One look at the price will tell you that the S1721-SH isn’t an ordinary 17in TFT. At £239, it’s £100 more than the Labs-winning Philips, and it also visibly struggles with fast motion as it has a sluggish 25ms response time.
So what does the extra cash buy? For one thing, a 1,500:1 contrast ratio. And it isn’t just a paper specification: looking at a black test screen, you could think you’d forgotten to switch it on, such is the lack of light. The smooth greyscale and colour ramps were free of stepping and the tonal range was excellent.
The S1721-SH isn’t perfect, as the white level isn’t as bright as the NEC’s. This means real-world performance suffered slightly, although judging this monitor on its gaming and video performance defeats the point, as it’s aimed at those demanding colour accuracy for photo editing and other business apps. In the photo-editing tests, the Eizo managed 12.5 out of 14, something no other TFT here could do.
The telescopic stand is almost as good as the image quality. Looking sleek and business-like, it tilts, swivels and has a full 100mm of height adjustment. It’s also clearly been designed with tiling in mind: note the tiny 15mm bezel. Plus, the panel also pivots 90 degrees for portrait mode.
The OSD isn’t the easiest to navigate, but it isn’t complicated. A wide range of settings can be tweaked, and if you connect a USB cable you can make fine adjustments using Eizo’s ScreenManager Pro utility. Add the bundled DVI cable, integrated speakers and a five-year warranty and you have a TFT for professionals who demand the best.
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