Mitsubishi DiamondTron in sheep's clothing!

Introduction

The Samsung SyncMaster 900NF, iiyama VisionMaster Pro 450, Viewsonic PF790, PF795, A95f, Mitsubishi's Diamond Pro 900u and DiamondPlus 91 all use the same Mitsubishi DiamondTron NF picture tube. Since the picture tube is the main determinant of picture quality, and the features are all similar, why not get whichever's cheapest?

For example, I bought the Samsung 900NF immediately when it was on sale. And I have not regretted it at all! Comparing both monitors, they look the same to me.

*Update: NEC and Mitsubishi merged in late 2000, and are now the same company*

Regarding Monitor Consistency

Our computer lab purchased 30 of the NEC FE950's, and all of our students have been impressed. In fact, having a big sample of 30 monitors in the same room allows you to better judge a monitor's quality. Honestly, I wouldn't believe most of the reivews out there because they only use one monitor. Everyone knows you could get a lemon, or maybe the one the reviewer got happened to the best monitor to have rolled off the assembly line for the whole year. But out of 30 monitors, only a couple I saw were not excellent. Bottom line, these are very good monitors, and a very good value. In fact, the only other monitor that I have seen that is clearly better is the Sony F400, which costs almost double what this monitor does. Why bother? Save your money and put it towards something else.

Geometric Distortion

Minor geometric flaws are present, but I have yet to see a perfect flat screen CRT due to the difficulty in maintaining the same beam length from center to edge. The controls allow for good adjustments, but you can't eliminate all distortion. Most of the monitors were good enough that only an "anal" person would even notice. The 2 monitors that were more obviously flawed still were not bad at all. From the 30 NEC FE950 monitors that I have seen and the Samsung 900 NF that I have, I would have to say that the NEC is a little better in this regard -- maybe better quality control (although I wish I had more Samsungs to verify this pattern).

Grade: B+

Sharpness

Text and graphics are sharp and legible all the way to 1280x1024, which is the standard recommended resolution for 19" monitors. Once you get above 1280x1024, the text loses sharpness. Few 19" monitors remain sharp enough for small text at 1600x1200, however. The text is simply too small at that resolution unless you have the eyes of a hawk.

Grade: B+

Uniformity

Good focus across most of the screen. Slightly better than the Samsung in this regard, but the Samsung I have is one of the first of that model line to come off the assembly line. I assume they were still working out the kinks.

Grade: A-

Brightness/Contrast/Glare

This monitor has very good brightness and contrast. The flat screen reduces glare, which increases apparent contrast. Between the NEC FE950 and the Samsung 900 NF, the NEC appears to have a little extra range on the high end of its contrast control, making its image very bright -- too bright, in fact. It would only come in useful in a bright room.

Grade: A-

Value

Compared to monitors equipped with the top of the line Sony FD Trinitron picture tube, the Mitsubishi DiamondTron NF equipped monitors are just a notch below, but the price is much less. In fact, I have yet to see a monitor significantly outperform my Samsung 900NF or the NEC FE950 except for the twice-as-expensive Sony F400. And, once again, look for the monitor of this group that has the DiamondTron NF tube for the cheapest price. They are all very similar.

Grade: A

OVERALL GRADE: A-, highly recommended