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Iiyama Vision Master 503
by sit2020
Starting these reviews is becomingly increasingly hard, I am trying to avoid repetition, Having so many monitors poses a problem of repeating myself, on the other side of the coin, I have to treat each monitor as an individual for the sake of creating a genuine users guide to the monitor I am writing about at the time. So for those who ... have read more than one of my monitor reviews and have been bored with similarities I do apologise, This will be even more similar than most as this is identical in its look and size to the 502. For the prospective purchaser I hope these are of use, now on to yet another review.
As I have said in a few reviews now, at work we have in excess of 20 computers working. Yet again that of course means we also have in excess of 20 monitors (in fact more monitors than computers as some are dedicated to other tasks). I am also in quite a privileged position in that I get the opportunity to operate/use quite a varied selection of equipment.
They all work 24hrs a day 7 days a week and are used continuously. So with that in mind it is a good test of how robust the equipment we use is. When you consider that most of the ones we are using have been in situation since 2000 then they really do have a good life span. I would hazard a guess and say that because of how long they have been in use, they have probably had the equivalent of 15 years of use that they might expect in an average Monday to Friday office.
We have a varied selection of monitors and the Liyama Vision Master 503 is one model where we have one attached to a computer and another one that is used as Visual Display Unit. Neither of these have failed since we have had them. The continuously used VDU shows no sign of having any burnt on screen image, this is also true of the one attached to the PC.
OK when you look at the thin LCD type monitors that are becoming more and more common, you might ask why are we still using these, and why will we probably continue to use these for a long time to come.
Although my employers have probably not given this consideration in a previous review it was pointed out to me “that Its interesting to note that in fact the majority of CRT's actually have better picture quality then LCD's”.
We use them with a variety of programs, some of which are used solely by our company. These can be on for hours at a time and they may have the same image on the screen yet there is not a hint of anything being burnt onto the screen (in fact none of the monitors we are using at present have suffered this). So the result is we have always enjoyed a crisp and clear display. The colour output of this monitor is great, it really does not matter whether it is word processing, email, internet, presentation packages, moving or still images, the end result is always the same; a well focused and balanced display.
Those of you thinking of all nice modern thin, light monitors. Be prepared for a shock, this is a monster as monitors go. Yes it has it does have a flat square display. It is nearly as deep as it is wide. Although I am not one to give you a review stuffed full of technical bits, to get a better idea of the actual size I have included the following the following, the screen is 19.6” (corner to corner). The dimensions are approx 19 1/2” wide, 19” high and 19” deep. The weight is in excess of 74lbs. As you can see from the size and weight it is identical to the 502, I would surmise that this is nothing more than an updated version of the 502, probably some circuitry type updates inside from the manufacturer, as the end user of both models, I can honestly say there is no difference to the two with regards to looks or performance
The monitor sits on a sturdy oblong foot, this allows the monitor to be tilted and swivelled to the desired position with little effort. Despite the size and weight, it never groans when moved to a new position and holds that position without any fuss.
When you look at this monitor you see it is the usual buff/creamy colour of most computers.
Looking from the front, just below the screen and set back a little are the buttons, to the right is the power on and off button and beside that is the LED indicator. To the left are three more buttons, from left to right these are Menu along with the plus and minus menu navigation buttons. These are used to change the settings when working through the menu. Contrast, brightness, colour, degauss etc. I have to say they are very simple to operate, the navigation system is picked up in minutes.
At the back of the monitor is the usual power socket, along with one socket to connect it to the PC, in between these are 5 pins (like the ones you get on the front of some televisions for connecting your games machine to) from left to right they are marked “V”, “H/hv”, “B”, “G/sync” and “R”. I have not go the foggiest idea what they are for, as we neither use them on the PC’s or on the monitors we use as Visual Display Units.
Overall although old and heavy, it is reliable. Now these can be picked up second hand at a very cheap price, so for the office working on a budget these might just be a good solution. I really do think that monitors of the CRT type do seem to have a long life.
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Iiyama Vision Master Pro 510
by anthonystevens
This is big, and it’s heavy, don’t break you’re back picking it up, and hopefully you have a table strong enough to support the weight of this beast. In the box you get the monitor and stand which you attach, a d-sub video and a power cable. Also on the back of the monitor are 5 BNC connectors for a different type of video cable. ... Setting up is straight forward, only thing to consider is do you have the desk space available to put this monitor. Windows automatically detects the monitor, no drivers necessary, though you do get a disc with the monitor.
This monitor is capable of displaying a resolution of 2048 by 1536, but 1280 by 1024, or 1600 by 2000 is the recommended resolution you can really work at efficiently on this, without causing your eyes strain on a 22” monitor.
Screen quality is excellent, colours are bright, text is crisp, screen refresh is very quick, I use 1280x1024 at 85Hertz to no problem at all. When you switch on the monitor, or you degauss, you will know about it, its load. Monitor has 4 buttons on the front, menu, plus and minus, and big power button. Iiyama menus have always been simple to use to calibrate your monitor compared to other manufacturer. Very easy to change brightness and contrast levels, and alter screen positioning and stretch to fit whole.
Does feel like your sitting in front of a TV, not a bad feeling I guess. The Monitor can be rotated or tilted ok but you need to give it a little effort to start it off, but if you do prefer to look up at monitor screens compared to looking ahead or looking down, you will need to get a monitor stand, and once that can support the weight and wide enough to support the monitor stand itself. I also have this monitor next to a 19” LCD Panel and a 15” TV, and there appears to be no interference to the monitor screen, picture stays rock solid.
Nothing much else I can say on this apart from I could not do my work if it was not for this monitor. I use 3D computer modeling packages, and the size and colour accuracy of this monitor is highly important to me, plus I am looking at the monitor almost 9 hours a day, and because of the high refresh rate, I do not suffer from monitor fatigue as much on the less quality ones.
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