Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Path: utzoo!utgpu!water!watmath!clyde!cbosgd!mandrill!neoucom!wtm
From: wtm@neoucom.UUCP
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
Subject: Re: COMDEX report
Message-ID: <782@neoucom.UUCP>
Date: Sun, 29-Nov-87 11:21:35 EST
Article-I.D.: neoucom.782
Posted: Sun Nov 29 11:21:35 1987
Date-Received: Thu, 3-Dec-87 03:18:34 EST
References: <300@uscacsc.UUCP> <4111@ccicpg.UUCP> <3206@ulysses.homer.nj.att.com>
Organization: Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine
Lines: 67
Keywords: multiscan monitors
Summary: I was a ghost writer for the Infoblob Sony Multiscan article


I did the technical review for the person who wrote the article on
the Sony Multiscan CPD-1302 moinitor that appeared in Infoblob, er.
oops.. Infoworld.  The Infoblob article was kind of sugared-up with
cute language, but was more-or-less true, except as noted below.

I hated that article.  I about gagged when I read that paragraph
about "any dealer will tweak this monitor up if you buy the tech.
manual and drag it in..."  That simply ain't true.  What is true is
that the regional Sony service center didn't have the manual which
we had ordered from the Sony parts center.

The CPD-1302 is a darn nice monitor, even when used with (parish
the thot) VGA.  If memory serves me right, the dot pitch on the
1302 is 0.26 mm.  We have several 1302s in use here at NEOUCOM for
some resarch microscopic 3d reconstruction efforts.  (Basically
using a microscope as a tiny joystick to make 3d wireframe
drawings.)  We like the 1302 because there is less optical distortion
when shooting 35mm shots off the screen.  I heard that the CPD-1302
is being discontinued and replaced by the CPD-something else, which
is really functuionally about the same.

The article gives a somewhat distorted presentation about what I
said about the construciton of the CPD-1302.  The interior quality
of the electronics is much better than such competitors as Taxan.
The Sony circuitry is also fiendishly complex.  This is typical of
Sony and is typical of their inscrutalbe japanese philosophy of
electrical engineering.  Anybody that has ever [attempted] to fix a
trinitron set knwos what I mean.  I'd judge that the cost of
repairing the Sony would be higher than average, as only a few
service centers have the technical expertise to do the work.  The
Sony, however, is less likely than average to need service because
of the better workmanship at the outset.

The complex circuitry of the Sony does pay off though with
excellent convergence, even at the edges.  The out-of-the-box
picutre quality of the CPD-1302 was better than any other monitor I
have tested.  Viturally every of the origianl NEC Multisync I've
dealt with (a total of 11) has needed internal adjustment to obtain
a tolerable picture.  This, of course, would be beyond the
capabilities of an average consumer to handle.  (I know a lot of
the readers here have the necessary skill, but they aren't average
consumers.)  I recently got the chance to examine the new NEC
Multisync II and the NEC 19 inch Multisync.  The 40 MHz bandwidth
when connecting though the BNC r, g, and b, connectors is
impressive.  The NEW NECs don't seem to have the poor quality
control of the original Multisync.  I used the 19 inch Multisync to
shoot some pictures for an upcoming magazine article.  It required
using a type B filter with Ektachrome film to get a reasonable
looking color (to cancel a blue shift), but the results were
impressive.  Unfortunately the big NEC is a bit much for my
wallet.

By the way, I had to laugh when we ordered the tech ref manual for
the 1302.  The first time around, Sony sent a manual for a NEC
spinwriter printer that had a Sony Label glued over the NEC
nameplate.  And- I thought Sony and NEC were competitors.

I think the best all-around monitor for something like the Amiga is
the Mitsubishi Diamond Scan (I forget the model #).  If you shop
around, you can get the Diamond Scan for just under $US500.  The
Diamond Scan has an NTSC composite input as well as the usual
multisync RGB digital/analog connector.

--Bill
NEOUCOM
(wtm@neoucom.UUCP)19G