Monivision? (1 Viewer)

[Robert Lovejoy]

Can anyone comment on this brand? Found it searching the net. Never heard of it but curious...

http://www.digitalconnection.com/pro...w/dm6552sw.asp

 

[David Abrams]

Greetings,

My understanding of that unit was that the company purchased the CRTs from Princeton as well as the front bezel. The rest of the chassis driving the tube is Monovision's. I did see these at a trade show and they were uncalibrated and too blue. I am not sure what their supporting chassis is capable of doing, but CRT itself is one of the best direct-view CRTs ever made (Toshiba made them).

Regards,

 

[Robert Lovejoy]

It's mindboggling that manufacturers would display uncalibrated sets at professional trade shows. I'm still flipped out about how poorly the sets were set up at Best Buy, but that's (almost) understandable as they are not truly video professionals.

Does anyone here actually own a Monivison set? Love to hear first hand about them...

 

[John_Bonner]

Robert,

I believe Monivision is/was the OEM for Princeton Graphics.
I purchased the Monivision from Digital Connection in August.
Here's my thoughts:


I have both a HTPC and HDTV cable hooked up to my 30" Monivision.

The HTPC is connected via VGA, the HDTV cable through the component inputs of the vision box.

DVD's played on the HTPC look amazing at 1280 x 720. I'm rewatching movies I've seen numerous times since they look so good. On Sunday I watched Toy Story 2 with my son and it looked fantastic. For text/web-surfing I usually switch to 800 x 600. I have an ATI card so I just have to left click on the ATI icon in my tray and I can choose from all of the supported resolutions. 1024 x 768 isn't bad either but I sit about 6 feet away. 1280 x 720 might be too small to read but I haven't tried it with large fonts.

I have Cablevision's Digital iO cable service (with HDTV) going into the Vision Box.
The high def channels certainly have that WOW! look to them. Especially programming that was shot with high def cameras (CBS Football, Devils Hockey, Knicks basketball, most stuff on PBS). The upconverted programming like movies on HBO-HD and SHOW-HD look really good too. Not as jaw-dropping as sports or PBS but darn good. Everyone who comes over and sees it knows they are watching HDTV. Even my wife who is probably the most unimpressible person I know when it comes to electronics, would rather watch King of Queens, Raymond, CSI on the 30" Moni rather than the 36" WEGA. Several times she has commented on how amazing the picture looks. That's all the proof I need.

The non high-def content varies. The digital channels look pretty good. Not great, not terrible either but pretty good.

The non-digital or lower channels are at best, average. Sometimes bad, sometimes good but overall average. I watch only through the component inputs so I can't comment on the S-Video or composite. This is mainly due to the Vision Box. Many folks on AVS have complained how poorly the Vision Box is made. You can order the unit without the VB and have 2 VGA inputs.

I recently purchased SageTV with a Happaugue capture card to serve as a PVR solution for the HTPC. So I watch non-HDTV programming through the HTPC (VGA). High def programming I still watch through the component input on the Vision Box.

Believe me, if a Component => VGA transcoder cost $50 I'd get one even though I'd only be using it for HDTV viewing. I might even go as high as $99 but for $200 (or more) I can't justify it.

So to summarize here's my Monivision pro's and cons:

PRO: I dare you to find me a 30" computer monitor of this caliber for $799 ($699 w/o VB). You can't.

PRO: DVD's and PC Video games at 1280x720 are incredible.

PRO: Cable HDTV through the VB component input is wonderful.

PRO: Read some threads on folks trying to get their HTPC to work with a consumer brand tv. Scary.

PRO: If going from HTPC to Monivision, no transcoder needed.

CON: Non-HDTV content through the Vision Box is spotty. YMMV.

CON: Uneven brightness on the sides. Visible during very dark scenes.

CON: Geometry. Even with the numerous geometry settings, I still have some issues on the sides. This could also be that I don't know what I'm doing.

CON?: Color control. I'm having a hard time calibrating color with my AVIA disc. However you can change some of these settings in your video card's controls or DVD player's controls.

Overall I'm pleased with my purchase. For the price I paid I feel as though I got my money's worth. Is it the greatest direct view tv in it's class? No. Is it the greatest computer monitor for the price? Absolutely.

Hope this helps.

 

[Robert Lovejoy]

Thanks JB! Appreciate the info!