Review with Parhelia HR256 PCI!

[Twilight]

Review of the ViewSonic VP2290b 9.2 megapixel (!) LCD monitor driven by the Parhelia HR256 PCI with dual DVI.

Real cutting edge! :-)

http://www.trustedreviews.com/article.aspx?art=533

[Mikko]

Very nice review, for both Matrox and ViewSonic!

[Fluff]

Wonder when it will filter down to consumer lever.

[schmosef]

Judging by how quickly 18" and 19" LCDs went from the ultra high end $5k to $8k range to where they are now, I would guess that this type of tech might be available in the general consumer space in the next 5 years.

[spadnos]

Considering that this tech has been available for 3 years now, I'm not too sure...

(AFAIK, the IBM T220 was the first one available, and that was sometime in 2001)

- Steve

[mmp121]

Didn't Apple just come out with a 30 inch LCD that requires Dual DVI input ?

Ahhhh, here we go, I knew I saw something about it....

http://www.cnet.com/4520-6022_1-5141877.html

I wonder of the Parhelia HR256 PCI would also be able to drive that 30 inch LCD.

[Twilight]

The Apple LCD is only a 4 megapixel screen, and it's less then half the 9.2 megapixel on the ViewSonic screen. You should be able to use the Apple LCD with just an ordinary Parheila and dual DVI I think, if the drivers support it.

The ViewSonic actually needs 4 DVI channels, and that is why it needs the Parhelia HR256.

[schmosef]

Originally posted by spadnos
Considering that this tech has been available for 3 years now, I'm not too sure...

(AFAIK, the IBM T220 was the first one available, and that was sometime in 2001)

- Steve

Only about 12 years ago, when the first colour notebooks were coming out, they went for like $30,000! The price of this tech will come down too.

I think the biggest problem is the supply chain. From what I've read in the trade papers, world wide demand for flat panels is still outstripping supply, which is keeping LCD prices artificially high.

Supposedly, manufacturers are being very careful to milk this cash cow by not over producing. This can't last forever; although the start up costs are very high, the current situation is just too tempting for potential competitors.

In the short term, manufacturers will start to have much better dead pixel policies. In the long term, I expect the prices to drop substantially the way they did for RAM. (yes I know that Moore's law doesn't apply to flat panels the way it does to RAM chips but a big part of RAM's inflated costs in the 80s and 90s was due to demand outstripping supply.)

[Wombat]

Originally posted by schmosef

Supposedly, manufacturers are being very careful to milk this cash cow by not over producing. This can't last forever; although the start up costs are very high, the current situation is just too tempting for potential competitors.[/i]

Except that just about everything wrt these panels is locked up in patents. You can't make them if they don't want you to.