Kogi 17" TFT-LCD Flat Panel Monitor

I have been working at my new job for nearly a year and one of my first tasks was to install 18 new flat panel monitors. I was replacing the Viewsonic E70 CRT monitors that they were currently using. The users were very happy to see the old monitors go and take a step up to new flat panels that they heard they were getting. The model that my boss selected was the Kogi 17" TFT-LCD Flat Panel Monitor.

These flat panel monitors were the very first LCD flat panel's that we tried and they have been very reliable for us. As I said I installed 18 and we had only one fail right out of the box, but we haven't had any problems with any of the other ones. The main reason that we chose this specific monitor was because it was on sale and the manufacturer was offer a $90.00 rebate at the time.

The main reason we decided to go with flat panel monitors was because of the desktop space was at a premium and the only thing we could do to free up the space was replace them all with these monitors. As you can imagine a 17" CRT takes up a really big chunk of the users desktop. These monitor's with their much smaller footprint (base is only 7" deep) take up almost no room on the desktop and it also has the ability to be mounted on the wall if you remove the base.

How Big it?

From the side this monitor is so small compared with the 17" Viewsonic CRT that it replaced, but if you sit in front of it you will see that this monitor isn't so small. This is because Gvision wasn't going for the ultra slim style like so many of the newer brands. One of the reasons that this monitor is so big is because it has speakers built into the monitor. The bezel surrounding the screen itself is 2.5" and the bottom section of the bezel where the speakers are located is 3.25". This adds quite a bit of size to the overall 17.1" screen. The over dimensions of the monitor are 18.5" tall X 17.5" wide 3" thick and it has a semicircular base that is 11.75" wide and 7" deep. One thing that is quite different when looking at a LCD flat panel versus a 17" CRT is that most 17" CRT actually only have a 16" viewable screen area and the flat panels have a true 17" viewable area.

Unpacking and Installation

The nice thing about flat panel monitors is the packaging, it comes packed in a thin box with a carrying handle and it is rather light. It is nestled inside a plastic bag with a sheet of mylar plastic film protecting the screen. Then it is placed within two form fitting pieces of Styrofoam and placed in the box. Along with the monitor inside the box is a plastic bag containing the power cord, power adapter, analog video cable, setup guide and wire for internal speakers. Once I had the monitor unpacked I plugged the power cord to the power adapter and plugged the special connector into the back on the monitor. Then I hooked up the analog video cable to the connector on the back of the monitor and connected it to the 15 pin SVGA connector on the back of the computer. The last thing was connecting the wire for the speakers, it ran from the back of the monitor and plugged into the lime green color sound jack on the back of the computer. As soon as I finished hooking it up and powered on the computer, the monitor completed an auto adjustment procedure and it was ready to go.

Computer Setup and Onscreen Display

Now that the computer is running it is time to go through the display setup in the Operating System. This is accomplished in Windows OS by accessing the control panel and clicking on the display icon. This brings you to a popup menu that allows you to customize your display settings. By clicking on the Settings tab you bring up the menu that allows you to alter the display settings like display resolutions and color options.

This monitor is capable of running resolutions:

VGA 720x400 (70 Hz)

VGA 640x480 (60/66/70/72/75 Hz)

SVGA 800x600 (60/70/72/75 Hz)

SXGA 1280x1024 (60 Hz)

Note: SXGA 1280x1024 is the optimum setting for this monitor.

The Onscreen Display is a very handy feature of this monitor and it so easy to access and operate. There are four buttons that control the OSD system and they are located on the lower part of the front bezel. You access the OSD by pushing the down arrow button and the menu will pop up and allow you access to the settings. You scroll through the settings using the up and down arrow and by using the + and - buttons to make the appropriate adjustments. The settings that you can control through the OSD are; Contrast, Brightness, Volume (built-in speakers), H- Position, V- Position, Language and Track. You can also adjust the volume of the speakers by pushing the + and - buttons and a little speaker will popup and show the current volume level and allow you to adjust the volume up and down.

Final thoughts

We have been really happy with these monitors for the nearly one year that we have been using them. They are really easy on the eyes and that is important since the users that are currently using them are constantly staring at them all day. I don't stare at mine quite as long as they do and it doesn't cause any eye strain for me. The colors are very crisp at the optimal resolution setting of 1280 x 1024 and the high refresh rate (85Mhz) keeps everything perfect. The screen is pretty bright and that is due to the 350 to 0 contrast ratio and even though it lower than a lot of the newer flat panels, but it works well for us. I don't notice the mouse pointer disappearing as I move it across the screen like I have seen with some flat panel monitors. I have not used it for playing games so I can't really make a valid opinion on its ability to work with any of the top graphical intense video games.

The built-in speakers do work well for what they are, but don't expect super sound to come from them. Due to the construction of the bezel you will experience the expected hollow sound that is common with laptop speakers. The OSD controls are very easy to operate and the menu is easy to follow. I would recommend this monitor to anyone looking to replace an older CRT(Cathode Ray Tube).