risingly, these monitors had the highest refresh rates and exhibited the best corner and full-screen image sharpness, RGB convergence, and legibility in our benchmarks.
The Top 17-inch Monitors
We tested 24 17-inch monitors, ranging in price from $649 (for the Max Group's MGC 1785) to $1299 (for Eizo Nanao's Flexscan TX-C7S). Some of the higher-cost 17-inch monitors support 1600- by 1200-pixel resolutions, but unless you're doing CAD or similar high-resolution work, you'll probably find the text more readable -- and the refresh rate higher -- at 1024 by 786 resolution.
Several 17-inch monitors rose above the pack (though not by much) when we crunched the numbers from our image-quality, power-management, features, and usability tests. The Art Media TN-1885T ($1088) was rated highest among the 17-inch monitors, but several lower-cost displays weren't far behind.
Next in the pecking order is Mitsubishi's
Diamond Pro 17TX ($849), which features a Mitsubishi-manufactured Diamondtron CRT with a 0.25-mm slot-pitch-aperture grille mask. The Diamond Pro 17TX produces well-focused images, and it has a fairly high 135-MHz video bandwidth that can drive 1280 by 1024 pixels at a 75-Hz refresh rate.
Mitsubishi's monitor gets high features and usability ratings: Its on-screen display-control system provides extensive adjustments. It also comes with Mitsubishi's Diamond Match Color Calibration System. Mitsubishi's other entry -- the Diamond Scan 17HX ($799) -- is also a good buy that scored in our top five.
The Max Group's MGC 1785, one of the best 17-inch monitors, is also one of the lowest priced ($649). The MGC 1785's bright, clear display is better than that of most of the 17-inch models we tested. It has a 0.26-mm-dot-pitch picture tube from Hitachi that delivers 1600 by 1200 resolution at 65 Hz, although we found the flicker-free 1024 by 768 mode more to our liking.
The MGC 1785 offers well-placed im-a
ge-adjustment controls with an easy-to-peruse on-screen menu. Two other lower-cost monitors also deserve mention as good choices for home systems: LG Electronics' Studioworks 78i ($679) and KDS's VSX-7 ($649).
Another hot 17-inch monitor is Nokia Display Products' Multigraph 447Xi ($899). This monitor produced the second-best image quality among the 17-inchers: It's sharply focused and flicker-free at an 85-Hz refresh rate with a resolution of 1024 by 768. The Multigraph 447Xi has a Sony Trinitron 0.25-mm aperture-grille tube and provides an on-screen menu for color-matching and adjusting any geometric distortions.
The Top 21-inch Monitors
The 14 21-inch monitors that we tested are obviously not just for the common task of viewing spreadsheets or word processing documents. Many support 1600- by 1200-pixel and higher resolutions, which, on a 21-inch screen, are useful mainly for rendering detailed images for CAD users and for desktop publishers who need to clearly see a whole page
or two when doing layout and design. We gave NSA/Hitachi's SuperScan Elite 802 the nod as our top 21-inch monitor, but you should also check out the following displays.
The ViewSonic P815 ($2195) carries a high price tag, but it supports extremely high resolutions that CAD engineers and graphic designers with high-end graphics cards can push to the limits. This 0.25-mm-dot-pitch monitor by far exceeds the needs of the average spreadsheet and word processor user when set at its maximum resolution of 1800 by 1440. The big monitor has a fast 106-Hz refresh rate at the more-standard resolution of 1280 by 1024, and its 250-Hz video bandwidth is one of the highest. The P815 received a high usability score because its controls are easy to use, the monitor tilts and swivels smoothly, and it comes with a good user's manual.
NEC's MultiSync P1150 ($2079), which was tied with Cornerstone Imaging's Color 50/115 ($2265) for second-best overall image quality among the 21-inch displays, showed little misconvergence
and effectively mixed color combinations in our benchmarks. This 21-incher supports 1600- by 1200-dpi resolutions at 75 Hz, but NEC recommends a resolution of 1280 by 1024 with an 88-Hz refresh rate. When not in use, the P1150 powers down to save energy in the most economical manner of all the monitors in this roundup.
Contributors
Jim Kane, Project Manager/NSTL
Dorothy Hudson, Project Manager/NSTL
John McDonough, Technical Writer/NSTL
Dave Rowell, Senior Technical Editor/BYTE
Evaluations in this report represent the judgment of BYTE editors, based on tests conducted by NSTL, Inc., as documented in a recent issue of its monthly PC Digest. To purchase a copy of the full report, contact NSTL at 625 Ridge Pike, Conshohocken, PA 19428; (610) 941-9600; fax (610) 941-9950; on the Internet, editors@nstl.com. For a subscription, call (800) 257-9402. BYTE m
Professional Monitors
