07/14/97 SO FLAT, IT'S SHARP

SO FLAT, IT'S SHARP

When you first look at the PanaFlat PF-17 monitor from Panasonic (800 742-8086), you will swear the screen is curved inward. Our eyes are so used to seeing monitors with bulging screens that we don't realize the $999 Panasonic is really dead flat. The biggest advantage with this new monitor is distortion-free images. Its flat configuration also gives it the ability to use every bit of the 15.7-inch diagonal viewing area. Panasonic rates the flat, high-resolution picture tube, made by parent company Matsushita, at up to 1600 by 1280 pixels. But most people will probably be happiest at 1024 by 780, which provides comfortably sized texts and icons.
BY STEPHEN H. WILDSTROM