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http://www.macnn.com/articles/02/09/04/formac.announces/

Formac announces 20.1" UXGA LCD monitor

updated 11:40 am EDT, Wed September 4, 2002

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Formac today announced the Formac gallery 2010, a 20.1" flat panel display with Fujitsu�s Multi-Domain Vertical Alignment (MVA) Premium technology. It features a high-definition UXGA resolution of 1,600x1,200 pixels (equivalent to a 23-inch CRT) and is equipped with ADC or DVI interface as well as offers 250 cd/m2 brightness, a 500:1 contrast ratio, and a pixel response time of 25ms. The display has a clear enclosure and a silver-painted bezel, an ultra-slim desktop footprint and a flexible hinge design to adjust the viewing angle. It is expected to ship at the end of the month for $1,700 and the company is taking pre-orders now.

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09/04, 12:51pm | report spam | close Reply |
resolution

"It features a high-definition UXGA resolution of 1,600x1,200 pixels (equivalent to a 23-inch CRT)"

I'm using that resolution on my 19" CRT every day, works fine.

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09/04, 01:26pm | report spam | close Reply |
Well...

I can't run 1600x1200 on a 22" CRT... it hurts my eyes. You must have better or younger eyes than I do. And I *way* prefer an LCD to a CRT.

Of course Dell has a 1600x1200 LCD that you can get for $1100 when they run a special... 50% cheaper than the Formac and 1/3 the price of Apple's 23" Cinema Display. If Apple would drop their prices about $1000 I'd buy, but not with the current prices.

Rick Johnson
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09/04, 01:40pm | report spam | close Reply |
Very interesting...

I need a new monitor and 1600x1200 is the resolution I like best. After my last two monitors, both large Apple displays, died prematurely, I really don't want to go with a CRT. $2500 for a Cinema Display is really not in my budget, especially if I were to add a new ADC-equipped graphics card to take advantage of Jaguar's Quartz Extreme. This monitor with a Radeon 8500 sounds like an excellent, affordable display for a middle-aged AGP G4...

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09/04, 01:43pm | report spam | close Reply |
Better than Apple

Although it is 2" smaller than the Apple 22" Cinema Display it has a higher resolution, and better brightness and contrast for $800 less. Not bad.

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09/04, 01:56pm | report spam | close Reply |
good deal...

I wonder how formac could manage such a high-quality LCD at this size and resolution for such a good price? It only costs a little more than Mitsubishis high-end (and very excellent) DP 2060u 22" display. (but the Mistubishi comes with a separate hardware color calibrator, has a higher resolution and a more screen area, but who's counting?)

woowooo
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09/04, 02:18pm | report spam | close Reply |
Doubtful...

Though Apple needs to lower the pricing a bit, this one is not for me.
I need an LCD that has VESA support. I use the LCD with a swingarm (like Kensington's). Allows for better viewing and more desk space.
I couldn't find any info from Formac on it (if they have the 4-bolt VESA-compliant hardware).

Fyre4ce
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09/04, 03:02pm | report spam | close Reply |
Wait a second...

A "pixel response time" of 25 milliseconds means that a pixel can change, at most, 40 times per second. So the refresh rate is 40 Hz. That's horrendous. CRT displays can usually do at least 60 Hz to be considered acceptable, and most can usually do close to 100 Hz in reasonable resolutions. What's up with this thing?

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09/04, 04:45pm | report spam | close Reply |
RE: Wat a second...

Umm, there is no refresh rates with LCDs you idiot.

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09/04, 05:57pm | report spam | close Reply |
RE: RE: Wat a second...

Umm, yes there are refresh rates with LCDs. 95% of them have a default refresh rate of 60Hz though. Looks like you're the idiot.

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09/04, 06:01pm | report spam | close Reply |
RE: RE: RE: Wate a second

No, there is no such thing as refresh rates on LCDs.

cubester
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09/04, 06:12pm | report spam | close Reply |
Formac is a Problem!

I have had a long series of conflicts with Formac. They are a customer service nightmare. They lied about shipping, they lied about availability, they failed to respond to phone calls and emails. Then, after 6 months, their product failed. They sent it back to me even more damaged. I was finally able to get my money back through VISA.

Buy Formac at your own risk!

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09/04, 06:17pm | report spam | close Reply |
LCD refresh rates???

do you people even know how LCD monitors work? do you know why CRT monitors have refresh rates? do you know what 'CRT' stands for? because if you knew these things, you would know that there can be no refresh rates in an LCD monitor, because it has no electron gun.

MaxHedrm
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09/04, 06:32pm | report spam | close Reply |
Pixel Response vs Refresh

Pretty simple really, while an entire CRT refreshes a certain number of times per second (60/70/72/75/85 Hz or more, I'll pick 75), each pixel on an LCD can change independently a certain number of times per second, in this case 40. But, because the pixel is a separate entity & doesn't rely on an electron beam that sweeps by it 75 times per second to continue to glow, you don't get the strobing effect of a CRT at lower refreshes. Every pixel on your CRT doesn't change 75 times per second, it is just warmed up 75 times per second. Most of your pixels probably don't change very often at all (like the menu bar & this explorer window I'm typing in), but in a CRT they will still flash, because the phosphor glow fades between sweeps. On an LCD they are just ON or OFF.

