One of best advantages of Flatscreen LCD displays is the small footprint they take up on a desk. With stands that need not be more than abut 6" deep the space saving is significant. In the case of the 570S TFT those space saving features can be extended even further. With the panel being no more than 2.5" thick, and thanks largely to a removable stand, this display can be hung on a wall or even paced in a drawer.

While this is not a rare commodity for this type of display, it does differ slightly in capability from the AOC monitor we've looked at previously. While the removable stand is one of the main differences in this display, the use an AC-Adapter is what really enables this display to be slimmed down so far. By removing the bulky electronics to the outside of the unit there is substantially more flexibility in terms of how thin the display can become, and the ease with which it can be positioned in non-typical ways (you'll see what we mean in a moment.

There are five different styles of support stand that can be used with the 570S TFT display. Our display came equipped with the Angle-Pivot base but others like the wire-frame, multimedia, pivot-multimedia or simple base can be bought. The display can be used without any stand if necessary, and providing a suitable attachment is used, even hung on the wall. Thanks to the AC-adapter and a 6 foot monitor cable, the display can be positioned a fair distance from the computer if you wanted.

The versatility of LCD displays can be a really fun thing, and once you get used to them it's hard to go back to the bulk CRT displays with their rounded display tubes.

Display shown with screen rotated 90 degrees to illustrate pivot capability

Samsung Syncmaster 570S TFT: Syncmaster 570S 15" TFT LCD Display 15.0" diagonal, a-si TFT active matrix LCD screen Dot pitch of 0.297mm 75 Hz Preset Refresh Rate, consumes 25Watts OSD control 1024x768 pixel resolution Plug and play 3 year parts and labor LCD panel Dimensions: 9" high x 12" wide (15.0" diag.) Screen Dimensions: 2.5" thick, 15" wide, 12" high (incl. bezel) Weighs approx. 6.6Kg Universal power supply (90-264 Volt AC) Comes with: 6 foot power cord, drivers, manual, pivot display software and colour setting software Cost: ~$1200 CDN

Important info about buying a TFT display

Before we begin let me just give you a little advice on buying a TFT display.

LCD panels by their very nature are difficult to manufacture on the scale that are used in displays like the one we're looking at today. With this in mind some LCD display manufactures only guarantee a display to be 99.9% free from defect. What that means is that a 15" LCD display can have upto about 3 broken pixels and still be considered "acceptable". Broken pixels are individual pixels which are stuck on, off, or as one particular colour. Depending on their location and intensity, they can be next to invisible, or glaringly obvious.

The human eye is not very forgiving, and considering that the average flatscreen display costs about $1000 this isn't really an acceptable situation. If you buy a display and notice these defects after you get it home you may, or may not be able to return it to the store for another unit. Remember, some manufacturers consider the display in "good condition" with up to three broken pixels.

Luckily the few displays we have reviewed here have been 100% free from defect. That's not always the case though. Recently we were looking for a TFT display to review and ended up buying a 15" ViewSonic VG-151 LCD display for about $1100 CDN. The Viewsonic display turned out to have a few broken pixels stuck on bright green at the center of the display. We returned it to the store for anther of the same model, which as it turns out had several broken pixels stuck at bright blue and red as well.