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Written by Mikhail Ivanenkov
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Wednesday, 27 June 2007 |
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Page 1 of 4
Thanks to Geeks for the product sample.
Just a few years back having an LCD screen made you the cool kid on the block. Now flat screen monitors are gaining ground (and will soon outnumber) CRTs, at least in the enthusiast market. With prices no longer as outrageous as they once were, purchasing an LCD online will now be only marginally more expensive than a similar CRT due to shipping costs. The benefits are clear: more space, less weight, no eye strain. Given the current technology, you can also add much higher contrast ratios, great color reproduction, no ghosting whatsoever, and significantly lower power consumption to that list.
Currently the sweet spot for the majority of users seems to be the 17" market. A lot of these mid-range models can be found for as low as $200, all while offering native resolutions (typically 1280x1024) and viewable screen size akin to 19" tube displays. Today we'll be taking a look at such an offering, the CT-729A made by ChiMei Corporation. It's certainly a welcome departure from the onslaught of Samsung monitors everywhere. It ships in a relatively plain, though very well packaged box shown above.
Aside from the monitor you also receive a 2-part AC adapter, VGA cable, and audio cable. There are two important things to notice here. First, the 729A only supports VGA (no DVI), though for most people the difference is unnoticeable (and extremely picky professionals will opt for a pricier model anyway). It's debatable if there's any difference at all. Second, this model also has a pair of built-in stereo speakers, which is a nice option for basic audio. The specifications are as follows:
- Black design
- 17-inch TFT Color LCD display
- 0.264 mm dot pitch
- 1280 x 1024 maximum resolution
- 16.7 million colors
- 400 cd/2 brightness
- 450:1 contrast ratio
- 16 ms response time
- 22 KHz - 82 KHz horizontal scan frequency
- 56 Hz - 76 Hz vertical scan frequency
- Built-in speakers
- Low power consumption
- Energy-Star compliant
- On-Screen Display (OSD) controls
- VESA compatible for mounting (3-inch (75mm))
- 3.5 mm line-in jack
- 15-pin standard VGA connector
1280x1024 native resolution is typical for displays of this size. 400 cd/2 brightness along with a 450:1 contrast ratio is likewise on par with most other 17" models. 16ms response time is quickly becoming the de facto spec for this monitor size. Although some say there is a tad bit of ghosting still visible at 16ms under extreme circumstances, I have yet to witness it. Having used Solarism's 17" offering for almost two years now (which also has a 16ms response time), ghosting has never been an issue for me even in high speed action games.
Aesthetically the display is clean and elegant. It's entirely black (almost expected from LCDs these days) and has a silver control panel near the bottom with the built-in speakers on either side. The base snaps into the swivel neck and is the only part that may not tailor to everyone in the looks department. This base also has rubber feet and is extremely stable.
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 27 June 2007 )
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