With the introduction of the first 19" monitor in 1997, buyers finally had an option that could bridge the gap between inexpensive 17" monitors and high-cost 20 and 21" monitors.

Thanks to a variety of factors that have occurred over the last eight months or so, 19" monitor prices have plummeted and the sector is becoming one of the hottest in the computer industry.

Going hand in hand with the popularity of 19" displays this year were the widespread global sales of 3Dfx's Voodoo2 chipset. Allowing liquid-smooth frame rates at a then unprecedented 1024 x 768 resolution (provided you had two V2 cards in SLI) forced the need for many gamers to pull the trigger and upgrade to 19" of visual joy without hesitation.

Now as we're about to enter the important Christmas retail sales quarter, we figured we'd assemble a group of 19" monitors and completely evaluate them against each other in order to find the right one you should ask Santa for.

The emphasis for the rankings was positioned from the gamer's perspective (as usual at SE), and consequently items like price, color clarity, 3D game visual quality and Win95/98 text sharpness were high on our list. We also rated the controls of each monitor, and how easy they were to learn and adjust quickly.

To give a full representation for how these monitors where judged in certain categories, we've included graphs at the end of the piece for your viewing pleasure. We've also included the full black and white spec sheets (via linkage) for each monitor reviewed, so you can examine the details in more depth.

Hopefully the round up results will narrow the field of choices for users desiring a kick-ass 19" monitor to lay the lumber on multiplayer opponents in games like Half-Life and SiN, as well as

On to the awards ceremony.......