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SONY MULTISCAN CPD-E200
STANDFIRST
Sony has made some cracking monitors in the
past but this time they’ve excelled themselves…
COPY
If you thought the picture tubes used in mid-range
monitors were all much of a muchness,
think again. Aside from any quality issues there’s the whole question of teccy-sounding
design features, and in that respect Sony is an acknowledged world leader… Take
the 17-inch Super Fine Pitch FD Trinitron tube used in the Multiscan CPD-E200
for example. It has DQL (Dynamic Quadrupole Lens) and MALS (Multi-Astigmatism
Lens) dynamic focussing systems with Hi Con and AR screen coatings and that’s
just for starters. We could go on, believe us, but all you really need to know
about this tube is how flat the screen is, and it’s flat, very flat! Flat
screens mean low reflectivity and that can be a big relief to the eyes when
you’re working in brightly lit surroundings, so the E200 is off to a pretty
good start.
The CPD-E200 is part of the Sony’s ‘Entry-Level’
range – that’s what the E stands for – and it is also very reasonably priced at
around £276 or thereabouts. It’s surprisingly compact too though its no
lightweight and your desk or table will need to be able to support a hefty
20kgs. The spec looks good, it’s a competent Multiscan design, able to automatically
configure itself and operate in most commonly used graphics modes, resolutions
and refresh rates. For the record the useable display maximums are 1280 x 1024
at 81Hz. Horizontal frequencies are from 30 to 85kHz and vertical frequency is in
the range 48 to 120Hz, which should cover most eventualities.
Connection options reflect the monitor’s
intended market – i.e. SoHo consumers with IBM PCs – and that is why there are
no sockets, just a captive lead with a standard 15-pin D Sub connector on the
end. There’s not much to see around the front either, below the screen surround
on the left side there’s a recessed reset button, to restore the monitor to
factory settings; on the right side there’s the main power on/off switch and
the control button, otherwise known as DisplayMouse. This is basically a four
way cursor/joypad and is used to select and set options on the on-screen
display. The front page or menu has 9 options covering colour adjustment, image
position, size, geometry, convergence, language selection plus a useful Help
menu, listing common alignment problems and remedies.
PERFORMANCE
The image on the super-flat screen really stands
out -- if that’s not a contradiction in terms -- but there is an almost
three-dimensional quality to the display. The lack of reflections and broad
contrast range helps increase colour depth, shades and textures are faithfully
rendered when showing video, the picture has a vibrancy that you won’t see on a
regular monitor. PC displays and desktops look almost clinically clean, like they’ve
been printed and stuck to the screen, it’s that sharp and stable. Focus and
convergence on our sample were on the nail, right to the edges of the screen
and it didn’t miss a beat during the power regulation tests. Picture geometry and
linearity can be as good (or as bad) as you want it to be, such is the degree
of control. Picture performance is almost flawless, unless you count the shadows
cast by the two suspension wires, but even they’re less intrusive than usual.
Operationally the story is slightly different, using DisplayMouse to navigate
around and change items on the on-screen displays can be hard work, fortunately
it’s a set-and-forget type of product so you won’t need to use it very often.
SUMMARY
We usually have a grumble about Sony prices,
but not this time, the E200 is worth every penny! Image quality is outstanding,
it’s a pleasing shape and we can live with the DisplayMouse. It’s not very Mac-friendly,
though there’s plenty of other fine Sony monitors to choose from, and there’s a
few (very few) very specialist display modes and resolutions it can’t handle,
but we can’t see that being a problem. If you are in the market for a 17-inch
monitor for office applications, desktop editing and video display make sure
you see this one first!
SONY MULTISCAN CPD-E200
How Much?
£ 276 (inc. VAT)*
Tube size
17-inch FD Trinitron
Visible display area
327 x 423mm
Aperture Grille Pitch
0.24mm
Max Resolution
1280 x 1024 pixels
Max refresh rate
Multiscan up to 120Hz
Dimensions
414 x 404 x 420 mm
Weight
20 kg
Sony UK Ltd., telephone (0990) 424424, www.sony.com
CV RATINGS
Features ****
Performance *****
Ease of use ***
Value for money *****
Overall Rating 92%
* Sony suggested
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ã R. Maybury 2000 2502
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