Verdict: Philips mixes eco-friendliness with HDCP power.
Vista-readiness and a touchy-feely attitude towards the environment may seem to be poles apart. However, Philips has no doubt spotted that both elements can help to create a conveniently voguish and attention-grabbing platform from which to pitch its latest 20in widescreen TFT.
Let's deal with the 200WS8's green credentials first. Philips claims that this monitor offers the lowest power consumption on the market. Statistically speaking, we're talking less than 43W fully powered up, and less than a watt in standby mode. When we tested the 200WS8 in our lab, it did indeed require only 42W when running, but whether it's lower than every other 20in screen out there is a tough claim to verify, given the huge number of competing monitors. We measured a similarly proportioned Dell 2007WFP and it sucked up only 46W, so even if Philips' claim is accurate, the difference isn't enormous. That said, Philips at least deserves credit for making an effort regarding the power usage of its products.
The matter of 200WS8's readiness for Microsoft's new operating system, Windows Vista, is much more clear-cut. Support for HDCP content encryption on the DVI input is what it's all about. This is a welcome inclusion on what is an eminently affordable 20in screen, and delivers future proofing in terms of guaranteed support for next-gen video discs, Blu-ray and HD-DVD, as well as providing an added dash of peace of mind. After all, who knows where the march of DRM will lead us?
With the fashion aspect covered, we can return to TFT panel review normality and the question of image quality. Philips declines to identify the precise panel type used for the 200WS8. However, our TFT-savvy eyes guess that it's either a very good TN+film screen, or a merely mediocre IPS example. Regardless, it isn't the most vivid monitor we've seen. The default colour balance is blue-green and rather cold, and there's an overall lack of punch and depth to images. In our objective image quality tests using the DisplayMate utility, the results were solid but not spectacular. Displaying smooth colour gradients is beyond the 200WS8's abilities, while some colour compression and loss of detail is also evident.
Light bleed is also apparent along the top and bottom edges of the panel when displaying a solid black image, which is distracting during video playback in a poorly lit environment. That said, black levels and contrast (rated at 800:1) are pretty decent. As an all-round movie and multimedia monitor, it's a good performer. Vertical viewing angles are another weak point, with mild colour inversion occurring fairly rapidly when you move to a position off-centre from the screen.
The 200WS8 isn't a bad display, but it's fairly ordinary compared with the punchy colours and inky black tones of a really good PVA panel, much less the awesome vibrancy of a true high-colour-gamut screen such as Dell's 3007WFP-HC. The 200WS8's problem is that standards are very high these days, and there's only so much that Philips is able to deliver at the £180 price point. Still, it certainly delivers the same good points, including a very fine 0.258 pixel pitch, resulting in fantastic sharpness and clarity in the latest shader-soaked 3D games.
HD video playback also benefits from the generous 1,680 x 1,050 resolution. At 20in wide, it may not be the biggest monitor in town, but the detail it delivers with a high-quality video stream takes some beating. The pixel count provided by any 20in widescreen display is ideal for truly comfortable desktop computing. There's just enough screen space to make side-by-side document editing practical, as well as offsetting some of the acreage lost to the Windows Vista gadget bar. Again, some people may consider this to be a largely superfluous visual frill, but it can have its uses.
As regards pixel response, 200WS8 will satisfy all but the most blur-sensitive first-person shooters. The 5ms rating also translates into an impressively stable image during video playback.
All of this leaves us with the question of build quality, features and value. The enclosure itself is hewn from robust, but rather anonymous, black and silver plastic. There's little about the 200WS8 to surprise and delight; as an object, it's joyless and functional. The fixed-height, tilt-only stand is pretty stingy too; you can forget about swivelling it into portrait mode.
Conclusion
While you can buy an LCD with good image quality at this price, you'll be looking at 4:3 models, such as LG's L1960TR. The 200WS8's image quality may not be fantastic but, for less than £200, Philips has delivered a solid 20in widescreen panel with added HDCP goodness.
