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[ Go to July 1997 Table of Contents ]
WinLab Reviews
-- by Joel T. Patz
Graphic designers and CAD operators won't be alone in admiring the visually crisp new 20-inch Trinitron monitor from ArtMedia. Many will also appreciate the unit's generous power-management features, including VESA/EPA energy-saving and TCO/MPRII low-emission compliance. The ArtMedia GT-960T also supports VESA Display Data Channel (DDC) Plug-and-Play standards and comes with a three-year limited warranty. Sitting on its tilt-and-swivel base, the GT-960T's 0.25mm aperture-grille pitch tube offers 19 inches of diagonal viewing area. The monitor measures 18.6 by 19.5 by 19.8 inches and weighs a hefty 66 pounds. At the back of the unit you'll find inputs for both a typical 15-pin VGA connector or the supplied five-plug set of BNC connectors. The unit functioned perfectly right out of the box and responded well to display tuning. The on-screen display was extremely helpful, indicating adjustment settings both graphically and numerically. Contrast and brightness toggle to adjust centering, picture size, rotation, pincushioning, convergence, moire and color temperature. The monitor's recommended optimum resolution of 1280x1024 refreshes at 77Hz, and the maximum 1600x1280 resolution has a refresh rate of 72Hz. It's easy to adjust the factory-set color-temperature modes (9300, 6500 and 5000 degrees Kelvin), and new settings are memorized. To return the monitor to factory settings, just push the Reset button. We conducted color-panel, geometry, distortion and resolution tests with Sonera Technologies' DisplayMate-with perfect results every time. Color saturation was rich and vibrant, and text was crisp and sharp. The ArtMedia GT-960T is the successor to the TN2185T, formerly a recommended product. The newer monitor, while expensive, performs like a champ and earns a spot of its own on the WinList.
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