Cadalyst - September 2007 - (Page 17)

cadlabsreview LCD Monitor Report Card Category Importance Factor Dell UltraSharp 3007WFP-HC EIZO FlexScan S2431S HP LP3065 LaCie 321 NEC MultiSync LCD2470WNX ViewSonic VX2835wm Image Quality Price 6x 4x A+ A A+ A+ A+ A A A– A A– A+ A+ Connectivity 2x A A A A A A Image Controls Warranty Overall Grade 2x 1x A– A A– A+ A A A A+ A A A A A A– A A A A included a sidebar about the LaCie 526, which offers specialized color-correction capabilities. I’ve also prepared a sidebar about the system I used to test all of the displays; read about it at www.cadalyst.com/0907ximtowerpcie. As far as CAD and digital content creation (DCC) professionals are concerned, flat-panel displays have been burdened with relatively slow response times. This limitation tends to show itself when running or editing video or rotating a CAD model for evaluation or presentation. It typically presents itself as visual stutter or ghosting as the monitor tries to keep up with the speed of an object — not what you want in a smoothly executed display. For this group of monitors, response time ranged from a speedy 3 ms to a not-so-speedy 20 ms. This range is somewhat improved over the last flat-panel roundup, where 8–16 ms was typical. And that range was up from the 12–25 ms seen in the previous roundup review. Typical response time for CRT displays is in the 1–3 ms range, so some of the new flat-panel technologies are finally approaching that standard. As in the last LCD flat-panel monitor roundup, the display quality of this group of monitors was consistently high with excellent color purity, brightness, and contrast. A couple of the displays had reds that were very slightly on the orange side or yellows that were a tad dull, but none deviated significantly enough to warrant a demerit. With display quality becoming a given, LCD monitors are beginning to show more innovation, as vendors strive to distinguish their products from those of other vendors. Many niceties are showing up, and the ability to display content-protected high-definition (HD) media (along with the associated cable) is being incorporated. One could say that the LCD flat-panel market is reaching maturity, even though prices are still higher than I would like. The onscreen menus (OSMs) generally could do with some improvements, and they vary widely in design and easeof-use among the group. As in previous flat-panel roundups, Cadalyst requested flat-panel displays with a minimum 20” viewable area and with a minimum resolution of 1280 x 1024 (24-bit color). Displays had to have an RGB analog input — a 15-pin mini D-Sub connector with optional digital DVI-D input. As noted previously, almost one-half of the displays had a wide-screen 16:10 aspect ratio. Testing Procedures I used DisplayMate Technology’s DisplayMate (www.displaymate.com), excellent software to run a wide range of video tests for brightness, contrast, focus, convergence, purity, geometric distortion, and raster rotation. DisplayMate also incorporates tests specific to LCD displays. During the course of testing, I also evaluated the OSM and the general functionality of the available controls. I looked at a suite of digital photographs on each display, and, while the results cannot easily be quantified, this test proved to be useful, particularly because many design professionals find themselves working with either photographs or visualizations during the course of their work. When the tests were complete, the LCD displays were rated on several factors that were weighted according to importance: image quality (6x), price (4x), connectivity (2x), image controls (2x), and warranty (1x). All tests were driven by a Diamond Viper HD graphics card, which is based on the ATI 2900XT chipset and boasts 512 MB of integrated DDR3 memory. For all the tests, I used Diamond drivers v.8.380.0.0 (5/8/07), which were the most current version available when I began the evaluations. I used a speedy workstation from @Xi Computer for all the tests. For more information about this system, see the sidebar “Xi MTower PCIe” at www.cadalyst.com/ 0907ximtowerpcie. Evaluating the Displays All LCD monitors are designed with a rated resolution sweet spot for which the monitor is optimized. Although they typically are capable of other resolutions, usually by scaling the original image, the best results are at the rated resolution. Resolutions lower than the optimum (ones at 17 www.cadalyst.com | cadalyst | September 2007 http://www.cadalyst.com/0907ximtowerpcie http://www.displaymate.com http://www.displaymate.com http://www.cadalyst.com/0907ximtowerpcie http://www.cadalyst.com/0907ximtowerpcie http://www.cadalyst.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Cadalyst - September 2007

Contents Editor's Window Techtrends: Resurrecting an Unforgettable Second Living Large UGS Solid Edge v20 Adobe Acrobat 3D v8 Adobe Photoshop CS3 Extended CAD Manager: Managing 2D and 3D in the Same Office MCAD Modeling: Where is MCAD Going? AEC in Focus: Automated Estimating and Scheduling Using BIM CAD Cartoon Issue Indexes CADfidential

Cadalyst - September 2007

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