|
ADI MICROSCAN G66 AND PROVISTA E55
STANDFIRST
Tired of squinting at that pitifully small goggle
box that came with your PC? Well, what are you waiting for, get a bigger
monitor! Here are a couple of mid-rangers from ADI that might be worth
considering
COPY
We don't just throw these reviews together
you know, months of painstaking research goes into every report. For example, are
you aware that ADI stands for Actual Datum International, and the company was
founded twenty years ago in Taiwan by one James C.C. Liao? We also discovered there's another ADI
Corporation, this one is based in Virginia USA, it provides safety and quality
assurances to the Navy's Submarine Directorate, and that takes us neatly to the
subject of 17 and 19 inch monitors…
The two ADI monitors we're looking at are
from the ProVista and MicroScan ranges, the former is aimed at home and small
office users, the latter is designed for more demanding applications, including
computer aided design and manufacturer (CAD/CAM). The ProVista E55 is a 17-inch
model with a street price of just over £200 whilst the 19-inch MicroScan G66
sells for around £428 (both prices include VAT). As usual – and this applies to
any CRT-based monitor – you should take the screen size numbers with a big
pinch of salt. In this case 17 and 19 inches refers to the outside dimensions
of the picture tubes, the actual displays measure 15.75 and 17.5 inches respectively
(measured diagonally).
Whilst not exactly peas from the same pod it
is fairly evident from the external features they are closely related. However,
the two-inch difference in screen size between the E55 and G66 bumps up the
price by what appears to be a disproportionate amount. There are several good reasons
for that. To begin with larger tubes are produced in smaller quantities, so
there isn't the same economy of scale, and more care has to be taken during
manufacture as faults and flaws will show up more readily on larger displays.
Equally significant is the difference in dot pitch. This denotes the size and distance
between the phosphor dots on the screen. The E55 CRT has a fairly standard dot
pitch of 0.28mm whilst the G66 is 0.26mm, as befits its higher calling, and it also
means it is capable of reproducing finer detail. The monitor's maximum supported
resolution figures are matched to the tube specifications, the E55 goes up to
1280 x 1024 (at 60Hz) whilst the G66 can display 1600 x 1200 (at 75Hz).
There are a number of similarities though. Both
monitors support and automatically configure themselves to a wide range of commonly
used PC and Mac resolution modes. The on-screen display systems are almost
identical, so too are the three control buttons on the front, and the rotary
brightness and contrast thumbwheels tucked away below the screen surrounds. For
some reason best known to ADI the OSD buttons are laid out in the most
illogical manner possible. You have to press the middle button to bring up the
display, select the option with the two outer buttons, press the middle one
again to engage a selection and use the outer buttons to make changes, you do
get used to it, eventually. The higher specified G66 has a few extra functions,
including moiré cancelling, linearity, pin balance, pin cushion and parallelogram
adjustments. Both monitors have captive video cable with standard 15-pin connectors
and they come with the manual and utilities on a CD-ROM. The G66 has one extra
feature and that's a built-in microphone, a connector cable is supplied.
PERFORMANCE
Even after taking the variation in screen
sizes into account the two monitors have quite different performance
characteristics. The E55 does well as far as colour purity, focus, geometry and
convergence are concerned but the dynamic range, which roughly translates as contrast,
is fairly average. We also noticed some mild moiré patterning on fine gratings;
unfortunately, unlike the G66 there is no way of getting rid of it. Power
stabilisation could also be better and our pulsating test pattern made the
image 'balloon' slightly. The G55 did a similarly good job with the main
picture parameters but the contrast range was noticeably wide with really solid
blacks and vibrant whites. There was no moiré patterning and the power supply
was rock solid.
SUMMARY
ADI have got it about right. The E55 is an
affordable 17-inch monitor, performance is satisfactory, there's one or two slightly
rough edges but for routine home and office applications – word processing spreadsheets
and simple graphics – it's relatively minor shortcomings shouldn't matter. Image
quality on the G66 is a definite notch up on its stablemate, certainly well
within the desktop video ballpark. Build quality is good, the styling (on both
models) is neutral and the G66 is fairly priced. What both monitors lack – and you
may consider this is an advantage – is glitz or pizzazz, interesting features
that make them stand out from the crowd. That's not meant to be a criticism,
merely an observation. In the scheme of things the E55 is unremarkable but it
is quite good value. If all you want is a straightforward, decent quality but no
frills 19-inch monitor you should certainly put the G66 on your shortlist.
PROVISTA E55
How Much?
£205 *
Tube size
17-inch FST
Visible display area
325 x 242 mm
Dot Pitch
0.28mm
Max Resolution
1280 x 1024 pixels
Max refresh rate
160Hz
Dimensions
mm 400 x 410 x 410
Weight
20kg
ADI, telephone 0181-327 1900 www.adimicroscan.com
CV RATINGS
Features ****
Performance ****
Ease of use ****
Value for money ****
Overall Rating 88%
MICROSCAN G66
How Much?
£428*
Tube size
19-inch FST
Visible display area
0.26mm
Dot Pitch
0.26mm
Max Resolution
1600 x 1200pixels
Max refresh rate
160Hz
Dimensions
495 x 470 x 410mm
Weight
24kg
ADI, telephone 0181-327 1900 ,
CV RATINGS
Features ****
Performance ****
Ease of use ***
Value for money ****
Overall Rating 85%
*Choice Insight
---end---
ã R. Maybury 1999 2204
|
