on.

Still, neither of these faults are fatal, and they were the only real weaknesses we could find. The screen is just as happy browsing the Internet and viewing photographs as it is when playing games. It's bright, while colours look vivid and accurate. What's more, there's a DVI cable bundled in the box, saving you the hassle of buying one. It all adds up to one superb monitor, and if you think you'll take advantage of all those extra features then it's definitely worth reaching into your pocket.We're heading into uncertain times for TFTs, with prices likely to wobble up and down. This makes it well worth shopping around for the best current price, and the Sharp LL-T17D4 - although not the winner at the prices we were quoted as we went to press - is well worth checking out before you press the buy button for a different display.

Although it has a 20ms response time rather than 16ms, it aced our games tests with beautifully smooth action. Vivid colours only added to its attractions, and it even proved adept in darker scenes with no need to adjust the gamma - a good thing, as you'll need to delve into most graphics cards' settings in order to do this.

In fact, if you hook this screen up to an all-digital DVI connection (which we'd recommend for all these TFTs where possible) then there's not much you can change apart from colour temperature. Not that this is an issue, as we thoroughly enjoyed gazing at the Sharp. Photos displayed accurate skin tones while the well-balanced contrast meant that whites looked white.

This screen flew through almost all of our everyday tests without a qualm - until we came to the viewing angle checks. This is one weakness of the LL-T17D4. We're not saying that you can't read the screen if you're standing to one side, as it's still clearly visible; but colours do change appearance if you move your eyes away from the head-on position. It's not a huge issue, but it's one area where the Iiyama marginally beats the Sharp. The same is true for DVD playback, with artefacts too obvious on the Sharp for comfort.

In all other respects, though, these two screens are very well matched. Some might even edge towards the Sharp due to its built-in power supply, all-black styling and direct and one-button volume control for the internal speakers. But, with the prices so close, the Iiyama should get the nod due to its slightly better image quality and brighter image.

• 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

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• 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