eacj@batcomputer.tn.cornell.edu (Julian Vrieslander) (08/27/87)
Keywords:monitor,SuperMac,Trinitron
Well, I recently installed a Mac II system, and I thought that some of you might
be interested in hearing a bit about the 19" SuperMac monitor, since this is the
new version with the Sony Trinitron tube.
First, some history for those who tuned in late. SuperMac first introduced a
color video adaptor card and 19" color monitor at the time of, or shortly after,
the Mac II rollout. They still sell that monitor, and it uses a tube made by
Ikegami. At the Boston Expo they introduced new 19" and 16" Sony Trinitron
color monitors. The suggested retail price for the 19" Sony is $700 more than
the 19" Ikegami's, but most people think the Trinitron is sharper than the
Ikegami. The SuperMac Spectrum video card works with all of their color tubes.
Now for my mini-review. First of all, be sure to measure your desk if you are
thinking of buying one: this thing is *large* (21" from screen to rear panel).
There are four plastic feet on the bottom, so a stand is optional. We chose the
tilt-swivel base, which raises the screen about 2 to 3". This base is designed
to sit on a desk top, and the resultant screen height is just about right (for
me anyway). I wouldn't put the monitor on top of the Mac II: the thing weighs
about a hundred pounds. If you really want the monitor over the Mac, SuperMac
will sell you a beefy three legged stand that straddles the system box (the Mac
can be pulled out at the front for changing cards, etc.).
The monitor seems well made and ergonomically sensible. All user controls
(horizontal and vertical convergence, contrast, vertical centering, on/off) are
in front, below the screen. The Trinitron monitor does not have have a
degaussing button (like the Ikegami's), so it probably has automatic degaussing.
One curious note: the screen is advertised as 768 pixels high by 1024 wide.
But, at least for my sample, the actual pixel size is 768 by 1016. This width
was verified (on both my system and my dealer's demo system) by the Mousometer
DA and by some test code I wrote as a doublecheck. Where's the missing rowByte?
The Spectrum video adaptor card did not come with a slot shield (a metal
stamping to seal the opening at the back of the system box against RFI
emission), but SuperMac Tech Support has promised to mail one to me. SuperMac's
advertisements claim that the board can be programmed for 1, 2, 4 or 8
bits/pixel, but the boards shipping now do *not* work in 2 or 4 bit mode. Tech
Support says that a retrofix will be available. Currently the board does not
have GenLock capability, but they claim that this will be provided, possibly as
an extra-cost plug-in.
Image quality is very impressive. Convergence can be adjusted to within about
one pixel's worth of misalignment from corner to corner. Nine point text is not
as clear as on the 9" screens of the little Macs, but still very readable. The
screen has an effective anti-reflection coating that enhances contrast. If I
were to pick nits about the picture quality, there would be two things to
mention. There are 2 *very* fine horizontal lines that run horizontally across
the screen at the 1/3 and 2/3 heights. These lines, I am told, are seen on many
Trinitrons and are a consequence of the tube's internal construction. More
noticable to me is a slight variation in screen brightness when rendering the
medium gray of the desktop. This appears in faint vertical bands, like
interference fringes with 2 mm periodicity. A techie at SuperMac told me that
the effect is present in all units and can be eliminated by choosing another
desktop pattern. Perhaps it is a Moire interaction between the medium gray
pattern and the shadowmask.
Documentation is adequate, but unimpressive. The installation instructions
appear to be written for the Ikegami, and are still labelled as a beta draft, at
that. There is also a sheet supplied by Sony, with a brief description of the
monitor's controls, and connections. I had no trouble getting the system to
work, but a less technically oriented user might get confused by the mismatch
between the hardware and the doco.
At the Boston Mac Expo, PCPC (the folks who make the MacBottom hard disks) were
also introducing a 19" color monitor system for the Mac II. Their systems ship
with monitors from either Mitsubishi or Sony (the same 19" that SuperMac uses),
but they were claiming that their video card was superior to SuperMac's. This
superiority was alleged to be due to a cleaner design with lower parts count,
lower power dissipation, and less RFI emission, resulting in better reliability
and a visably better picture. Note, however, that their board runs *only* in 8
bits/pixel mode. I could not see an obvious difference in picture quality
between the PCPC and SuperMac systems demoed at the show, but I would be
interested in hearing reports from others who have experience with both
products.
--
Julian Vrieslander (607) 255-3594
Neurobiology & Behavior, W250 Mudd Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca NY 14853
UUCP: {cmcl2,decvax,rochester,uw-beaver,ihnp4}!cornell!batcomputer!eacj
ARPA: eacj@tcgould.tn.cornell.edu BITNET: eacj@CRNLTHRYjww@sdcsvax.UUCP (08/27/87)
In article <2144@batcomputer.tn.cornell.edu>, eacj@batcomputer.tn.cornell.edu (Julian Vrieslander) writes: > First, some history for those who tuned in late. SuperMac first introduced a > color video adaptor card and 19" color monitor at the time of, or shortly after, > the Mac II rollout. They still sell that monitor, and it uses a tube made by > Ikegami. Actually, this is almost right. SuperMac is selling an Ikegami monitor, and a Sony monitor, but the Sony is actually the THIRD monitor they've sold. The Ikegami replaced an earlier tube (whose name escapes me at the minute), although the swap was not widely publicized. Apparently the Ikegami is better, but I don't know who has the earlier tube, other than developers who bought in early. (Not Palomar! It was tough enough buying the Mac II's...) -- Joel West (c/o UCSD) Palomar Software, Inc., P.O. Box 2635, Vista, CA 92083 {ucbvax,ihnp4}!sdcsvax!jww jww@sdcsvax.ucsd.edu or ihnp4!crash!palomar!joel joel@palomar.cts.com