WHITE is not the colour of choice for monitors because it yellows over time and dirt is easily seen.

There is, however, a reason why Philips' 22-inch Brilliance LCD sports this finish: it complements the LightFrame design concept.

Meant to reduce eye strain, the frame bezel emits a blue glow.

Like a light switch dimmer, you can set the blue hue at three levels of intensity.

I suppose it did its job - having the blue glow in a darkened room made me feel like I was in a dimly lit bar.

The power switch and control buttons are located on the right-hand side of the bezel while the power status LED indicator sits at the centre of the lower bezel.

The screen can be tilted at various angles but not to full portrait because the base does not feature a swivel and the support post has no height adjustment or pivot capability.

Connectivity options are also limited to DVI and VGA plus one USB uplink.

Which means the LCD cannot be connected to game consoles like the Nintendo Wii or Xbox 360 without adaptors.

Even then, the adaptors may not work properly.

I really like the set-up process with the included SmartControl II software.

A built-in wizard guides you through a calibration process for the optimum display resolution, which is 1,680 x 1,050 pixels.

The wizard also guides you on adjustments for brightness, contrast, gamma and white point.

The last is used to help determine the level of "whiteness" so that colours are displayed as accurately as possible.

Once fully configured, the settings can be saved and reloaded from the SmartControl II software when required.

This is useful when you have many users, each with different visual tastes.

The viewing angles are a little shallow, which means that if you shift your line of sight away from a 90-deg position to the screen, you will notice the colours going awry.

So, it is best to set up the screen from where you are usually seated.

Otherwise, the calibration will be out of whack.

Final say

It is a little pricey but if you like all things white, this is the one for you.

By Chester Chen, a PC enthusiast and freelance writer

This story was first published in The Straits Times Digital Life.

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