Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!husc6!ncar!gatech!mcnc!decvax!mandrill!neoucom!wtm
From: wtm@neoucom.UUCP (20 Bill Mayhew)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc
Subject: Re: NEC Multisync washed out colors
Message-ID: <1056@neoucom.UUCP>
Date: 23 Mar 88 14:25:33 GMT
References: <2061@svax.cs.cornell.edu>
Organization: Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine
Lines: 54
Keywords: NEC Multisync colors
Summary: My NEC Multisync looked bad when I got it two years ago


As Michael pointed out, there are some internal adjustments in the
multisync for adjusting the R G B output levels and the gun cutoff.
I found the controls were very much non-optimally adjusted when I
received my Multisync two years ago.  The day I got the monitor, I
tookd the cover off and fixed things.  The screen was also badly
magnetized and needed degaussing.  The steel chassis was
also magnetized and required degaussing.  Once things were
correctly adjusted, the Multisync performed admirably, and has been
working well for the past two years about 60 hours a week.  I have
only degaussed the screen manually once more, about a year ago.

One thing I would like to criticize in the design of the
multisync is that the regulation of the high voltage power supply
(CRT anode and focus) is not very good.  Perhaps, regulation is not
exactly an appropriate adjective, shall we say.  There is noticable
bloom in the picture when the screen changes from mostly dark to
mostly light.  There is also a slight shift in focus.  This effect
belies the Multisync's roots as a consumer TV set where marked
changes in overall brightness are relatively infrequent; i.e. HV
regulation is not a major requirement.

One other complaint I have is that while the Multisync can lock to
a broad range of horizontal scan rates and a reasonable number of
vertical rates, the screen image drifts all over the place,
requiring fiddling with the <necessarily> "conveninetly
top-mounted" centering et al controls.

I wrote an article for a magazine about multisynchronous monitors,
and in the process had the opportunity/necessity of looking at a
total of seven NEC Multisync monitors.  There was extreme variation
in the quality of the image out of the box.  The best was pretty
good, while the worst sample was pretty terrible.

The moral is that if you buy a Multisync, you should insist that
the dealer plug it in and connect it to a computer in the show room
before you agree to buy.

Now for the good news.  I looked over the NEC Multisync II monitor,
and was very impressed by it.  It is a much better product than the
original device.  It seems to have been more pointedly designed for
computer graphic applications.  Overall picture quality was much
better, and the image was much more stable when switching between
graphic modes.  The only unfortunate item is that the smaller
Multisync II has a cooling fan, thus slightly increasing the noise
level in one's office.

By the way, I strongly recommend that consumers SHOULD NOT poke
around inside their monitors.  The monitor should be taken to a
service center authorized by the manufacturer.  (I have to say this
so that my professional liability insurance co. won't get mad at
me.)

--Bill