Need a Sony 23" LCD Monitor review

Posted:
in Current Mac Hardware edited January 2014
Has anyone seen a review of the new 23" Sony LCD display?

Since I can get it for about $2500, I'd love to know how it compares to the Apple Cinema HD display, but I haven't seen any reviews of it as yet.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 45
    Forgetaboutit. Dell 2000SP 20" 1600x1200 DVI/VGA/Video inputs $1400 list $1120 20% off sale price. Swiss manufacturer. Excellent and low priced.



    <a href="http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/productdetail.asp?customer_id=19&sku=320-4105"; target="_blank">http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/productdetail.asp?customer_id=19&sku=320-4105</a>;
  • Reply 2 of 45
    I've seen the Dell go for as cheap as $999...very tempting....especially since that means you could by 2 or three for the price of the sony....If Apple doesn't come out with a Titanium or black monitor Im probably gonna go for the Sony 23incher...when the price comes down...
  • Reply 3 of 45
    oh not to mention that Gateway $2999 Plasma is tempting me too....Grrr I hate Gateway and Dell....but they both seem like such a sweet deal...
  • Reply 4 of 45
    That Dell is ugly. I read bad things about the Gateway plasma compared to most but that is to be expected at the discounted price. The Sony and the Apple's and even the Sun 24.1" are just pretty. Everything about them screams beauty. I would have to go with one of these three I believe. Maybe the Apple 22" also.



    [ 11-12-2002: Message edited by: jpp1cd ]</p>
  • Reply 5 of 45
    defiantdefiant Posts: 4,876member
    <a href="http://www.formac.com/"; target="_blank">formac !!</a>
  • Reply 6 of 45
    jpp1cdjpp1cd Posts: 135member
    [quote]Originally posted by Defiant:

    <strong><a href="http://www.formac.com/"; target="_blank">formac !!</a></strong><hr></blockquote>

    Yes the Formac is extremely pretty also. I would love it but am afraid I will want more than 20" since I have a 17" IBM right now that I got from Enron! Only paid $500 for a monitor that is $1500 new a year or two ago and it is still under full warranty. I actually had IBM send me a brand new one cause some card had gone bad on the monitor. Two days later, the new one was here. Very simple.
  • Reply 7 of 45
    Look at the native resolution on that Gateway -- "852 x 480 native pixel with progressive scan."



    Even scaling a 1280 X 1024 to fit (which means you'll lose quality), you're ending up with a giant display but not much screen real estate.
  • Reply 8 of 45
    [quote]Originally posted by Producer:

    <strong>oh not to mention that Gateway $2999 Plasma is tempting me too....Grrr I hate Gateway and Dell....but they both seem like such a sweet deal...</strong><hr></blockquote>



    Why? It shouldn't be. Plasma TVs are pretty overhyped, and be prepared to spend a lot of money to get one worthwhile.



    As sizzle chest pointed out, it is 852x480. This is a pretty typical resolution for 42" plasmas. Panasonic produces a 42" HDTV capable plasma that sports a 1024x1024 resolution. That means the pixels are rectangular.



    We had a brief discussion on plasmas in another thread. To paraphrase, Plasma displays are not meant for workstation use. They are meant for presentation; that is to show off stuff at around 6 feet or farther away. You'll get what you pay for. Panasonic and NEC make the best plasma displays right now. They have best blacks (which means better contrast ratio) and consistently have the best performance in terms of scaling signals and keeping accurate color.
  • Reply 9 of 45
    1. dell 20": Forgetaboutit! it's not wide screen.

    2. plasma display: Forgetaboutit! it's not for workstation use.

    3. formac 20": Forgetaboutit! it's not widescreen and if you've seen one up close you'll notice that the casing feels very flimsy. you'd think the idea of a shrink-wrapped moniter would be cool in a techy sort of way but the way formac has done it the moniter looks cool in photographs but feels cheap in person. it's too bad cause i really wanted to like the moniter.



    the point of this particular topic still remains unanswered. has anyone used or seen the sony 23" with a dvi signal (not vga!)?
  • Reply 10 of 45
    I spoke with an insider at formac... they are unsure as to the future of the company. This means.. while they may have one of the best displays in the entire industry, they just aren't making enough money to keep afloat.



