ADI MicroScan G900

While Trinitron and Diamondtron tubes have enjoyed flat-screen technology for a few years, their shadow-mask counterparts are only just catching up. Nokia's 710C was disappointing (reviewed issue 73, p182), but the 17in LG Flatron monitor featured with the Multivision Vision Duron 700 (see Labs, issue 73, p96) showed a concave-looking, but impressive flat shadow mask. Now it's ADI's turn to enter the arena with a 19in Hitachi Pure Flat tube.

The G900 is visually aesthetic, but round the back you'll find a disappointing array of features. Unlike the abundance of connectors on the base of the Iiyama Vision Master Pro 451 (reviewed below), the ADI only sports a single captive D-SUB input, a microphone output and no USB, which pales in comparison to the two non-captive D-SUB inputs, speakers and USB hub on the Iiyama. However, if you need it, you can get an optional USB hub with one upstream and four downstream ports for an extra £20.

Initial impressions were disappointing, with bland image quality that lacked high contrast and instantly noticeable poor colour depth.

However, it fared better in the DisplayMate Multimedia Edition tests elsewhere, outperforming the Nokia in terms of screen regulation, which, while not completely solid, was reasonably stable. The resolution was superb horizontally and vertically, with minimal fuzziness, also being well focused. What let the G900 down, however, was the disturbing amount of moirÚ interference, rendering the improved focus and resolution useless. Two correction controls are provided, but these either didn't help or only corrected a small area.

The interference gets worse as you increase the resolution. I couldn't find a satisfactory setting at 1,280 x 1,024 at 85Hz, which would be optimal with an 18in viewable diagonal, and although the picture was large enough, the amount of moirÚ made it impractical to use for long periods of time. The maximum resolution of 1,600 x 1,200 at 75Hz is handled admirably, but is too small to use, and disappointingly behind the Iiyama, which, for the same money, offers 90Hz at this resolution and a higher maximum of 1,920 x 1,440 at 75Hz.

However, the ADI's geometry was almost faultless, being correctly aligned across the screen with no curvature. However, the very top of the screen hooked in slightly at every resolution setting, and the top hooking controls couldn't correct the small area without affecting the screen elsewhere. Otherwise, the OSD is simple and easy to master, featuring most of the advanced controls you could ask for. There's only two navigation buttons, but circulating around one simple doesn't take long. Disappointingly, there were no colour convergence controls, although the colour registration didn't need any correction.

ADI expects the G900 to be launched at a street price of £299, which isn't bad, but you could get the superior Diamondtron NEC MultiSync FE950 (see Labs, issue 69, p126) for just £10 more. However, the list price of £379 is extremely uncompetitive in comparison with the identically priced Iiyama Vision Master Pro 451, and the ADI fails to match it in terms of resolution, features or image quality. Hopefully, the flat shadow mask will evolve over time, but for the moment it looks like the flat aperture grille is going to be hard to beat.

Author: Ben Hardwidge