From: seah@ee.rochester.edu (David Seah)
Subject: Re: Gateway Flat screen 15" monitor
Organization: Univ of Rochester, College of Engineering and Applied Science
Date: Mon, 23 Nov 1992 10:50:49 GMT

In article <1992Nov20.173244.21597@hpmcaa.mcm.hp.com> paolo@hpmcrf.mcm.hp.com.mcm.hp.com (Paolo Fontani) writes:
>Khaled N. Ayyash (kna@po.CWRU.Edu) wrote:
>> 
>> 	I have a Gateway CrystalScan 14" 1024 NI monitor and I am thinking
>> of upgrading to their 15" Flat Screen Monitor.  Is it worth the upgrade
>> and does it provide edge to edge viewing?  I like to work with 800*600
>> resolution and my current monitor shrinks the screen by half when I am
>                                    ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>> using the 800*600 resolution.  Does the flat screen monitor do the same
>> thing?  

>In the vein of the quality problems that the 14" monitor is famous
>for I would like to know if the 15" version is acceptably reliable.
>Did Gateway learn from their 14" quality experience?

I got the 1572FS 15" monitor with the 4DX2-66V system about a month ago,
and so far...it has worked...so far...fairly well (I hate talking about
working hardware, because it tends to stop working then :-)

The 1572FS is allegedly made by MAG Innovision in California, but it is 
not their own line.  There are 6 analog dial controls for horizontal and
vertical positioning, horizontal and vertical sizing, contrast, and
brightness.  On the back there is a pincushion adjustment, degauss button,
and focus.  To get at the focus adjustment, you need one of those conductive
plastic tuning tools from Radio Shack.  There is no mode memory or anything
like that...you have to play games with your video card's centering and
sizing utilities and then set the monitor size controls in a spot that works
with all of them.  I have set mine up in an apparently working configuration,
with the maximum usable area on my monitor I can approach in all modes while
retaining square aspect ratios where they should be.  In 640x480 mode, there
is more dead space at the left/right edges than in the other modes...I'm not
sure why this is.  In 800x600, it is practically edge-to-edge, as it is
in 1024x768 mode.  The monitor can go up to 1280x1024, but frankly you
shouldn't expect much sharpness in a 15" tube at that resolution.  I'm
pushing it at 1024x768...text is fairly sharp, but the pixels do tend to
blur a little.

From a user standpoint, the monitor is acceptable.  It costs $495 from
Gateway, which is nothing to complain about in a monitor with the
capabilities it has.  I do wish it had more contrast and electronic size/
position controls.  I wish it was sharper, but I went and looked at the NEC
3FGx (+$250 for upgrade) and it wasn't any better.  Contrast seemed to be
better on the NEC (without the monitor lens).  I haven't looked at a
Viewsonic monitor in the same class, but I did examine the NEC 4FG which is
WAY sharp...but much more expensive.  I don't think it can scan as high as
the 1572 from what I've read, but I don't know for sure.  I was used to
working with 16" and 20" Sony monitors, and I think I expected too much from
the 1572.  I'm happy with it now, though 17" might be a lot better :-)
Oh, the brightness across the tube doesn't seem to be perfectly uniform
either, but most monitors exhibit this.

Specs: 15" diagonal 0.28mm dot pitch, non-glare etched flat screen, tinted
glass, medium-short persistence.  Res 1280x1024.  Scanning frequencies:
30-64Khz horizontal, 50-100Hz vertical.  Eats 110 watts maximum.

As for quality...MAG Innovision doesn't seem to do much Quality Assurance
on these things (according to several Gateway reps :)  My monitor was a
a bit blurry before I focused it, so when I called Gateway I asked for
someone to focus it for me.  They sent another monitor instead, which worked
for 3 seconds before getting permanent scrambles.  Sent it back and kept
the original one, and it's been fine so far.  The tube is a little crooked...
the left edge of the picture is 1.5mm below the right, but it's mostly
unnoticible.  There is a distortion bar down the extreme left edge of 
the monitor that stretches the picture horizontally in a 2mm band if you
watch for it.  If I didn't have to buy tires, I would probably send the
monitor back and get my $495 refund, then buy a monitor from a Viewsonic
dealer locally and MAKE SURE IT WAS ABSOLUTELY PERFECT.  The 1572FS,
though, would be a fine monitor for most people who don't work with high-end
graphics.

-- 
Dave Seah ^..^   | Graduate MSEE, University of Rochester, New York           |
                 | Apple II Graphics & Sound Forum Consultant, America Online |

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