Attention All 21/22" Monitor Owners.....

[jamesbond007]

I recently read PCWorld's review on 21" monitors and the Samsung 1200NF was at the top. I was going to get the Sony G520, but apparently the text gets "blurry" at higher resolutions. Maybe this was because they were possibly running a GF2, which is known for bad 2D at high resolutions?

This is going on an Asus V8200 Deluxe (GeForce3), which has better 2D than the GF2 series.

What are the AnandTechers' opinions on:

Sony G520
Samsung 1200NF
Mitsubishi Diamond Pro® 2060u NF

Since I've never owned or seen any of these monitors (Damn you Best Buy, Office Max, Office Depot), I do not know which is better...well, I can read the specs and that's about it. That's why I've come here to ask you guys.

Price isn't TOO much of a concern, but I'd like it below $850 shipped. The Samsung is not only the top rated, it is the best priced as well.

Link to PCWorld's 21" Monitor Review

Thank you!

 

[rbV5]

Well here at work we have 4 Mitsubishi Diamond Pro 2040u NF monitors, which are very impressive IMHO, square geometry and bright/clear text, but does the 2060u have BNC connectors?, I don't see them in the user guide. Our 2040u's feature d-sub and BNC connectors, I can't recommend a proffessional monitor that doesn't include BNC connectors, so my advice is to get the 2040u instead.

 

[nam ng]

<< I was going to get the Sony G520, but apparently the text gets &quot;blurry&quot; at higher resolutions. >>


If you value perfect, nice, sharp text at higher resolutions... Do not buy &quot;FLAT SCREEN&quot;, &quot;SHORT-NECKED&quot;, &quot;AG&quot; monitors.

 

[Rankor]

Mr. Ng, what are the pros and cons of both AG and SM monitors?

Under what situations would one (either AG or SM) be advantageous over the other?

If you want, you can Personal Message me or e-mail me with your comments and/or suggestions.

[Addendum]


<< The person you should place the question to is &quot;Jim Witkowski&quot; - Gosharkss >>



Thanks Nam, I just PM'd him 🙂.
[/Addendum]

 

[bevancoleman]

BNC connectors seem to be very good, I don't have any blury text on my Geforce 2MX (thought I don't have anything to compare it to, so...)

I have noticed that it take at least 1/4 of the time for the monitor to get sync when using bnc rather than standard HD15.

 

[andalas]

2060u doesn't have a bnc connector on it, that's probably where they cut the cost to produce a cheaper monitor.

Anyway for any resolution above 1600x1200, using BNC will certainly increase
the quality.

I use a BNC cable on my 2020u and it was sweet 🙂

 

[rbV5]

<< 2060u doesn't have a bnc connector on it, that's probably where they cut the cost to produce a cheaper monitor. >>



For Shame, definately NOT where you want to save money on a proffesional model. That disappointing to me, I really like our Mitsu's here.

 

[nam ng]

<< Mr. Ng, what are the pros and cons of both AG and SM monitors?

Under what situations would one (either AG or SM) be advantageous over the other?

If you want, you can Personal Message me or e-mail me with your comments and/or suggestions. >>


The person you should place the question to is &quot;Jim Witkowski&quot; - Gosharkss, he is very good at it, as well as having the patient, manners, plus excellent explanations, which I do have very little of for all mentioned. Besides, he has integrity and honesty, not colored with bias opinions.

 

[nitrousninja]

I have a Geforce3 and a G520 and I have no blurry text on my screen at 1600 x 1200 8-D It's almost like having a new system compared to viewing with my old monitor!

 

[jamesbond007]

Since I've sold a few of the monitors I had, I will be forced to use my new P4 box, GF3, SBLive Platinum....all on my Panansonic E15 15&quot; CRT. *cough*

That means 800x600. 🙁

I run my laptop with 1600x1200!!!!!

Is it really worth the added cost for the Mitsubishi? What are these &quot;AG&quot;, &quot;SM&quot; specs you are referring to.

All I'd like to get in my purchase of a large monitor is a freaking flat screen (bubbled ones suck), 1600x1200@85Hz or higher, good brand that uses high quality components, a brand that is well-known for making good monitors so I know it won't crap out on me after the 3-Year warranty is up, and I'd *like* it to be $850 or less including shipping.

Eizo is simply out of the question, folks. 😀

Thank you for the replies thus far!

EDIT: BNC connectors are not a requirement for me because I won't need them. I'm simply looking for a large monitor that will give me years of pleasurable viewing area as well as a long-life. (Is 5 years too much to ask? I've had my Panansonic E15 for 5 years now and it still works great.)

 

[Gosharkss]

nam ng

Thank you for the kind words. I appreciate it.For the record, I am biased in that I work for Cornerstone so please keep that in mind when you read my posts.

My take on SM vs. AG

Some monitors have features that make them better suited than others do for certain tasks. For example, if you'll be doing color prepress work, you'll want to pick a monitor with a strong color range and good color controls, such as a aperture grill display. Some people are distracted by the horizontal damping wires that are always visible on all aperture grill monitors. These are most noticeable when using applications with black characters on a white background. Then there are people who will never notice them.

If you'll do lots of work where you will be looking at thin lines on a dark background like word processors CAD-CAM, or spread sheets, then the superior convergence, focus and dot pitch measurements of a shadow mask display should have a higher priority.

For more information on the difference between shadow mask and aperture grill monitors, check out the following link.

AG vs SM

Aperture grills are inherently &quot;brighter&quot; than the conventional shadow-mask designs, due to less of the electron beam being intercepted by the mask structure. The downside of this is that they are more susceptible to phosphor burn. &quot;Use a screen saver&quot;. However the new shadow mask CRT's on the market are now using pigmented phosphors and electron gun cathode that have reduced the brightness advantage of AG significantly. Only way to really tell the brightness is to ask for the model brightness specification from the manufacturer.

And to some degree depending on the tube used, aperture grill has a slight reduction in the horizontal resolution capability (due to the coarser dot pitch as compared with a conventional tube).

The type of tube is only one aspect of monitor performance. The ability to display fine detail on a computer monitor involves many factors including video amplifier bandwidth, spot size/shape and convergence. Convergence IMHO is more important than the type of tube used. It determines how sharp the characters in your text document or spreadsheet look. Convergence has a direct effect on the monitor's apparent focus. Unfortunately, convergence is a spec that few manufacturers publish.

You can find more information in the white papers I have written on
Monitor Technology

I hope this helps and thanks for asking

Jim Witkowski
Chief Hardware Engineer
Cornerstone / MonitorsDirect.com