Sony PremierPro 23" LCD Display
If you've been lusting after Apple's 23" HD Cinema display but are using a PC, there are certain cables you can use to make the gorgeous Apple screen bend to your PC's will. Or you can consider Sony's entry into this high-end monitor market, the 23" SDM-P232W/B PremierPro which includes an apparently identical LCD inside and some subtle, clean styling of its own. And, it has some features that even top the HD Cinema display. See for yourself.This monitor has all the razor-sharp qualities of Apple's 16:10 ratio 23" HD Cinema display, with the same specs, too -- its .26mm dot pitch and 1920x1200 screen is identical to the Apple's. But this Sony display offers even more to both Mac and PC users. Styling preference is a personal choice, and some may strongly prefer the looks of Apple's HD Cinema display with its ice-cool sculpted easel-like design motif. On the other hand, the overall impression of the Sony PremierPro monitor is that of an understated, clean design, all dressed up in black with form following function. And that's especially true in this case, because the PremierPro offers a variety of adjustment and installation options, including its ability to tilt way back on its sleek silver pedestal and to tilt beyond forward perpendicularity. It's also wall-mountable, a feature that might be ideal under some circumstances.
Another user-definable trait that will be especially popular are the monitor's highly adjustable color, brightness, contrast and gamma controls. PC users take note -- if you want to use the Apple HD Cinema display with the DVIator cable and power supply I reviewed earlier here on Digital Media Net (click here for that review), since the Apple Cinema display is adjustable only through software, its adjustments aren't possible when using it with a PC -- there's no way to change color, brightness, contrast or anything else. With the Apple monitor on a PC, sometimes it feels like mixing oil and water -- you'll have to take it or leave it in the tweaking department. On the other hand, the Sony's controls are like most other monitors, with buttons lined up along the right side and all the modes adjustable to the Nth degree. The good part of this is, it allows you use this monitor equally well with either a Mac or a PC. It's not perfect, though. It would be better if this monitor's setup routine was a bit easier to deal with, but after a few minutes, I got the hang of it and had the unit calibrated just the way I liked it.
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Better yet, if you're working in pre-press, where your color simply must match the output of the printers of your final product, you certainly won't be disappointed. In fact, an artist friend who spends the better part of his waking hours working in pre-press for major worldwide clients swears by this monitor and its highly adjustable nature for all his pro work. He showed me how this monitor is able to exactly match the output of any printer, which is of crucial importance for anyone doing pre-press work. Once it's set up, there's no need to keep re-adjusting it. But pre-press artists will probably want to check the calibration at least once a month and probably more often than that. Out if the box, the monitor's default settings looked a bit out of kilter -- the backlight was much too bright, and contrast was set too high. But after a few minutes of tweaking, the monitor was whipped into shape and conformed perfectly with printed output.
Then it was time to put the display to the supreme test -- the full complement of DisplayMate tests, including its infamous Obstacle Course consisting of a group of hard-to-display test patterns that will reveal even the slightest imperfection in a display device. The PremierPro came blazing through with flying colors. I could find no evidence of any distortion, and all the test patterns' lines were perfectly rendered from the middle to each edge. Color registration was perfect, and the resolution was equal to the Apple display -- the highest we've ever seen. Also like the Apple display, the Sony monitor sports an extremely wide viewing angle. This monitor has it all. It's just hard to see how this LCD display could be any better, the same assessment I had of the Apple display.
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