Watch TV or Work, All on the Same Computer Monitor

A bit of entertainment can enliven long computer sessions, especially when the computer is grinding away at downloading or some other task. So quite a few computer monitors now include TV tuners that can switch between a full-screen TV picture and a small picture-in-picture (PiP) window at one corner of the screen.The Samsung SyncMaster 940MW takes the idea a bit further, with a PiP window that can be set to occupy as much of the screen as you like and a built-in FM tuner for times when the whole screen is needed for the computer. The 19-inch screen has a 16:10 aspect ratio for wide-screen movies.

As a monitor, the 940MW ($699) has a native resolution of 1,400 by 900 pixels and a 160-degree vertical and horizontal viewing angle. As a television, it is HDTV-ready and works with local analog TV signals anywhere in the world. Its speakers are below the screen.

Available through computer and electronics retailers, the SyncMaster also has composite, S-Video, component and DVI Digital Link inputs for DVD players, when there is nothing on TV worth watching.