    Buyers beware.. you may end up without support or warranty if they go away.
  • Reply 11 of 45
    jpp1cdjpp1cd Posts: 135member
    So I guess we are not getting that review any time soon since everybody wants a review but nobody wants to buy one. Whenever someone does, please post info as quickly as possible though.
  • Reply 12 of 45
    I was reffering to the gateway plasma as just to be used as a TV and for watching DVD's...not to be used as a computer display... I have yet to see it in person so it may suck...but it may not....
  • Reply 13 of 45
    dygysydygysy Posts: 182member
    I'm getting my Sony 23" display today.

    Fedex already has it on the truck, I'll post my rhoughts when its set up.
  • Reply 14 of 45
    [quote]Originally posted by Producer:

    <strong>I was reffering to the gateway plasma as just to be used as a TV and for watching DVD's...not to be used as a computer display... I have yet to see it in person so it may suck...but it may not....</strong><hr></blockquote>



    It probably does suck There are tons of plasmas on the market right now. I'd suggest reading up on them at: <a href="http://www.plasmatvbuyingguide.com/"; target="_blank">www.plasmatvbuyingguide.com/</a>



    Lots of great information there...



    And it isn't that nobody wants to buy one of the Sony displays... it's that nobody can
  • Reply 15 of 45
    I'm gonna beat ya to it by posting my review first. I saw the Sony 23" widescreen display yesterday at the MacExpo in London, it was running off a new (dual mirror) G4 tower hooked up to the DVI port (I checked) It was showing the DVD of Ice Age and I had the opportunity to compare it with the Apple HD Cin display, Formac 2010, and the Samsung 24" TFT TV (which is also 1920x1200) as well as the Dell 20" TFT that someone mentioned in this thread. All had OSX displayed so it was pretty easy to compare sharpness, brightness, etc.

    RESULTS(IMHO!)

    The HD Cinema display is the best monitor I've ever seen, period. (and yes, I've seen many)

    THe Sony was very good, clear, sharp but not bright enough for my liking when showing a DVD (I turned it right up and got told off by the Sony girl!) It also had some banding along the edges as did the Formac 2010. There was 4 20" formacs on display and all of them hadsome minor colour and brightness variation (always vertical) They were incredibly bright and sharp though. Just wish they were widescreen....

    The Dell was not impressive, but I must qualify that by saying it was plugged into a VGA (not digital) port, it looked "out of focus" on the corners and had noticable brightness and color variations and a MUCH lower viewing angle esp. horizontally than the others (The Formac was the best here)

    The Samsung I believe is the same screen as the Apple HD display but it was showing TV rather than a computer so I will just say that it did look very good, better than other LCD TV's which have not impressed me much up till now.

    So there it is, I'm happy to take specific questions as I am in the market for a big TFT and inspected all of these quite closely.

    Ciao
  • Reply 16 of 45
    leonisleonis Posts: 3,427member
    Assuming the Apple and SONY are very close in picture quality.



    I will take the SONY over Apple because the SONY allows to hook up to two machines using industry-standard ports (DVI and VGA).....apple...requires expensive adaptor and switch box to get the same function



    Also....SONY's warranty is 3 year vs Apple's 1 year.
  • Reply 17 of 45
    dygysydygysy Posts: 182member
    I got it yesterday afternoon, unfortunately I haven't had time to take it out of the box yet.



    I'll hook it up tonight and let you know what I think.
  • Reply 18 of 45
    dygysydygysy Posts: 182member
    I just checked and the Apple and Sony have the same luminance rating.



    Thereubster,IYO, percentage wise how close would you say the Sony came to the Apple display?
  • Reply 19 of 45
    I would say the Sony was about 85% of the monitor the HDCD is, but as was pointed out, it has dual inputs and is cheaper. Its quality cant be doubted and it has a more usable stand then the Apple, but it's still just "not quite there".

    Also the other Sony TFT displays were there as well and they were very good, esp. the 18", which was quite noticably better quality then the 23". <img src="graemlins/hmmm.gif" border="0" alt="[Hmmm]" />
  • Reply 20 of 45
    matsumatsu Posts: 6,558member
    [quote]Originally posted by Thereubster:

    <strong>RESULTS(IMHO!)



    The Dell was not impressive, but I must qualify that by saying it was plugged into a VGA (not digital) port, it looked "out of focus" on the corners and had noticable brightness and color variations and a MUCH lower viewing angle esp. horizontally than the others (The Formac was the best here)

    </strong><hr></blockquote>



    Your conditioning to CRT monitors shows through. There's no way that the edges could be out of focus on an LCD. However, the could 'seem' that way (as you point out) probably due to the backlighting arrangement possibly washing out the edges of the display a tad.
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