Product Reviews

Flat-screen LCD monitors have been making a bit of a splash recently, with the well-received Apple Studio Display leading the way to ever-better quality and falling prices. However, if you thought you were seeing the death throes of the CRT (cathode ray tube), think again. Truly flat-screen CRTs are starting to make an appearance, with resolutions and prices that LCD technology simply can't match.

One of the first of these to appear is a 19in monitor from Mitsubishi, the Diamond Pro 900 - which is not surprising, since Mitsubishi developed the flat-screen technology behind it. The other player is Sony, which has its own flat-screen technology appearing in its own and other manufacturers' monitors.

The tube in the Diamond Pro 900 features NF (Natural Flat) technology, but also Mitsubishi's patented Diamondtron electron gun and aperture grille technology - a variant of Sony's Trinitron system.

Hooking the monitor up to your Mac requires an adaptor if you don't have a graphics card with a VGA-style connection, and unfortunately this adaptor has a set of jumper switches that must be set if it's going to work properly. Having to root around switch-setting tables to get a monitor to work is a pain. Around the back there are lots of connections: D-SUB and BNC for signal input, and a pair of USB hub ports. However, the Mac OS doesn't support USB at the moment, however (except for the iMac's version), and Mitsubishi doesn't have any plans to produce driver software for it.

The first thing you notice when you take the monitor out of the box is that it has a flat screen. Of course it does, but how flat is 'flat'? Well, think of the flattest thing you can imagine. It's that

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flat.

The problem with flat CRT tubes in the past has been that focus and convergence drop off toward the edges of the screen, since the electron beams have further to travel. However, Mitsubishi must have been doing its homework, as when you fire up the monitor you're confronted with a perfectly flat, bright, clear picture (helped along by the ultra-fine 0.25mm dot pitch). Diamondtrons have always been exceptional performers in the image quality stakes, and these new flat models are no exception.

In common with LCD flat screens, you'll notice that the picture appears to be slightly concave. Mitsubishi claims to have eliminated this effect by applying pre-distortion to the beam and grille, but I suspect the effect was created by my brain over-compensating after years of looking at slightly convex images. Maximum resolution is quoted as 1600 x 1200, although we couldn't test this with our Mac's on-board video. The maximum recommended resolution is 1280 x 1024.

Controls are the by now-mandatory on-screen display (OSD), and Mitsubishi's offering is one of the most confusing we've seen, although the choice of adjustment options is very comprehensive. One new option, prompted no doubt by the flat-screen technology, is the Corner Purity setting. We've all seen monitors with discoloured patches in one corner - now you can remove it using this control.

However, since we've only seen it on the new flat-screen monitors it may be that this is more of a problem with them. Whatever, the control worked perfectly. Convergence was only adjustable horizontally and vertically across the whole screen, not for different screen areas as with some other new 19in monitors. One very nice feature is the switch for choosing between the BNC and D-SUB connectors on the back. This is exactly where it should be - a separate switch on the front panel, allowing you to hook up two Macs, or a Mac and PC, and switch between them at the press of a button - and is a very welcome feature.

The CRT monitor market now belongs to the buyer. This monitor is among the best we've ever tested on image quality and you can own it for a measly £475. Despite a few niggles about the adaptor and OSD (and the styling, which won't be to everyone's taste), this is a top-flight product.