Sony 1304 vs NEC 3D: which monitor to buy?

[Bill Kennedy]

First off, excuse the length, but I suspect that others are in the
same pickle, and while I don't own a NEC 3D, my X-windows coach
does, maybe he'll comment further.

In article <216 at sherpa.uucp> rac at sherpa.uucp (Roger Cornelius) writes:
>Does anyone have any opinions on the merits of the Sony 1304 or the
>NEC 3D multisync monitors?  Has anyone compared the two?

I bought the Sony and a Seiko at the same time.  The Seiko came with
a no questions asked money back guarantee, I used it.  The Sony did
not come with the same guarantee, I'm using the 1304.

>From what I've
>been told the Sony can do 1024*768 non-interlaced, while the NEC can
>only do 1024*768 interlaced.

True with regard to the Sony, reported and documented with respect to NEC.

>Sony also has a .25mm dot pitch vs NEC's .28mm dot pitch.

True.  I can see the difference.  Without my magnifier it's visible.

>How well does the autoswitching work in both models?

No real difference, the Sony has an aggravating snap as it changes personality,
so does the NEC with the same video card (Orchid ProDesigner PLUS).  It's
important to use the same video card if you're comparing monitors.

>Do both models do autosizing correctly when switching between modes?

No.  If you get too much white on the screen, my Sony has an annoying flicker.
I'm told that the NEC doesn't, but the same flicker was objectionable on the
Seiko as well (to my eye).  Further, in 800x600 mode I have to "float" the
display on the Sony and adjust to fill the screen (without overscan).

>And last but not least, which one has the better picture while
>you're actually working in front of it.

I'm gonna' get flamed for this, but there's just no way to know other than to
actually sit down in front of it and work a while.  It's IMHO like stereo
speakers, what ever sounds good to you is what you should buy.  I like the
Sony, Bill (NEC owner) likes the NEC.  He had my Sony for a few days before
he bought his NEC.  It's a matter of what looks good to you.  Further, the
choice is complicated because very few places have one of each.  The ones that
do don't have X-windows.  Best advice here is to get a no questions asked
money back guarantee and keep the monitor and video card that suit you best.
You'll pay more for that, but it will keep you from wondering if the software
is lieing to you...  Finally, you need a 9 pin to 15 pin PS/2 adapter for the
Sony, the NEC and Seiko come with a cable/15 pin connector attached.

>I'll be using this under SCO UNIX, so any applicable comments also
>appreciated.  Suggestions for other brand monitors (1024*768) welcome
>too.

Can SCO do 1024x768 X?  Cheers and kudos if they've finally conquered that.
My remarks are based on ISC X11r1.0.  Without some upgrades, ISC doesn't
do 1024x768 right either, I'm waiting on 1.1.  No complaints with 1.0 in
800x600 mode, no complaints with the Orchid board or the Sony Monitor.  There
would have to be a big price difference to make me back down from the
combination I ended up with.  I mean "big" (>$950).
-- 
Bill Kennedy    {texbell,att,cs.utexas.edu,sun!daver}!ssbn!bill
                bill at ssbn.WLK.COM  or attmail!ssbn!bill