PRODUCT NAME Toshiba Integrated Multimedia Monitor (timm) MM20E45 BRIEF DESCRIPTION An Amiga compatible 20 inch (500mm) combination multisync monitor and television set. The horizontal scan rates for the RGB monitor are from 15kHz to 40kHz with vertical scan rates of 50-90Hz. 15kHz NTSC composite and SVHS video inputs along with built in stereo sound complete the feature set. AUTHOR/COMPANY INFORMATION Name: Toshiba America Consumer Products, Inc. Address: Corporate Office/ 82 Totowa Road, Wayne, NJ 07470 Telephone: (201) 628-8000 LIST PRICE I do not know the list price but the retail prices I've seen have ranged between $600 and $900 US dollars. DEMO VERSION None, unless you count the store display. SPECIAL HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS HARDWARE The Commodore 23 pin to 15 pin video adapter and a 15 pin male to male VGA video cable are required to connect the monitor to an Amiga. Also a pair of audio cables with RCA plugs is recommended. A3000 owners do not need the video adapter. SOFTWARE None. COPY PROTECTION None. MACHINE USED FOR TESTING Amiga 4000 with AmigaDOS 3.1. Vortex 486SLC board installed in 4000 with Diamond SpeedStar 24x SVGA card, Vortex Monitor Master video switch, MS-DOS 6.2 and Microsoft Windows 3.1. Amiga 2000 with Workbench 3.1, Commodore A2320 display enhancer, Picasso-II display card. Amiga 500 with AmigaDOS 2.1. Amiga 600 with AmigaDOS 2.1. Amiga 1000 with AmigaDOS 1.3. INSTALLATION This is truly a plug-and-play operation. Plug the video and audio cables into their proper ports on the computer and the monitor and you're ready to go. No software installation is required although some Workbench settings may need to be changed to compensate for a large screen monitor. DESCRIPTION A 20 inch Amiga compatible multisync monitor for $600 sound too good to be true? It is true but like most good things, there is a catch. In this case, the catch is what many would consider to be an unacceptably coarse dot pitch of .58mm. On a smaller monitor that would be unusable but a 20 inch screen has a lot of video area and it compensates somewhat for the coarse dot pitch. I'll put some more detailed specifications at the end of this review, this part is a general description of what Toshiba calls the Toshiba Integrated Multimedia Monitor or timm. First off, this is a huge monitor, it makes my 14 inch Commodore 1960 monitor look tiny. The display screen is flanked on both sides by deceptively small forward spacing grills for the speakers. Under the screen are two large buttons for power and video mode. Six smaller buttons perform double duty to adjust volume and channel selection and access the setup menus. A small power light and sensor for the remote control are also on the front panel. Pressing the large mode button on the monitor cycles it between RGB, TV and Video modes with the monitor powering up in the last used mode. There are no adjustment buttons or knobs on the back of the monitor. The back panel doesn't get left out though, it sports the polarized but non-grounded power cord, eight input and two output connectors. For inputs there are the F-type connector for cable or TV antenna input, a high density DB-15 female connector for RGB video input, a S-Video DIN jack, and one RCA style jack for composite video. Two pairs of RCA jacks for stereo input and one set of RCA audio output jacks complete the set. Included with the monitor is a handheld infrared remote control. The remote has the ability to control all features of the monitor including video modes and positioning. A pair of AAA batteries for the remote were included along with an owner's manual. No connecting cables of any kind were packed with the timm. ON SCREEN MENUS The timm has easy to use on screen menus for video adjustments. The feature that sold me on the monitor was the very wide range of adjustments available with the the positioning controls. In RGB mode, the Horizontal Size, Horizontal Position, Vertical Size and Vertical Position are all independently adjustable. It is possible to extend the height and width of the display to completely eliminate the black borders that are common with Amiga displays. These are a single global setting however, the monitor does not automatically adjust in response to various video modes from the computer. Since the menus are so easy to use, a quick adjustment is not a problem. Other menus allow changing of the Brightness and Contrast, Bass, Treble, Stereo Balance and more. When in Television or Composite video modes the positioning controls are not available but are replaced with Sharpness, Color and Tint menus. Menus are also available for setting up Television/Cable modes, Secondary Audio Programming and more. USING THE MONITOR The timm was purchased to replace the dying Commodore 1960 monitor on my 4000 so that is where I tried it first. Using the Screen Mode Preferences program, I changed Workbench to all available video modes but the timm synced up to every video signal that the 4000 presented to it. This included all of the high and low res NTSC, PAL, DBLNTSC, DBLPAL, EURO 36, EURO 72, MULTISCAN and SUPER 72 modes. On fine lines or very small fonts the coarse dot pitch of the timm is apparent as a moderately fuzzy image. Normal Amiga screen sizes and fonts are displayed fine though. In RGB mode, the image on my monitor is tilted very slightly, just enough to notice but not to worry about fixing. Otherwise, the colors are bright and the color convergence appears to be reasonably good. The tilt is probably an alignment problem on my particular monitor or it may be caused by all the metal cases I have stacked up around the monitor. There are no user accessible controls to correct tilt or convergence. When switching between video modes the monitor can sometimes take