The other advantage of this is that response can actually seem faster, because the pixels change individually, rather than in order. The 'refresh rate' setting you see on video cards for LCDs is probably more accurately the data refresh rate being sent to the display, which I would think would only matter on analog displays. This last bit is just conjecture though.

I hope some of this helps!

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09/04, 06:39pm | report spam | close Reply |
Refresh Rates... Ugh.

This monitor looks like a pretty good deal, particularly since it looks like you can get it with an ADC. Cool.

As far as the refresh rates thing goes, how about we stop calling each other names here? It's true that LCDs don't have a refresh rate in the same way as CRTs, but they do have an effective refresh rate (call it frame rate, if you prefer), and if the pixel response time on this monitor really is 25ms, then it's probably not the best choice for high-end gaming.

Look, ma, facts (albeit possibly incorrect) instead of name calling: A CRT has phosphors that get hit by an electron beam and glow a color. The glow fades pretty quickly, so if you don't hit them with another burst of electrons fast enough, the image will "flicker" as the previous image dims away and is then later redrawn. With mondern CRTs and their phosphors, you usually need to refresh them at least 75 times a second for them to look good, and many can handle rates over 100.

LCDs, on the other hand, redraw an image as often as it gets sent, so they do have a "refresh rate". There's no flicker, because the pixel keeps displaying the color until it's told to change, so they look solid regardless of how often they're redrawn, but there is a maximum response time for the LCD past which it can't redraw. Higher "refresh rates" (or framerates) will lead to less blur during the motion of an object on screen.

Most laptop LCDs are limited to 45Hz, while most desktop LCDs run at 60-75Hz; this is low enough to lead to a bit of blur during fast motion, I believe, so they're probably not the best choice for gaming.

Which leads us to this Formac display, with a 25ms pixel response time, which means that it can't draw images at more than 40Hz. Fine for most uses (even including video, I'd think, since the framerates there are still only 30 for the most part), but I'd guess it'd look rather blurry during a heated FPS game.

Maybe I'm off on the gaming thing, but the bottom line is that LCDs DO have a refresh rate, but it works differently from a CRT.

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09/04, 09:37pm | report spam | close Reply |
refresh rates

Right!

This is a good explanation of refresh rates and the difference in CRT and LCD. My dell laptop is 1600x1200 at 60Hz BTW.

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09/05, 02:25am | report spam | close Reply |
Dells suck

Toshiba Satellites are better.

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09/05, 04:26am | report spam | close Reply |
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19-inch Big iMacs to arrive in Q4

Apple will launch a 19-inch iMac in the fourth quarter, according to the Taiwanese press.

The machines will be built by Hon Hai, which is a major manufacturer also known as Foxconn.

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09/05, 07:37am | report spam | close Reply |
Re: Refresh Rates

good explanation but still incorrect/wrong

it is the other way round

first, the 25ms shift time due to the MVA-LCD is the best in the field, nearly double the speed of most other LCDs, normally 35-40ms

it's right that LCD displays have problems with fast changing scenes, -> the blur evect
LCDs are perfect for CAD, Text stuff, not perfect for movies, games - but the better the shorter the shift time is

but your conclusion that 25 ms shift time for a pixel,
has something to do with the vertical refresh rate is wrong

very simplified: a LCD Monitor is digital internal, a CTR Montor analog
if a LCD/TFT states a vert. refresh rate from 45 - 70 Hz, it just sates that the internal analoge to digital converter can handle this rates, how fast the screen is really updated depends on what the TFT can handle - the shift time of the LCD (determined by the technologie of the of the TFT e.g.ISP, MVA)

most of the time the LCD is feed with the same analoge signal like a CRT monitor would need/use

technically this is a nonsens, because the DAC in the graphic card converts digital to analog - analog signal transport over the monitor cable, redigi in the monitor

the better LCDs can be feed with a digital input, if your graphic card supports this, may it be through a DVI or ADC port

digi signal, no noise in the signal, no need for size adjustments ...

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Formac announces 20.1" UXGA LCD monitor

updated 11:40 am EDT, Wed September 4, 2002

resolution

Well...

Very interesting...

Better than Apple

good deal...

Doubtful...

Wait a second...

RE: Wat a second...

RE: RE: Wat a second...

RE: RE: RE: Wate a second

Formac is a Problem!

LCD refresh rates???

Pixel Response vs Refresh

Refresh Rates... Ugh.

refresh rates

Dells suck

19

Re: Refresh Rates

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Formac announces 20.1" UXGA LCD monitor

updated 11:40 am EDT, Wed September 4, 2002

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resolution

Well...

Very interesting...

Better than Apple

good deal...

Doubtful...

Wait a second...

RE: Wat a second...

RE: RE: Wat a second...

RE: RE: RE: Wate a second

Formac is a Problem!

LCD refresh rates???

Pixel Response vs Refresh

Refresh Rates... Ugh.

refresh rates

Dells suck

19

Re: Refresh Rates

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