Customer Reviews

Sony SDM-HX93/B 19" LCD Monitor (Black)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I have two of these now, plus one of the 23" Sony P232-W monitors. I've had the P232 for over a year, running at 1920x1200, with not a single bad pixel or any other problems. I picked up one of the 19" HX93 screens, plugged it in, and was so impressed that I went and bought another one for work.

I spent several hours peering at LCDs from various brands in the computer store, and ultimately decided that the Sonys are worth the slightly higher price tag. They seem to have the best contrast and support for refresh rates, and they certainly look the nicest. My rock-solid experience with the 23" Sony LCD for the past year helped me make up my mind.

If you get one, make sure you change your video card's screen refresh rate to 75Hz. By default, the three Windows XP computers I've used have chosen a 60Hz default refresh rate, and it caused some pixel-fuzzing on the 19" screens. Changing it to 75Hz made the picture crystal clear.

Purchased this monitor only 2 days ago, however it's performance is simply stunning. With a contrast ratio of 800:1 (only on the 19"), dark areas are dark, while bright areas are bright. Color is excellent (using included DVI cable).

While this LCD is a bit more the a lot of other 19" panels, it is in my opinion a well worthy step up.

Would recommend this screen to anyone (that has money to burn too).

This is a beautiful high resolution monitor that not only has a great image, but also an elegant frame and good sound. It accepts up to three inputs (two analog and one digital), plus 3 sound inputs. I was going to get a lower priced competitor, until I saw the two side by side. This model's colors were far superior. I would recommend that you spend the extra dollars and be happy for years.

I've been in the broadcast industry for 17 years and am accustomed to working with high quality CRT monitors, most of them Sony. When it came time for a new computer monitor, I decided to check out Sony's LCDs. After months of research, from reading specs and customer opinions, to viewing them at electronics stores, this one came out on top. The picture quality is impeccable...not quite the quality of a top-of-the-line CRT, but it's close. LCDs still have a ways to go to match the clarity of CRTs. But for an LCD, I am very impressed. Yes, this is not an inexpensive monitor, but it is well worth the extra money.

Some things to remember when researching a monitor:

Read the specs. Look for things like -
Is it and Active TFT? Yes is better.
The lower the dot pitch, the higher the picture quality.
Contrast ratio: the higher the better.
Lower response times are better.
Higher brightness is also considered better.

These are admittedly, generalizations. One brand's .25 dot pitch might not be as good as another's .29 dot pitch.

The best thing to do is find some good monitors by doing the technical research, reading reviews, and obtaining information from as many resources as possible. Ultimately, the decision comes down to you and your eyes. View some monitors at local retail shops. Look for text quality, black on white and white on black, (is there ghosting?); check for pixelization in photos and video; if possible, look at a black screen for dead pixels, and at a white screen for hot spots. Some of these may be hard to see at a store, but compare the best you can.

Admittedly, I have not tried gaming on this monitor, and the video is slightly pixelized, though much less than I expected an LCD to be. Text is crystal clear. The only down side to this monitor, as with many Sony products, is their menus. They are somewhat difficult to navigate and the buttons are awkwardly on the side of the monitor, so you have to feel your way around. Aside from that, this is an excellent monitor and I feel you will be highly pleased with your purchase. By the way, after viewing the HX93 at a store, come back here to buy. You'll save lots of money.

UPDATE - After reading the above review, I put the speakers to the test and regretably, found that the speakers do indeed lack quality sound. For visual accurancy this is still hard to beat, but invest in some decent speakers.

I work in the professional audio/film industry, and have lived with this monitor for about a year now. I originally purchased it as a replacement for my office desktop system, where I previously had used an HP 19" CRT monitor which died suddenly, necessitating a fast trip to the local "big box" store.

I have so far found the Sony monitor to be very reliable, delivering a crisp, high-contrast image, with no burn't out pixels (yet!)

We have flat screen monitors from Samsung and Acer in our audio editing suites, and I have to admit I prefer the resolution and contrast of the Sony.

However, the audio suffers not only an underpowered set of speakers, but an extremely annoying "birdie" noise which fluctuates with the monitor image. While I don't use this monitor for any type of critical audio, I would like the ability to use the built-in speakers for run-of-the-mill PC audio applications, without having to listen to the background noise.

I have not yet had a chance to confirm whether this is an issue with just my unit, or if it is a general design flaw, as it is impossible to tell when listening to a unit with the background noise in a typical Best Buy or Circuit City store.

Other than this annoying shortfall, I have found this to be a solid performer. As mentioned elsewhere, you will want to set your video sync rate to at least 75 hz. to take advantage of the full capabilities.

This monitor is by far one of the nicest and most crisp monitors I've seen. The display is very well illuminated, the text sharp and very readable at 1280x1024, and the colors are very, very vivid.

Unfortunately, the monitor was not built for the First Person Shooter (FPS) in mind. I found that the display had a hard time keeping up with the refresh rate of games like Far Cry and Unreal Tournament 2004.

I was using the DVI cable which locks in the refresh at 60hz. I also tried the monitor without the DVI input, but unfortunately it didn't make any difference. Games still appeared to suffer from video lag. :(

This monitor is perfect for everything except for fast paced games.

I've just received this SONY HX93 today. I've been looking at the models at local retailers but could not really see much difference between different LCDs, say, between this one and a lower priced samsung...Until I've seen it on my desk!

pros:
1. nice panel. don't really know who manufactuered the lcd panel, but sony definitely picked up a good one as the basis for the product. I have it delivered to my office and I can compare it to my office 19" LCD, which is a lower priced SAMSUNG 192T. That was a nice one, but not as bright as this SDM-HX93. I am sure a similiarly priced SAMSUNG will probably look as nice, but hey, it's a SONY and it's on sale. $700 is not that much more expensive than $660.
2. nice overall package. elegent looking. cable nicely organized.

cons:
1. the speakers in this LCD are of a much lower quality comparing to how nice the LCD panel is. I can not believe it when I first heard the cracking sound out of them when I turned the volume high. It sounds OK when the volume is low though. And there is absolutely no bass, and since the speaker units themselves are so bad, the SRS WOW system can't do too much to improve it.
2. since it is still quite an expensive model, I will like to see the pivot feature and composite/s-video inputs. Lacking both.

Overall a good product.