You can study the specification of the 23-inch Apple Cinema TFT display to your heart's content and come away none the wiser. The figures show that it's a High Definition display that supports a resolution of 1,920 x 1,200 pixels with a contrast ratio of 700:1 and a brightness rating of 400 nits.

Add in a response time of 16ms, where most TFT manufacturers quote a figure of 8ms or less, and you have to wonder what Apple is playing at, especially when you consider the price, as this 23-inch display costs more than the majority of 24-inch TFTs on the market.

Take the Apple Cinema out of its box and things get even more confused. There's a single captive cable coming out of the Cinema which divides into four. There's the DVI input, Firewire 400 and USB 2.0 cables to feed the ports in the display and a strange power connector that looks similar to a Firewire plug and which slips into a small shiny white box that also accepts the kettle power cord.

This system isn't perfect, as a damaged cable will probably lead to a hefty repair bill and you don't get the option of changing the length of your DVI cable. But once everything is connected you can hide the cables and power adapter unit out of sight and stand the Cinema proudly on your desk, and blimey it looks good.

The stand is a piece of curved aluminium that could look basic or boring but which instead is elegant and classy. The word ‘minimalist' is often used in Apple eulogies, and with good reason. The only adjustment is tilt, which seems rather mean on such an expensive display, but it works superbly well and after a matter of moments with the Cinema you come to feel that height adjustment is over-rated and somewhat fussy.

Setting up the display is the work of moments. You get the bare minimum of controls which live on the right-hand end of the display, so there's an On/Off button and Brightness Up and Down controls. There's no contrast control or On Screen Display and you don't need them, although Mac users do have the ability to control settings from Mac OS.

On the front of the bezel the only feature is a polished Apple logo and in the corner is the most tiny of LEDs which only lights up for a moment when you press the On/Off button. Every other manufacturer feels the need to present you with a light that stays on permanently to let you know that the display is on when this must surely be obvious most of the time.

Picture quality is flawless and the quality of the colours is sublime but the aspect of the Cinema that really sticks in our mind is that the screen wakes from power saving mode instantly. Move your mouse and bang, the screen is on. No other TFT that we can think of responds as rapidly.

Although the Apple Cinema isn't perfect it comes very close indeed. The high resolution image is superb and the styling is everything that you'd hope to get from Apple, which is head and shoulders above the competition. On the down side the price is high and the captive DVI cable causes us some minor concern, but despite that we thoroughly recommend this superb TFT display.