CyberVision: Japanese monitors for the cost-conscious<\/p>\n
By Zatni Arbi<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): A friend, Mr. Mohan, one day asked me whether I
\nreally believed it was worth it to spend an extra Rp 500,000
\n(US$209) to Rp 700.000 just to gain an additional inch of viewing
\nspace on my PC monitor.<\/p>\n
These figures were, and still are, roughly the price
\ndifference between a good 14" GTC Digital monitor and a Samsung
\nor Sony 15".<\/p>\n
The question he asked was indeed a tough one, given the fact
\nthat, in general, the monitor prices double as you go from one
\nsize to the next. The typical 15" monitor, for instance, comes at
\nabout half the price of the 17", and the 20" or 21" ones cost
\nmore than twice the 17" ones.<\/p>\n
Because of my poor vision, my answer was: "We should buy the
\nlargest monitor we can afford." For average people, however, the
\nanswer is not that straightforward. Large monitors are
\nunfortunately still very expensive.<\/p>\n
Monitor manufacturers like to say that, in order to increase
\nthe size of the viewing area, they have to put in a lot of
\nadditional microelectronics. This, they would say, is the reason
\nfor such an exorbitant price difference. Can we believe it?<\/p>\n
I think a more sensible reason is that the larger monitors
\nhave not reached the popularity of the standard 14" ones. The
\nresult is that they still don't enjoy the scale of economy that
\ntheir production of 14" monitors enjoy. If more people were
\nbuying the larger monitors, the monitor-makers would be able to
\ngradually cut their prices to make them more affordable.<\/p>\n
Luckily there are more and more new monitors that have slowly
\nlowered the prices without sacrificing display quality. As far as
\ndisplay quality is concerned, because of the availability of so
\nmuch information for the savvy consumers today, it would be hard
\nto sell bad monitors anyway.<\/p>\n
One of these promising monitors come from CyberVision, a
\nJapanese monitor-maker that we haven't heard very much about. By
\ncourtesy of PT Ark MediaTech, I was able to test two models of
\ntheir 17" lines, CyberVision ds69T and ds86. Of the two monitors,
\nthe latter is the higher-end model.<\/p>\n
Features<\/p>\n
The lower-end model, ds69T, has a maximum display resolution
\nof 1280 by 1024 pixels at 60 Hz refresh rate. At 1024 by 768,
\nwhich I think is the ideal resolution for a 17" monitor, it can
\nhandle the flicker-free 85 Hz vertical refresh rate. The higher-
\nend one, ds86, can display a screen of 1600 by 1200 resolution at
\n65 Hz or 1280 by 1024 at 75 Hz. Of course, as you already know,
\nthe higher the vertical refresh rate, the softer the screen is on
\nour eyes. Both these monitors have a maximum refresh rate of the
\nstable 85 MHz.<\/p>\n
Display setting can be controlled with the use of four buttons
\nand an on-screen menu. Frankly speaking, the arrangement of the
\nbuttons would be simpler if the monitor-maker had placed these
\nbuttons in north-south-west-east format instead of in their
\ncurrent four-in-line style.<\/p>\n
You can adjust a lot of display settings through the monitors'
\nfairly complete on-screen menu, including pincushioning,
\ntrapezoidal, parallelogram, rotation and color temperature. The
\nds86 even lets you control horizontal and vertical moire pattern,
\nif you happen to encounter this problem.<\/p>\n
However, because of the not-so-intuitive button placement, it
\ntook me some time to really get accustomed to using the buttons.
\nThe good thing is, you don't have to fiddle with these settings
\nvery often. You can choose between five languages for the menu,
\nincluding Italian and Spanish. Strangely, neither Japanese nor
\nChinese is available.<\/p>\n
The more expensive ds86 model is price under Rp 2 million. If
\nyou wish, you can connect your PC or Mac to it with a 5-BNC
\nconnector. This cord is optional, though. The monitor comes only
\nwith a cord that has a 15-pin mini D-sub plug on both sides,
\nwhich looks exactly the same as the one Samsung 15GLi has. I like
\nit because it would be easy to replace if necessary.<\/p>\n
The inexpensive model, which costs less than Rp 1.8 million,
\ninstead comes with a fixed signal cord. Except for the maximum
\ndisplay resolution, horizontal scanning frequencies, the moire
\ncontrol and the signal cable option, the two models do not differ
\nvery much in their other specifications.<\/p>\n
Both models store the settings digitally in their memory, so
\nthere is no need to readjust the settings each time you change
\nyour resolution or use them with a different computer. Both boast
\na 27 mm dot pitch.<\/p>\n
Their display quality is very good for midpriced monitors.
\nText is sharp and the colors are brilliant. You might jump every
\ntime you turn these monitors on, since there's always a slight
\nexploding sound before the display starts to emerge.<\/p>\n
Sound<\/p>\n
It's nothing to get alarmed about though, as the sound is a
\nlittle more audible than with other monitors. The power button is
\na little old-fashioned, too, and has to be pushed to turn the
\nmonitor on or off. Other new monitors on the market just require
\nyou to slightly touch the switch to power them up or down.<\/p>\n
Of the two monitors I tested, the ds86 gives a perfect focus
\non all edges. The brightness is almost uniform all over the
\nscreen, making your WordPerfect page look like real paper. The
\ncheaper ds69T has a slight misconvergence on the top, left-hand
\ncorner of the screen, perhaps just a quirk not typical of this
\nmonitor. As always, you should take your time testing a monitor
\nbefore you buy. Imperfections in the display monitor will be
\nnoticeable right from the moment it is taken out of the box.<\/p>\n
Both monitors are equipped with the latest standard features
\nin display monitors, such as DPMS and DDC. Using the available
\nVESA DMPS screen saver feature of Windows 95, I could throw the
\nmonitors into their standby mode automatically after one minute
\nof idle time. During normal operation, these monitors consume
\nabout 110 watts to 120 watts of electricity. In the standby mode,
\nthey consume only 15 watts. Depending on your settings, they can
\nturn themselves off and use up only eight watts.<\/p>\n
As you can see in the accompanying picture, the beige cabinet
\nis pretty stylish. Surprisingly these 17" monitors are not much
\nbigger than a 14" TV monitor. Despite their 16" viewing area,
\nthey do not really take up a lot of space on your desk. Their
\nantiglare and antireflection screen is almost flat.<\/p>\n
PT Ark MediaTech informed me they provide service for these
\nmonitors, which carry a three-year warranty. If you happen to be
\non the market for a midrange monitor in the 17" class, you should
\ntake a look at these two. For public presentations in an
\nexhibition booth or text page layout jobs, even the cheaper ds69T
\nshould be more than adequate. Their display quality may not be on
\npar with the high-end ones from Japan, such as Panasonic or Eizzo
\nNanao -- both of which are truly a treat on the eyes -- but the
\nnew monitors are at least 30 percent cheaper.<\/p>",
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