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KDS Radius Rad-5 and ViewSonic VE150m Reviews

Get a Flat Panel Without Going Flat Broke

July 25, 2001
By Eric Grevstad

Get a Flat Panel Without Going Flat Broke

We've written more than once that a 15-inch monitor is too small for productive work nowadays, but we'll gladly make an exception for LCD monitors -- a flat panel's true 15- rather than a CRT's under-14-inch viewable area, combined with its flicker-free design, provides a comfortable setup for computing at 1,024 by 768 resolution. It just takes a little getting used to: Compared to a typical 17-inch CRT display, a slim 15-inch LCD looks so tiny you'll stare at your desktop, thinking something's missing.

And these days, something is missing: the out-of-reach price tag. To be sure, LCD monitors are still luxury items in that they're far more costly than CRTs, but flat-panel prices have plunged to the point -- well, to the point where analysts suspect vendors might rein in production and raise prices again soon. Less than a year ago, $1,100 would have bought you one 15-inch desktop LCD. Today, $900 will buy you two -- KDS' Radius Rad-5 ($399) and ViewSonic Corp.'s VE150m ($499).

Both the Rad-5 and VE150m are 1,024 by 768-pixel, 16-million-color, optionally wall-mountable LCDs with analog (familiar 15-pin VGA) video connectors, not the digital interfaces of the newest flat panels and graphics cards. Both meet the TCO 99 low-electromagnetic-emissions and Energy Star low-power standards.

Neither has USB ports or the ability to pivot from landscape to portrait orientation as some fancier LCDs do, but each gives you something extra -- a color-coordinated mouse for KDS, built-in multimedia speakers for ViewSonic.

If you've been dreaming of a skinny, status-symbol display, both of these bargain flat panels are incentives to take the plunge. Which did we like better? Read on ...

KDS Radius Rad-5

Korea Data Systems makes both displays and notebook PCs -- and much like another Korean company, Hyundai, is working to polish its image in the U.S. as a vendor of high-quality products rather than merely low-priced ones. The Radius Rad-5 is an excellent example -- it looks cool, with its silver finish and blue band around the sides and top, and delivers crisp images and text.

The 8.8-pound Rad-5 also breaks from generic technology by imitating a feature of Apple's latest monitors -- single-cord design -- minus Apple's high price and proprietary interface. The extra-long VGA cable, permanently attached to the display, has a connector near the plug end for the notebook-style AC adapter (not that the LCD needs much power, at only 32 watts). So if your PC system unit's on the floor, the display power cord can stay there too, with only one cable running to the monitor on your desktop.

It'd be a terrific, clean-desk teammate for one of Logitech's cordless mouse and keyboard combos -- although KDS would rather you use its included, color-coordinated silver and blue mouse, a two-button, scroll-wheel model with a generic (rolling ball and PS/2 port, rather than optical technology and USB) but capable design. The company will even sell you a silver keyboard if you want to redecorate your desktop completely.

The KDS plugs in and lights up with no driver disk or other installation required -- we were bemused that Windows 2000 Professional declared it a "Default Monitor" rather than "Plug and Play Monitor," but appreciated its being smart enough to flash an "out of range" dialog box instead of blowing up when we plugged it into a PC whose graphics card had been set to an 85Hz vertical refresh rate.

The Rad-5's scanning or frequency range is 55Hz to 75Hz (vertical) and 30 kHz to 60 kHz (horizontal). Its default mode is 1,024 by 768 at 60Hz refresh, which would flicker like a romantic fireplace on a CRT but is fine for an LCD -- although if your desk is directly under a fluorescent light fixture as ours is, you might want to use Windows' Display Properties / Settings / Advanced / Monitor option to reset it to 75Hz as we did. KDS says the display has a pixel pitch of 0.297mm; our test unit had one bad or black pixel near the left edge.

The Radius' on-screen control menus are simple and effective, although the four buttons that control them are clumsily lined up along the bottom edge of the screen so you must push upward: One summons the control menu, one exits the menu and also offers a one-touch automatic tuning function, and the other two buttons cycle through choices (when the menu's on) and adjust contrast and brightness (when it's off).

Menu controls include settings for color temperature, horizontal position and size and vertical position (which we never needed), and phase or focus. We were impressed with the KDS' clarity and color palette from a fairly wide viewing angle -- the company rates it as 70 degrees to either side, 55 degrees above, and 60 degrees below straight on.

Color gradients were smooth and rich, although the darkest test patterns blurred together unless viewed more from above than on the level; grays were free of moire patterns, and text was sharp and clear. The Rad-5 also performed adequately when stretching a smaller 800 by 600 or 640 by 480 desktop to full screen, something no 1,024 by 768-pixel LCD can do as smoothly as a CRT; text and icons were a bit pixilated, but quite readable.

Aside from the awkward control buttons, our main gripe with the KDS was a quest for whiter whites: While the monitor's rated at an above-average 300:1 contrast ratio, white backgrounds didn't look perfectly white to us unless we cranked the contrast up so high that pull-down menus looked pale. We compromised on 85-percent contrast, which made the menus gray again and left the backgrounds just a touch off-white -- and to be honest, by the end of our second day using the Rad-5, had grown accustomed to it. Considering that it's the lowest-priced LCD monitor we've seen, the KDS handily earns four stars on our five-star scale.

Next: ViewSonic VE150m »

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