Sony SDM-X73/B

[lakedude]

Panel Type: a-SI TFT Active Matrix
Contrast Ratio: 500:1
Brightness: 300cd/m2
Viewing Angle (H/V) 160°/140°
Pixel Pitch: 0.264 mm
1280 x 1024 @ 75 Hz Max Resolution
Connects Via HD15 (Analog) and DVI-D (Digital)
16mS

Got one for $436 including shipping. The picture quality is fantastic for high res photos. My map program never looked better. Movies and low quality jpgs look aweful. The micro-block and jpg "ringing" is way more noticable then on any other monitor I've ever had. Even top quailty DVD video looks grainy.

I'm using a dvi cable for the connection. I've tried playing movies with powerdvd and ati's player, both look like crap. Is this normal for lcds? While playing the Matrix there is a big white light in the very beginning. On my TV the light looks great but the lcd show some yellow squares on a mostly white background. The (fairly large) yellow microblock shows itself at several places in the movie. In one spot the yellow squares dance across a car window. This is very annoying. Can it be fixed?



Give me fuel, give me fire, give me that which I desire.<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by Lakedude on 08/28/03 02:56 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[lakedude]

Update

Hooked up the old computer to the new monitor at the same time that the new computer is also hooked up to the new monitor. The new computer is running a rad9000pro aiw and dvi out, while the old system is running an original rad aiw and a regular vga cable. I played the same movie on both machines and the old system with the vga cable looks fine. The new system with dvi looks like crap! I'll hook the new system up with the vga cable later tonight. Man that sucks, I bought the Sony in part cause it had dvi in and now it looks like I'm not gonna use it!

Give me fuel, give me fire, give me that which I desire.

 

[FiL]

one thing people say is that LCD screen are far crisper than CRT's, this higher sharpness could be showing the the JPEG compression artifacts on lo res pictures more than CRT's would.

same could be said for DVD movies and showing MPEG2 compression artifacts,

although check the ATi drivers too, get the most up to date ones.

anyways, thanks for sharing your experiences, I want to get a good LCD monitor soon, to link up with the DVI port on my GF4....let us know what the analogue link with your good computer looks like.

 

[lakedude]

Hooked up the new computer with the 9000pro to the new monitor via a vga cable and the yellow blocks are gone! The picture still looked better on the old computer so I started playing with media players, codecs (ffdshow. divx5, divx3) and their settings and I can't make the new system look as good as the old as far as movies go. I'll continue to play around and keep y'all up to date.



Give me fuel, give me fire, give me that which I desire.

 

[lakedude]

Well I've givin up trying to make the panel look good on movies. The computer is hooked up to a 32" TV anyway so there is no need to view video on the monitor.

I read a review that said the display was a bit harsh compared to others and I can go along with that. I'm happy with the Sony, It is a right sharp display, but if I had it to do over I would go with the NEC since I'm not using the DVI anyway.

Give me fuel, give me fire, give me that which I desire.