Sony CPD-E530

...managed to secure a 21" Sony E530 for my desk at work, and I thought I would share my experiences with you.

Firstly, let me say one thing. This monitor is big. by 'big' I actually mean BIG. If you are used to a 15" TFT or CRT screen, moving to an E530 is like sitting in a cinema. Even compared to my previous 19" Sony E400 or my current home screen (a 19" Samsung Samtron) it seems vast. Not only is it BIG, but it ...
...these. This is due to Sony having a nice thick quality tube and metal shielding all around the monitor to soak up any excess RF interference coming in that may affect the display quality.

The unit comes with the standard kettle-style lead to connect to the mains, and a nice high-quality VGA connection lead. On the back of the unit there are two VGA connectors, which means you can connect up to two PCs at the same time and flick the ... more

Yes, of course, I am talking about sitting too close to the TV. What did you think I was talking about?

As some of you will know, I am a Systems Admin for a large financial institution, and therefore sit for some pretty long periods of time in front of a Monitor.

A couple of weeks ago I managed to secure a 21" Sony E530 for my desk at work, and I thought I would share my experiences with you.

Firstly, let me say one thing. This monitor is big. by 'big' I actually mean BIG. If you are used to a 15" TFT or CRT screen, moving to an E530 is like sitting in a cinema. Even compared to my previous 19" Sony E400 or my current home screen (a 19" Samsung Samtron) it seems vast. Not only is it BIG, but it is heavy too. I have seem shire horses weigh less than these. This is due to Sony having a nice thick quality tube and metal shielding all around the monitor to soak up any excess RF interference coming in that may affect the display quality.

The unit comes with the standard kettle-style lead to connect to the mains, and a nice high-quality VGA connection lead. On the back of the unit there are two VGA connectors, which means you can connect up to two PCs at the same time and flick the display between the two machines using the OSD (On Screen Display).

The screen supports a maximum 1800x1440 at 78hz, but is probably more comfortable at 1600x1200 at 95hz, which provides shed-loads of screen real-estate and a rock-steady 95 frames per second refresh. Unfortunately, my two PCs at work are all incapable of taking advantage of these massive resolutions, as my IBM has an awful DAC (Digital to Analog Converter) meaning anything over 1280x1024 is blurry, and my old Compaq doesn't support 1600x1200 in anything higher than 256 colours. Therefore I tend to stick to 1280x1024 at 95hz which gives a crisp and delightful image quality that I can sit in front of for 15 hours (us IT workers are not the slackers you think we are!).

On Screen Display consists of the usual stuff concerned with alignment of the picture, degausing and colour / brightness / contrast balancing. The options are abumdent but really how many of us use them all I don't know.

The Screen surface is totally flat, and due to its Trinitron tube, the display is ever-so-slightly curved on the horizontal access. To visualize this, imagine that a regular TV screen is a piece of glass cut from a sphere. It curves both on the horizontal and vertical axis creating a domed effect. The Trinitron screen, however, resembles a screen cut from the side of a cylinder, and thus curves only across. This gives a lovely sharp image, but also causes one of the only problems I have found with this monitor.

Inside a monitor, you will find a mesh of tiny tiny wires which make up the pixels you see on the screen. to hold these in place on a Trinitron screen, Sony have to put one or more incredibly tiny wires across the length of the screen to hold the picture in place. On this 21" goliath (and indeed on the 19" E400 and E430) Sony have needed to put two of these wires across, roughly cutting the screen into thirds. The lines created by this are extremely thin, gray lines which become most apparent on a white background. This is a common feature of screens that use Trinitron tubes, and to be honest, does not detract from the usage at all. Its not somethign that would put me off this monitor, but it is something worth knowing, as I thought there was something wrong with my first Sony screen many years ago!

Overall this type of monitor is sheer decadence, but in my job, and in many others, it is an absolute god-send. At home I think it would be a bit too much for me to shell out, but if your employer is paying, I would recommend it 100%! 

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