mermaid ventura

It's not often we get excited about monitors, but the new mermaid ventura captured the attention of everyone in the office as soon as it was unboxed. Looking more like an extension of a slim Bang & Olufsen hi-fi than a PC peripheral, the Danish-designed ventura is smart and stylish. There are no logos or buttons to interfere with the lines, and no dull beige casing in sight. The black bezel is easy on the eye, and the large display sits on an elegant aluminium stand which cleverly keeps unsightly wires hidden away.

Unusually, the ventura we tested had a visible area of 17", and there's also a 15" model, with 18.1" and a massive 21.3" to come. You can opt for an analogue or digital version of either size, but obviously you'll need to use the digital graphics card that ships with the digital panels.

With a native resolution of 1280 x 1024 pixels (SXGA), the 17" ventura is more suited to users who have limited desk space but need a display bigger than 15". It will run all the usual resolutions from 640 x 480 right up to 1600 x 1200.

One useful feature is height adjustment, made possible by utilising a hydraulic strut built into the stand. The panel can't be wall-mounted, or rotated to give a 3:4 form factor, which is a shame. Two tiny speakers are hidden in the stand and provide tinny sound, only really useful for 'business audio'. If you really want to go to town on styling, mermaid also manufactures a matching black keyboard and mouse to complete the effect.

We tested the ventura using our usual LCD flatpanel tests and found that the image at its native resolution is impressive. Colours are rich and vibrant, text is sharp and readable, and images are flicker-free. Using the clock and phase adjustments we were able to eliminate any horizontal or vertical interference, making the panel a pleasure to work with.

The On Screen Display (OSD) is one of the most comprehensive we have seen on a flatpanel, with adjustments such as sharpness, keystoning, zoom and image position possible. The OSD itself is easy to use via the four hidden buttons underneath the display, and it's transparent, allowing you to see the images behind it. At resolutions other than the native 1280 x 1024 text isn't as crisp, but the ventura does an admirable job of resizing the image at any resolution - something many flatpanels can't manage.

The only feature we didn't like was the sheet of anti-glare glass that covers the entire front of the display. It protects the LCD well, but it removes one of the major benefits of flatpanels - the fact they are non-reflective. Glass, of course, reflects everything in view.