Black Boxes: Monivision DM6952ST Television

by Don Collins
Spring 2001

MoniVision DM6952ST 34-inch XGA/SVGA/VGA Monitor with Optional Video/TV Tuner
Manufacturer
MoniVision
(888) 567-2486
www.monivision.com

Price: $2,165 (add $200 for optional TV tuner)
Slowly but surely television and computers are converging. More and more people are looking for two-in-one products that deliver both technologies to a central location in the home. Aiming to capitalize on this amalgamation, MoniVision, Inc. recently introduced a 34-inch, dual computer monitor and television display, that, when combined with a PC, becomes the heart of the Smart living room.
Its premiere model is the DM6952ST, an XGA/SVGA/VGA high-resolution computer monitor with optional Video/TV tuner and stereo audio with two 18-watt speakers and a sub woofer. If you are looking to build a PC/TV to bring added computer power to your television, the MoniVision display is worth a look.
The DM6952ST fits nicely with an entertainment center. It solves the problem of computer applications and Web sites showing up with poor resolution on television monitors. Television and DVD played on the monitor looked very good. Colors were vibrant and accurate and details were sharp. The images displayed on the VGA side of our test unit were crisp and clean as well, although some text was difficult to doiscern from sofa-distance. More details on this later.
Although it is pricey at $2,165 (add $200 for optional tuner), MoniVision also offers other models. A smaller 29-inch model is available for $1,375 and a big 38-inch version for $3,045 (again add $200 for the TV tuner).

The Setup

Setting up the DM6952ST was a little challenging. The most difficult part was moving the beast. It's big and heavy. After connecting all of the cables to their appropriate jacks, we got a TV signal but nothing from the computer. After 20 minutes of navigating through the menu and experimenting with various options and settings, we gave up and visited MoniVision's Web site. There we found the proper vertical frequency settings that coincide with the different computer screen resolutions. If, for example, you're going to use the 1024x768 resolution, you need to set the vertical rate to 60Hz. For a resolution of 800x600, the vertical frequency can be no less than 75Hz and for the 640x480 setting, the frequency must be 85Hz or less. If you set the resolution with a higher frequency rate for the chosen resolution, the screen will go black and you'll have to reconnect a separate monitor to reset the computer's vertical frequency to the suggested rate.
On the same topic, when we set the resolution to 640x480 and 800x600, the view of the Power Mac desktop that we were using didn't fit on the screen. We couldn't see the top or sides of the screen. We changed the resolution to 1024x768 and adjusted the vertical frequency to 60Hz and everything looked like it would fit, but it was out of alignment.
We would have liked MoniVision to set the alignment so we could connect the cables and go. However, it was easily adjusted by accessing the settings menu with the remote control. We would have also appreciated it if MoniVision included manuals and set-up diagrams to help us through some of these tricky configurations. Nevertheless, a techy kind of person should be able to set it up fairly painlessly.

Riding Two Waves on One Couch

Once connection was complete, we began to enjoy ourselves. Using the remote, we toggled to the VGA view and checked out the Internet. With two pushes of a button, we had switched from television to computer display. We didn't have the optional infrared remote keyboard or mouse that MoniVision offers, so we used long cables with a keyboard and mouse that we supplied.
Visiting several Web sites, we saw how the latest Web software looked on the display. The majority of images and the various headlines were clear and easy to view from a distance of about 10 feet. However, smaller fonts and blocks of text were challenging to read from ten feet away. Some sites would have looked better at 640x480, so we were disappointed that we couldn't get that setting to work.
To get the full Internet experience, we hit a few Flash sites, some Shockwave sites and played a few games. They all looked great. Finally, we viewed some streaming video, which also looked good.
Switching back to the NTSC output, we checked out television, VCR and DVD playback. For all three, the display was very good. And the audio sounded great, especially when watching shows that had stereo sound.

Best of Both Worlds

The DM6953ST should satisfy all those who would like to instantly switch between television, computer and DVD/VCR. Since it looks just like a television, it fits nicely in a home entertainment center. If the price has you thinking twice, consider sacrificing a few inches and going for the 29-inch model.
As Web sites become more TV-friendly, this type of multiple-display unit will become more popular. With a flick of the wrist and a push of a button, you can have your cake and watch it too.

Dimensions:
34" screen (diagonal), 29" high, 30 1/8" wide, 22 1/2 deep.
Audio/Video Inputs
Front: LR audio, VGA
Back: VGA, S-VHS, Audio LR x 2, RF
Audio/Video Outputs
Back: RCA Video, LR audio