BIOS: Technology Means Business

Dell's latest foray into consumer electronics is a second-generation widescreen LCD TV that also doubles as a computer screen. Although the US-based PC manufacturer is not a brand you'd likely associate with consumer products or indeed televisions, the 26in. W2600 is pleasing to the eye and a decent all-round performer, so should suit any modern living room or working environment. More suited to those who want a flat TV that can also occasionally handle computer sources, the W2600 disappointingly lacks a built-in digital TV tuner. Having said that, you do get two analogue TV tuners for viewing multiple broadcasts on a single screen, making the W2600 a good value and feature-rich offering if you're not after the ultimate in video quality.

Pros: Attractive design; excellent connectivity; dual TV tuners
Cons: No built-in HDTV or digital TV tuner; poor computer performance

The W2600 (830x209x504mm, 19.1kg) is the first model in Dell's second attempt at an LCD monitor-cum-television range. The 26in. (566x340mm viewable area), high-definition ready television is ideal for a small living room, bedroom or office, and sports with an attractive satin-chrome and piano-black finish and integrated (non-detachable) 15-Watts per-channel stereo speakers. Even the supplied remote control is attractive and includes blue backlit buttons that looks stunning when used in a dark room. Dell's existing product line also includes 17- and 19in. LCD televisions, and the company has acknowledged plans to enter the plasma television market.

The W2600 is the first television to receive Pixelworks' DNX certification, a series of video quality tests that measure out-of-the-box picture quality and performance. The certification measures quality of panel display, brightness, sharpness, noise level, horizontal and vertical scaling, colour saturation and correctness, signal output, deinterlacer processing and image processor performance. If that's not impressive enough, the screen is also Dell's first to have built-in SRS TruSurround XT audio, which really helps to bring DVD-Movies to life by creating an immersive effect.

Technical specifications of the monitor are reasonable, although it's more suited to TV viewing than high-definition computer playback. The W2600 has a native resolution of just 1280x768 pixels (can display every pixel of 720p HDTV), a relatively sluggish response time of 25ms, middling contrast ratio of 500:1 and a rated brightness of just 450cd/m2. Whilst these specifications are adequate for viewing DVD-Movies, watching TV broadcasts and playing videogames, those who intend to use the screen primarily for computer use should note that they can be bettered. In addition, the screen has claimed viewing angles (H/V) of just 85-degrees, which is far more restrictive than the those on regular LCD monitors (around 170-degrees). Having said that, the swivel base makes it easy to rotate the screen to a more comfortable position.

Where the W2600 lacks on raw technical specifications it makes up for on ease-of-use and features. For instance, the rear of the screen hosts a myriad of connection options: two SCART, two composite video, S-Video, two HDTV component, TV In/Coax, DVI (shared with PC), audio (left and right RCA, as well as PC), as well as a 3.5mm headphone jack. The eye-catching stand is also detachable (screwdriver required), should you want to wall mount the screen using a VESA 100mm mounting device, and there are volume and channel controls on the right hand-side of the screen's chassis. Dell also supplies power, VGA, DVI, S-Video, composite and audio cables, so the screen is ready to operate straight out of the box.

In addition to the plethora of connectivity options, the W2600 comes with some neat features. For instance, you can watch several channels simultaneously thanks to the numerous Picture-in-Picture modes (PIP, POP, PBP and so on), view pictures using the optional digital photo card reader (around £49.99 ex. VAT), and connect to a PC to play music or browse the Web - all while watching television. The W2600 also comes with unique high-end extras like Midnight Mode, which dampens background noises at the touch of a button while preserving the clarity of on-screen dialogue. The screen is also Closed Caption, SAP and Teletext-ready, offers parental controls, and comes with built-in dual analogue TV tuners (single aerial connection feeds both tuners). However, you'll need a separate tuner box to watch HDTV.

When it comes to picture quality and performance, the W2600 is a mixed bag. Its colour temperature is good out of the box, but you'll likely have to alter brightness and contrast levels to suit. The picture was a little too sharp however, although we were able to set the edge enhancement to its minimum to produce a softer appearance. There was minimal false contouring and video noise in darker areas, and DVD-Movies and games (tested with an Xbox) were rich in colours and showed good colour balance.

The screen's limitations were more evident when used with a computer. For instance, brightness, colour contrast and focus levels were a little off towards the edges of the screen, which is an indication of the quality of the screen's backlight. Whites appeared bright, but blacks were a little washed out and the screen's ability to produce smooth colour graduations was poor. The W2600 also suffered badly from misconvergence, which is similar to an out-of-focus image, except that you can see thin coloured fringes around the edges of image detail. In our test samples, red, green and blue elements of a single line failed to join accurately.

A relatively slow image response time of 25ms occasionally resulted in motion artefacts and image degradation for moving or rapidly changing images, and we noticed slight ghosting when playing back black-and-white DVD-Movies. But as we've mentioned, the W2600 is more suited to those who want a flat TV that can also occasionally handle computer sources, so its relatively poor computer performance may not be too much of an issue if you're looking for a big LCD screen that's good value for money overall.

About our tests:
To test imaging devices BIOS uses DisplayMate Technologies' DisplayMate, a software utility for adjusting, setting up, calibrating, tuning, testing, evaluating and improving image and picture quality on displays. It's designed to help us achieve the highest possible image and picture quality on any type of computer monitor, projector, TV or HDTV, with support for analogue and digital CRT, LCD, DLP, LCoS and plasma technologies. BIOS uses the software to check every aspect of a display's performance, including sharpness and contrast, colour and greyscale accuracy, as well as screen geometry. Where possible, we always use a digital connection for image quality purposes.