Matrox G550

perplex · Post by **perplex** » Tue May 24, 2005 6:16 am

Hi, i hope this is the right forum section, because the G550 is passive

So.. does anyone have the Matrox G550 AND another computer with ATI/nVidia graphics cards? if so, what is the 2D image quality like versus ATI/nVidia? i'm thinking about buying the G550 because its very cheap, passive and i wont be playing games at all... just web browsing and listening to music.

Thanks.

Post by **MikeC** » Tue May 24, 2005 6:54 am

I've got half a dozen Matrox cards, have used them over 10 years. Especially with an analog input monitor, the Matrox is just about the best. The advantage is not as clear with digital.

dan · Post by **dan** » Tue May 24, 2005 7:06 am

i have a g450 and it works really well

perplex · Post by **perplex** » Tue May 24, 2005 7:26 am

thanks, seems like the ideal choice for what i want to use it for - 2D only.

Edward Ng · Post by **Edward Ng** » Tue May 24, 2005 7:48 am

I accept only Matrox on my digital imaging station--the difference is obvious and clear for analogue displays.

If you're using a DVI-enabled LCD, any card with DVI will do just fine though.

What display do you plan to use?

-Ed

perplex · Post by **perplex** » Tue May 24, 2005 12:41 pm

sony g200 until it dies... i'd love LCD but the technology is still immature and i have forseen the technology to get Much better by the time this g200 dies. ALSO the sony g200 IS the finest 17" CRT to ever been built. i'm hoping LCDs will be able to match this g200 in definition and colour vibrance in a year or two. however i might just buy a lcd by the end of summer because i'll need all the space i can get from the Tiny desks in the rooms :'[

having said all that about LCD, the latest sony LCDs look absolutely excellent when i saw them in person in a computer store, the X-Black was a bit annoying though. so in a year or two the technology will be too good and prices should come down even more.

~El~Jefe~ · Post by **~El~Jefe~** » Tue May 24, 2005 4:14 pm

perplex wrote:sony g200 until it dies... i'd love LCD but the technology is still immature and i have forseen the technology to get Much better by the time this g200 dies. ALSO the sony g200 IS the finest 17" CRT to ever been built. i'm hoping LCDs will be able to match this g200 in definition and colour vibrance in a year or two. however i might just buy a lcd by the end of summer because i'll need all the space i can get from the Tiny desks in the rooms :'[

having said all that about LCD, the latest sony LCDs look absolutely excellent when i saw them in person in a computer store, the X-Black was a bit annoying though. so in a year or two the technology will be too good and prices should come down even more.

diamond pro 22" from mitsubishi, the 2070sb, im going to put a 550 on it. i think it should be nifty.

I would suggest this over 17 inches. thats like GREAT! for like ..... 800x600. so i guess thats the res you keep it at for text?
(im older now so shush if it isnt)

perplex · Post by **perplex** » Thu May 26, 2005 11:03 am

so with DVI into a LCD the difference wouldnt be noticable? or just not as much?

Zhentar · Post by **Zhentar** » Thu May 26, 2005 11:18 am

perplex wrote: i'd love LCD but the technology is still immature and i have forseen the technology to get Much better by the time this g200 dies..

I'd hardly say that; I've never seen a CRT come close to the quality of my Dell 2001FP or my sister's 2005FPW.

As for DVI, my experience with Matrox cards on LCDs is pretty limited, but DVI on the Radeon/GeForce cards I've used leaves nothing to be desired.

Irianta · Post by **Irianta** » Thu May 26, 2005 12:26 pm

perplex wrote:i'm hoping LCDs will be able to match this g200 in definition and colour vibrance in a year or two.

Eizo ColorEdge CG220. Far as I know the only display, CRT or LCD, capable of displaying full gamut of AdobeRGB color space. Better even than Sony Artisan.

Goes for only $6K.

perplex · Post by **perplex** » Sat May 28, 2005 11:04 am

Irianta.... ibm t221 is the absolute best

not that i've ever seen one in real life

Irianta · Post by **Irianta** » Sat May 28, 2005 2:38 pm

Yeah, that IBM looks bloody awesome

It's too bad they haven't tested that monitor at drycreekphoto.com. It'd be very interesting to compare the two. I don't think they're using the same panel, being that the Eizo is supposed to be the firsts monitor to do full AdobeRGB gamut. So the Eizo might de-throne the IBM as the yummiest monitor around..

perplex · Post by **perplex** » Sat May 28, 2005 4:05 pm

hmm whats that site for? sorry for my lazyness.

about that ibm t221..

Pixel pitch 0.1245mm

can that ever be beaten?

Irianta · Post by **Irianta** » Sat May 28, 2005 4:31 pm

That site has measured the color gamut of a bunch of monitors and printers and put the test results out in VRML.

I don't know about you but I'd pick color gamut over pixel pitch any day

~El~Jefe~ · Post by **~El~Jefe~** » Sat May 28, 2005 9:30 pm

Pixel pitch owns all.

lil shades here and there you cant see, eh, but blur? you always see that.

And to the person saying their dell is better than any other crt they have seen, well thats possible, but you havent been around a mitsubishi diamondtron with a real card outputing 2d then. LCD for under 1000 dollars really hasnt impressed me to this day and I check out every one hoping for one that isnt to bright or too dark or cant hold small print as well as my diamondtron.

I think when people review the "best lcds" for consumers, they arent ever daring to compare them to high end crt's. These new lcd's sound promising though! i will swap in a second for a 1k dollar one if it was clearer and had better colour (also was equal to a crt for gaming)

Irianta · Post by **Irianta** » Sun May 29, 2005 9:55 am

Eh, different preferences for different people, I suppose. I work a lot with digital art and color managed workflow, and have excellent vision plus trained eye, so for me color gamut and accuracy is more important than minute differences elsewhere...

...which is probably why I'm staring at a Mitsu Diamondtron CRT at the moment instead of an LCD

For the time being, at least. Until LCDs catch up with CRT performance and come down in price.

BTW, about that IBM monitor: 3840x2400x32 resolution -- I'd like to see the graphics card that can drive that monster in 3D applications without breaking a sweat. I think even a Parhelia would have problems with it, though I could be wrong about that.

perplex · Post by **perplex** » Wed Jun 01, 2005 10:44 am

i wish i had a matrox feeding my Sony G200. i never realised graphics card have different image quality

i think the Sony G200 is the best 17" CRT ever made