Philips 221T1

Following on from the 220TW9, Philips is back with a new hybrid monitor that's compatible with Full HD. Philips is keen to point out that, unlike old- generation monitors, the 221T1 has a built-in digital TV tuner, as well as an upscaling chip similar to those found in TVs. In other words, you should be able to view standard definition content (i.e. DVDs) in the same quality as on the best TVs on the market.

Handling: a hybrid monitor with a good range of features

This 22-inch hybrid monitor boasts good design and handling, although it's not quite as good as the Samsung P2270HD. At the rear, you'll find a pair of 2 x 3-watt speakers, a headphones socket and a coaxial socket for connection to an audio amplifier. A whole panel of different video connections is included too, with VGA and HDMI ports, plus a scart socket, a component connection and a digital TV tuner. That means that pretty much any video source can be connected to this monitor.

Colour: a blue tinge

Default colours

Ideal colours Compare the 221T1 to other monitors in our Product Face-Off

The default colours have a blue tinge to them, and unfortunately, this problem can't be solved via the screen's internal menu. The Delta E of 2.9 is therefore acceptable but not perfect.

The 221T1 doesn't have fantastic contrast either, with white at 216 cd/m² and black at 0.26 cd/m². The overall contrast ratio came out at 830:1, which is just slightly below average (850:1).

Responsiveness: it's a typical 5 ms TN display

Coloured   Transparent
Average ghosting over ten frames

Philips has chosen to use a 5 ms TN panel in this monitor, which could prove problematic for rendering games such as FPS in which characters run, jump and shoot all over the place. In fact, some users could be bothered by the lack of precision in fast-action sequences. It is, however, a monitor that's perfectly suitable for office computing, web browsing or watching movies.

Films: what happened to that upscaling chip?

Although Philips claims that the 221T1 uses similar technology to their TVs, the upscaling in this monitor is, quite simply, disastrous. At 576p, the picture is blurred. In fact, it's a far cry from the quality of the Samsung P2370HD. For better results, you'll therefore have to be a bit fussier about the quality of the video you want to watch, as well as the quality of the player you're using to watch it.