There are plenty of Taiwanese TFT displays on the market that are dull commodity products and don't grab your attention, but the Acer AL1951A really catches the eye when you turn it on, because the picture is bright and strong yet it doesn't glare uncomfortably.

The specification tells the tale, as the AL1951A has a brightness rating of 400cd/m2, which is fairly bright by the standards of TFT displays, while the contrast ratio is 700:1, which is very high. We've lost count of the number of displays that are shipped with the brightness set to 100 percent in the OSD and which need to be reduced to 50 percent to make them usable in the office, but the Acer couldn't be more different as its brightness is set at 90 percent and you can leave it there.

It may sound a bit limp to state that the picture looks good and that the manufacturer's settings are in the right ballpark, as you'd hope that every display would fall in the same category, but sadly this isn't always the case.

No doubt the brilliance of the screen is due to Acer's CrystalBrite technology, and we imagine that this has been borrowed from the Acer notebook division, but we need to sound a note of caution. The screen is highly reflective and, while overhead lights aren't a major issue, as they tend to be above the display, if you have a light behind you, from a window say, then you'll suffer from a reflection on the screen. It's highly visible and quite annoying, yet it really depends on the environment in which you use your PC and monitor.

The rest of the specification contains few surprises, as this 19-inch model has a resolution of 1,280 x 1,024 pixels, an 8ms response time, a single DVI-D input (no VGA) and tilt adjustment but no height adjustment or pivot. It includes a pair of 1.1 Watt speakers but you'd be hard-pressed to spot them as the bezel is slender and neatly styled.

The stand is made of silver coloured plastic and carries out a couple of functions, besides the obvious one of supporting the screen. For one thing, the DVI, audio and power adapter cables connect to the stand rather than directly to the back of the panel, while the headphone jack is located on the side of the stand. The other neat touch is that the OSD (on-screen display) buttons are arranged across the stand where they are very easy to reach and also - crucially - easy to see, so you can make adjustments quickly and simply.

The Acer AL1951A is a far better TFT screen than you might expect for such a low price. Both its specification and design are good, but the key to this display is the highly reflective display, which presents a fabulous picture but which could also be annoying, depending on the ambient light in your office.