Hitachi LCD monitor combines computer, a/v input

Here’s a neat idea. Do you want to run a flat panel display both for your computer and your home entertainment video products? That’s something you can’t easily do even with Apple’s fine displays, but Hitachi America, Ltd. has an answer. The company today introduced the new CML155V flat panel display. The monitor combines computer and a/v inputs and is also offered in different colored finishes.

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The 15-inch CML155V sports a regular VGA and a DVI-D input, so you can connect your Mac just as you would with any other display. Although Hitachi excludes the product for use with ADC-equipped Macs, such systems can work with DVI-equipped monitors using ADC to DVI adapter cables offered through the Apple Store and elsewhere. It should also work fine on Macs equipped with third-party video cards that support DVI interfaces.

The flat panel LCD monitor also incorporates two other jacks: A composite video input and an S-Video input. As a result, you could attach the video cable from a camcorder, VCR, DVD player or video game console and use the device with your monitor. Onscreen menus enable you to switch between computer and video inputs. Additionally, the CML155V is offered in metallic silver (pictured here) or blue finishes.

Hitachi marketing communications manager Leslie Bishop said that Hitachi users are looking for products that offer integrated functionality combined with sleek, stylish designs. “The ability to use the CML155V for both computing and video requirements is critical to business and home users with limited space or for designer homes and offices that want to retain a streamlined, stylish image. Our new CML155V meets these needs with an elegant, high quality display that is also an excellent general purpose monitor,” said Bishop.

The CML155V features a .297 mm pixel pitch, with 300-nit brightness and a 500:1 contrast ratio. The monitor sports a native resolution of 1024×768 at 60 Hz (both for analog and digital inputs), and incorporates an auto adjust function as well as user controls to adjust brightness, contrast, horizontal and vertical position, color temperature and more.

Clocking in at about 12 pounds and measuring 8.1 inches deep, the CML155V sports integrated speakers and a microphone on the front bezel. The unit is VESA FPMPMI compliant, which means it’ll work with third party mounting arms if you’d prefer to bolt it to a wall or other surface rather than have it occupy desk space. It also has a Kensington security port.

Look for the new CML155V at authorized Hitachi monitor resellers immediately; it costs US$529.