Beautiful, beautiful, but needs lots of adjustments
Written: Apr 12 '04 (Updated Apr 27 '04)
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Pros: Outstanding clarity and color; AG lines are barely visible
Cons: Expect to make a lot of adjustments to the geometry; no ability for multiple settings
The Bottom Line: Tremendous text clarity and outstanding color that is rich and vibrant. This monitor can make your jaw drop. It needs a lot of adjustments, so only four stars.
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| rfinney2's Full Review: NEC MultiSync FP2141SB (Black) 22 inch CRT Monitor |
I had been using a very nice Hitachi 19" CRT for quite some time. I wanted a new monitor with better color display (richer and with some pop). I spent quite awhile looking at both flat panels and CRT's. That was my first decision. I finally decided on a CRT, not because of price, but because my eyesight is poor enough that I can't view a flat panel in its native resolution without difficulty. And when you lower the resolution, you lose too much crispness. Thus the decision to go CRT.
Next decision was aperture grille or shadow mask. There are pros and cons of each. I had not had any previous experience with aperture grille monitors and many reviewers comment about the appearance of the two horizontal lines running across the screen that are part of the display of any aperture grille monitor.
So I went and looked. Immediately I liked the color display on the aperture grille monitors versus the shadow mask monitors. I then started looking at various aperture grille monitors and found that the intensity of the two lines could vary a fair amount. A big plus for this monitor was that the lines seemed fainter than most.
I have now been using this monitor for one week and the lines are just not an issue at all - and they were not at the beginning. I did not need to get used to them - I just didn't really notice them without looking for them right from the start. Yes, they are visible on a white background but to my eyes - ok, they are admittedly poor, not noticed under working conditions. But for those who have not had experience with aperture grille monitors, you need to check them out in advance.
I found that out of the box, the color looked great. But I also found that the geometry was not even close using the automatic setting. It is an absolute necessity that you download the Naviset software - I don't know why it is not included, however, there is an included sheet that tells you about it and provides the URL.
Using Naviset immensely helps the process but I have still worked a number of hours to get the geometry right and it is close but not quite there. I am not sure I will ever be able to get it exactly right. Naviset has almost all of the adjustments that the buttons provide, except for some strange reason it does not allow for vertical up and down and sizing but it does for horizontal. Not a biggie - I use the buttons for those two when needed.
It is worthwhile to keep in mind that every time you change the refresh rate or resolution, you will need to make adjustments. What this monitor really needs is the ability to store a number of customized settings. I find this problem to be a significant drawback.
The monitor has a few nice touches like the four USB ports and a cable that totally detaches so that the monitor does not need to be repaired if the cable goes bad.
Clearly the best thing about this monitor is the outstanding clarity and color. It is the just the best I have ever seen. And that makes putting up with the geometry worthwhile.
Update: I found that no matter what I could not get the geometry right. I think I would get it close but then open another program and find distortion in another screen area. I called NEC and they did not have any special instructions but felt the monitor was probably defective. I returned it and got another. This one is much better and the geometry is now quite good, better than any other CRT I have owned, but not as perfect as a flat panel.
Even with a non-defective monitor you should be prepared to do a lot of work to get it right. And it turns out that Naviset, while useful, probably will not suffice. It didn't for me. The problem is that Naviset works with a slider bar and sometimes you are not able to make the fine adjustment that you need to make. Also, just as there is one (two if yo count both vertical adjustments) that are not available with Navisset, there is an important control that is not available on screen and can only be used with Naviset - and you do not have enough fine control over this adjustment as would be desired. So the upshot is that I think most users will need to do a combination of on screen and Naviset adjustments to get it right. I am going to write down all the geometry numbers so that if something happens I won't have to start from scratch - would not be fun.
Having said all this, I am very, very happy with this monitor. It is stunning and now that the geometry is great - if not quite perfect - it is truly a joy to use.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 560.00
Operating System: Windows
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Epinions.com ID:
rfinney2
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Reviews written: 4
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