[comp.sys.mac] 19" Monitors - The Responses

stone@hydra.unm.edu (Andrew Stone CS.DEPT) (04/11/89)

Recently, I asked:

> What does the net know about the disadvantages of the currently 
> marketed 19" B&W or GreyScale monitors for the MacII?

Here are the responses:

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From jlh@stech.uucp Mon Apr 10 02:38:32 1989

I have a Radius two-page display as well as a 13" color monitor. You can
use both at the same time; the Mac thinks they are one monitor (configurable
on the control panel). The only thing I've found that isn't compatible is
Interleaf, the package I use for publishing. It isn't very Mac-like to begin
with, and simply can't use the two monitors, although it runs quite well on
whichever is the startup monitor. Everything else runs without a problem.

Radius' software is quite nice - I like the tear-off menus.


Jan Harrington
Scholastech Telecommunications
husc6!stech!jlh or allegra!stech!jlh
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From chn%a@LANL.GOV Mon Apr 10 08:24:50 1989

I have a 19" color monitor from RasterOps, about 10 months old.
The monitor is fine; the board is not.  The vertical refresh rate,
60 Hz, is too slow for this size monitor to give a comfortable view.
 
Charlie Neil (chn@lanl.gov)
Los Alamos National Laboratory (505) 665-0978
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From ephraim@Think.COM Mon Apr 10 07:00:09 1989

We have a variety of monitors here, including one E-Machines Big
Picture, four Sigma Design LaserViews, and a whole slew of Radius Two
Page Displays (TPD's).  Even beyond these, I have never heard of any
monitor for the Mac II which is incompatible with Multifinder,
Hypercard, or simultaneous use of other screens.

Redrawing is miserably slow for 19" monitors not because they skimped
on video memory, but because there's a lot of real estate to cover and
a limited NuBus bandwidth to fill it through.

The Radius screens come with feature-packed software, but some people
have complained of compatibility problems with certain software.
We've seen no such problems in-house.

The LaserView monitors are a little wierd because of their choice of
pixel densities: too low and too high.  Actually, the "too low" choice
is good for demos, but obnoxious for general use.  The "too high"
setting might be good if you've got unusually acute vision.  Buy one
for your pet hawk.

-- 
Ephraim Vishniac  /  Internet: ephraim@think.com  / AppleLink: ThinkingCorp
Thinking Machines Corporation / 245 First Street / Cambridge, MA 02142-1214
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From vermilye@oswego.Oswego.EDU Mon Apr 10 08:40:37 1989

	We are currently using an E-Machines Z21IQ.  We have found that there 
are a number of programs that have problems with the monitor.  It uses 32 bit
quick draw (a version written by E-Machines).  I am using version 1.02, how-
ever there is a new version (1.2) that I will get tomorrow.  According to 
E-Machines, the new version should improve compatability.  Specific problems
include bombs with FullPaint, ImageStudio, Farallon's and Impulse's sound
editing programs.  There are problems with the screen image in Omnis3 and 
GateKeeper1.0.  In general, if the software did not follow Apple's recom-
mendations concerning 32 bit quickdraw, there will be problems.  

	Other than the compatability problems, the monitor is great.  The image is a little soft compared to the standard Mac+, but working on a 21" screen 
makes up for it.  

JV

Jon R. Vermilye                          		         315 341 2138
Department of Theatre                              vermilye@oswego.Oswego.EDU
SUNY Oswego                                   rutgers!sunybcs!oswego!vermilye
Oswego, NY 13126

[Andrew:: I called their tech line today and they are working with the
various developers on fixing the problems, not mentioned but being worked
on is Adobe88]
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From lsn@cs.duke.edu Mon Apr 10 08:03:31 1989

I have a two-page b/w display from radius.  I like it okay, but I would
probably buy a different display if I were doing it again.  Here's why...

First off, I was under the impression (my own fault) that the pixels were
the same size as on Apple displays.  They aren't, there are about 80/inch,
which may not sound like a big difference, but with that, and the slight
fuzziness of the monitor, the file/folder name font becomes small/hard to
read.  I used Layout to make that font larger, but it has bad effects when
you do a "Get Info" on a file/folder (text overflows).

Then there is the software that comes with the display.  It makes the menubar
taller, and gives you bigger menus.  You can tear them off too.  But this
software causes problems with several applications (they hang indefinitely)
and has problems with hier-menus.

I haven't heard a word from Radius (although others seem to have) about
new software.  The rumor is they are going to fix many of the problems.

I would probably look closely at the Sigma Designs, since their monitor
seems to be alot like one I used to stare at that I liked a whole lot.
They also claim to have "real" pixels (72/inch) and as I recall, their
prices ain't half bad.

========================================================================
From fozzard@boulder.Colorado.EDU Mon Apr 10 19:52:10 1989

We are using the Radius TwoPageDisplay here at CU, and it is fabulous. It
does everything as expected, run all software we have, is fast (of course,
this is just B&W), and has a variety of conveniences from the control
panel (large menu bar, tear-off menus, PICT screen dump).

The only disadvantage is that you cannot get the mouse fast enough to 
easily deal with the whole enormous area of the screen.

========================================================================
Richard Fozzard
University of Colorado				"Serendipity empowers"
fozzard@boulder.colorado.edu
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Thanks to those who responded!

andrew

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!!	   Andrew Stone	            !!        the fictive milieu of	!!
!!         stone@hydra.unm.edu	    <> 	      contemporary society!	!!
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