Envision rolls out 20-inch, high-contrast LCD

Envision on Wednesday upgraded the visual quality of its LCDs with one of its first dynamic contrast screens: the G2016wa selectively adjusts lighting to increase the contrast ratio as high as 3,000:1, greatly improving the 20-inch display's usefulness for image editing or watching videos. Several built-in presets also change color values to bring out details in games or when reading text, the company says. A 5ms pixel response time matches the performance of other displays and eliminates much of the ghosting effect from fast movement.

The display attaches to nearly any computer through either DVI or VGA. HDCP encryption support on the DVI connection allows it to work with some protected Blu-Ray or HD DVD movies as well as some dedicated movie players and similar devices; a small chin-mounted speaker setup provides sound for users who might not have access to (or space for) stand-alone audio. Envision is shipping the LCD today for $240.