Cadalyst - April 2008 - (Page 18)

cadlabsreview By Ron LaFon A large monitor is a natural choice for CAD and graphics work — its larger resolution boasts higher pixel counts so that it’s easier for users to see what they’re doing. It’s also easier to work on models without having to constantly zoom, pan, and reposition. This roundup review looks at new displays from Lenovo, NEC Display Technologies, and ViewSonic. For this year’s large LCD monitor roundup, Cadalyst sent invitations to vendors requesting the latest flat-panel LCD monitors with a minimum 20” diagonal viewable screen area with at least 1,280 x 1,024 resolution. Only three vendors sent displays. This response almost certainly reflects vendors’ announcement schedules rather than a decrease in the number of available new large monitors. Indeed, just as this article was being published, Cadalyst received announcements for a variety of new displays, including a 30” display from NEC. Suffice it to say, a wide range of flat-panel displays are available today, evenly split between the more conventional 4:3 aspect ratio and the wider 16:10 aspect ratio. Monitors in this particular roundup review ranged in price from $449 to $1,199.99. In the past, flat-panel displays for CAD and digital-content creation (DCC) suffered from relatively slow response times that manifested themselves as visual stutter or ghosting as the monitor struggled to keep up with the speed of an intricate object being displayed on the screen. The good news is that response times of the monitors included in this roundup are significantly faster, lessening (if not eliminating) previous display problems. Typical response times for the older CRT displays were in the range of 1–3 ms. The LCD panels in this roundup ranged from 2 ms to 8 ms gray-to-gray, which is a great improvement that obviously still leaves room for growth. Many users still find CRT displays better suited to their needs, both in response time and color fidelity. But the availability of CRT displays is steadily growing slimmer. On the other hand, LCD monitor vendors are beginning to show more innovation as Large LCD Monitors Report Card Product Lenovo ThinkVision L220x, p. 19 NEC MultiSync LCD2690WUXi, p. 21 ViewSonic VP2250wb, p. 22 Image Quality (6x) A A+ A Price (4x) A+ A– A+ Connectivity Image (2x) Controls (2x) A A A A A A Warranty (1x) A A+ A Grade A A A 18 www.cadalyst.com cadalyst April 2008 http://www.cadalyst.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Cadalyst - April 2008

Cadalyst - April 2008 Contents Editor's Window Cad Central The Summer of BIM Thin Is In — Large LCD Monitors Caligari trueSpace 7.5 — 3D Modeling Software HP Compaq 8710w — Mobile Workstation Autodesk Design Review 2009 — Design Viewing and Collaboration Software Getting Better — What Should You Learn? Technical Uses for Nontechnical Software AEC on Macs Cad Cartoon Issue Indexes Tips Rain Down on Harry

Cadalyst - April 2008

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