The Microtek C783GM

First, I should mention that this monitor that I’m testing should perform identically to the ordinary Microtek C783, since the GM version is the same as the beige C783, only with a snazzy grey and black paint job. Since their MSRP is identical, it’s simply a matter of personal choice, or whatever your local computer store might have in stock.

The Microtek has a great visibility angle, which is what made me first notice this monitor. You can almost see it from the side, which is fantastic. The monitor’s tilt can adjust for most head positions, allowing 4 degrees negative (down) tilt, 15 degrees positive (up) tilt. Not only that, but the vertical viewing angle according to my estimate is about 80 degrees offset from perpendicular, and about 85 degrees offset from perpendicular horizontally. Ok, so now you know some words to use to make people think you’re REALLY smart, here’s what it means in plain English: You can move your head almost 90 degrees from looking straight at the monitor and still be able to see it. And just for proof, here’s a picture.

It exhibits no blurring during games at any resolution, so the pixel refresh is dead on. And for those who need to see for themselves, I recorded a short movie at 1024x768. It is about 300 kilobytes, give or take, and displays about 6 seconds of the helicopter demo from 3DMark2000, at medium detail level. This was run on a Hercules 3DProphet 4500 64MB, with refresh rate set at 75 MHz.  Video is Windows Media format, so no need to download an external player (w00p!).

Run the video!

The C783 handles lower resolutions wonderfully, which was very important to me, since I don’t want to be trapped playing at 1280x1024 with my Kyro2 (it can handle a lot of games at that, but not all of them). Below are some pictures I took at various resolutions. As it gets down to 640x480, it gets a bit worse, but not horribly so. The stretching of lower resolutions, as you can see for yourself, is done pretty well on this monitor.

As mentioned previously, the C783 has only an analog video input, so I was expecting a slight loss in clarity. However, the analog to digital converter they used in this monitor seems to be excellent, and nearly lossless. The built-in speakers are a joke, as most built-in monitor speakers are, but they’re certainly useful for basic sounds, and also for a center channel on a 5.1 or 6.1 sound card, as well as a set of 'quiet time' speakers for times where you don’t want to run that subwoofer. I couldn’t find a microphone jack, or an internally mounted microphone, so I don’t know the reason why a mic-out was included. The auto-adjustment of the display was dead-on every time, centering the display and adjusting the color contrast and brightness to a very comfortable level. And the brightness level nearly hurt my eyes at its highest setting. I know there are LCDs out there with a brightness value of 800cd/m2, and after seeing this one at 300cd/m2, I don’t see how anyone could look at an 800 for any length of time. I lowered the brightness on the C783 to about 66% and it was about perfect for me.

It’s unfortunate that we can’t run any sort of benchmark on monitors, since I’d really like to talk about this one a lot more. But there’s nothing much else to say other than summing up.

The Microtek C683 is a wonderful replacement for a desktop monitor, and, at $600, it’s a steal. It’s great for games, has a viewing angle so wide that I can keep my eye on it from any corner of the room, and it’s bright enough to light up the room on it’s own as well. The pixel refresh rate is plenty to prevent blurring in today’s most demanding games, and though the speakers are the usually substandard built-in-monitor speakers, they’re certainly useable for several tasks. Not only that, but the color scheme of the monitor’s case is a nice, slick grey/black combination that should look great anywhere except the bathroom (maybe even there?). The only thing this monitor is missing is a USB hub, but this isn’t exactly critical, especially considering the price.

• It's light
  
• It's cool
  
• Excellent Pixel Refresh
  
• Good resolution scaling
  
• Nice and bright
  
• Excellent visibility angles
  
• Price can't be beat!

• Cabinet border could be smaller
  
• No left-right swivel on LCD base
  
• No DVI input

Final Score: 89%

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