NEC is getting ready to drop its second MultiSync EA Series monitor on the U.S. market this month, the EA243WM. It's a 24-inch Full HD (1920x1200) TN panel with LED backlighting that takes aim at high-performance enterprise users with a slim profile, lightweight design, and increased power savings compared to previous models. There's a Customize Setting that allows IT admins to set and restore specific monitor settings with a single touch.

Maybe your budget doesn't allow for a 30-inch IPS monitor, especially after the holiday shopping season left us all a little lighter in the wallet. Or perhaps you don't have room for a ginormous panel, or a strong enough videocard to drive a super high screen resolution. On the other end of the spectrum is Hewlett-Packard's new Compaq-branded LE2002xm monitor, a 20-inch LED backlit LCD display priced at an even $155.

The joint LCD venture between Sony and Samsung is undergoing some changes with respect to ownership and who's responsible for what. Under terms of a new agreement, Samsung will acquire all of Sony's shares of S-LCD Corporation, the companies' joint manufacturing venture. Samsung will pay Sony 1.08 trillion South Korean won, or around $940 million, for the share transfer, and the two companies will continue their cooperative engineering efforts focused on LCD panel technology, Sony announced.

Sharp, Samsung, and half a dozen other liquid crystal display (LCD) panel makers may have colluded to fix prices earlier in the decade, according to claims brought on by a class action lawsuit. The display makers agreed to settle the case for a combined $388 million, of which Sharp, Japan's largest panel maker, will fork over $105 million.