Verdict: Simply the best
If you read our recent 17in TFT monitor Labs test, you'll have noticed that the winner was Sharp's excellentLL-171G-B. And to the casual observer, there's nothing to differentiate this new model, the 172G, from its predecessor.
They both look identical, so there's still a stylish black bezel (thin at 18mm) and a height-adjustable, brushed aluminium stand. No ability to swivel the panel into portrait mode has been introduced, but you can still attach a bracket for wall or arm mounting, and tilt angles are good.
At the back of the 172G, you'll find the same DVI and D-SUB inputs. Built-in cable clips mean power, audio and signal wires are kept neatly out of sight.
You're still probably wondering exactly what the differences are at this point, so we'll put you out of your misery. First, brightness has been upped from 250cd/m2 to 300cd/m2. Contrast is up from 430:1 to 450:1 and the response time is up from 20ms to 16ms. None of this sounds like life-changing stuff, and it isn't. But, as they always say, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.
And this is good news for anyone looking to buy a brilliant 17in TFT, as the 172G's image quality is practically indistinguishable from the excellent LL-171G-B. Stand the two side by side (as we did), and you'll be hard pushed to notice any differences, but the 172G's extra contrast definitely helps to produce blacker blacks. This is particularly noticeable when watching widescreen movies that have black bars at the top and bottom of the picture.
Switch to vivid mode and colours become much more vibrant, which is great for games, movies and the odd photo slideshow. In standard mode, brightness is impressive and even using the D-SUB connection the quality of the image is almost as good as on the DVI interface. Colour blends are smooth and, as you'd expect, clarity is supersharp.
Oddly, Sharp says the horizontal viewing angle is 10 degrees less than the old model, but in practice, they both look the same and give around 140 degrees. The difference in response time, similarly, is undetectable, but the reason for that is given in greater detail below. Again, the good news is that you'll see hardly any blurring in movies or games, but if you're up close, you might detect slight grain and artefacts when watching films, although this is something most TFTs are affected by. Besides, if you're intent on watching DVD movies with your nose pressed against the panel, then you should really consider heading down to SpecSavers for an eye test.
The on-screen display is still fiddly, but over a digital connection you'll hardly need to use it, and the handy headphone socket on the front makes up for it, anyway.
CONCLUSION
The 172G is one of the least revolutionary products we've seen, but that's not a problem, because it improves on its predecessor in some ways, and maintains high standards in other areas.
The 172G excels at movie playback, games and in general Windows tasks. It also has plenty of features and is one of the most stylish TFTs you can buy. Ultimately though, it's that temptingly low price of £253 that means the LL-172G-B jumps straight into the LL-171G-B's shoes in the hallowed halls of the CPC Elite list.