up to two seconds to sync up to the new frequency if changing from a 31kHz mode to a 15kHz for example. If the frequencies are fairly close then switching can be almost instantaneous. The really annoying part of switching video modes is that the sound drops out while the monitor is sorting out the new scan rates. This is somewhat disturbing if you like to have a mod playing while doing work that requires switching between modes frequently. Since I primarily use the 4000 for LightWave, I tried that next. Wow, no more zooming in to see where lines and points are. The coarse dot pitch is more than offset by the large screen size. There is no comparison between working on a 20 inch screen instead of a 14 inch screen. HAM8 images on timm can look incredible, even images with lots of fine detail. One strange effect I noticed with the timm is some JPEG images exhibit false colors and blurring on fine lines but converting the image to HAM8 removes all artifacts and makes the monitor appear to have a much finer dot pitch. With the Amiga video modes tested, I then tried the timm with MS-DOS and Windows 3.1. The SVGA card I use with the Vortex 486 board can generate a wide range of displays but I only tested the three that I normally use. Although the documentation implies that 640x480 is the maximum display resolution, the timm easily displayed up to 1024x768 (interlaced). In Windows, I tried the three most common display modes. 640x400 was not bad, 800x600 was useable but the borders of menus windows and fonts were starting to get blurry. 1024x768 displayed OK but the blurring on vertical lines and fonts was quite apparent. Images with no sharp vertical or horizontal lines looked quite good in each of the three resolutions. For some reason, programs with fine lines or fonts on the PC board did not look good in any resolution, much worse than simular programs on the Amiga. On the other hand, low resolution games looked great on the timm. For the next set of tests the timm was connected to a Picasso-II video card in an Amiga 2000. Again I then used the Screen Mode program to display the Workbench screen in various Picasso modes ranging from 320x240 up to 1280x1024. The timm appeared to have no trouble displaying any mode. The 640x480 mode looked quite nice and 800x600 was not too bad. Even the 1280x1024 mode looked good but the Topaz 11 screen font was small and hard to read due to the coarse dot pitch. Because they were available, I also tested an Amiga 500, Amiga 600 and Amiga 1000 with the timm. Using a Commodore video adapter to mate the 15 pin RGB input of the timm to the DB-23 video port of the 500, the NTSC video modes displayed as expected. With the Amiga 600 and 1000, I connected both the RGB port and also connected the color composite video port to the composite video input of the timm. While the RGB displays were fine, the composite display was blurry with noticeable ghosting and chroma crawl on the pixels. Using the menus to adjust Sharpness, Color and Tint helped to a limited degree. While it may be suitable for low resolution games or occasional use, the composite video of the timm is not nearly as sharp as composite on a Commodore 1084 monitor. Since I do not have anything to generate a S-VIDEO signal, I did not test that port of the timm. The S-VIDEO and composite ports display on the same video mode screen. Presumably you can use one or the other but not both at the same time. SOUND The timm has built in stereo sound with five watts per channel. Although the openings behind the speaker grills seem small, the speakers are 3.1 x 4.7 inches (80 x 120mm). There are on screen menus to adjust the Bass, Treble, Balance, activate the Bass Boost and to turn the speakers on or off. The audio inputs for the RGB and composite video inputs switch along with the video when the video mode is changed. Output jacks are provided to send the audio to an external audio amplifier. When using this feature, all of the volume, balance and tone controls remain active to adjust the signal fed to the output jacks. I think the sound from the timm is quite good but then I do have an Omega Products Sound Enhancer connected between the 4000 and the timm which substantially improves the Amiga sound quality. (If you ever see one for sale, buy it!) DOCUMENTATION The timm comes with a 31 page owners manual that briefly but adequately covers set up and use as a television and a monitor. Simple illustrations show how to connect the various inputs to cable TV systems, VCRs, IBM PC and Apple Macintosh II computers. Operation of the remote control and the setup menus is also covered in a easy to understand manner. Warranty information and a specifications page are also in the manual. Tables showing the RGB input pin assignments and sync rates with polarities are nice touches. Strangely, the dimension and weight information in the manual is different than what is printed in a product brochure that I picked up separately. The information in the brochure is correct, the manual is wrong. SPECIFICATIONS These are the highlights, I don't want to reproduce the entire set of specifications here. Television System : NTSC standard Power Source : 120V AC, 60Hz Power Consumption : 102W Audio Power : 5W + 5W Video/Audio Terminals S-Video Input: Y 1V (p-p), 75-ohm, negative sync C 0.286V (p-p), burst signal, 75-ohm Video Input : 1V(p-p), 75-ohm, negative sync RGB Video Input Analog 0.7V (p-p) Red, Green, Blue Signal sync: Separate TTL or Sync on Green Horizontal scanning frequency: 15 kHz to 40 kHz Vertical scanning frequency : 50 Hz to 90 Hz Compatibility: VGA (640x350/400/480), Macintosh II Audio input(s) : 150mV Variable Audio Output: 0-350mV (rms) Dimensions: Width : 22 3/64 inches (560mm) Height: 18-1/32 inches (458mm) Depth : 19-11/32 inches (491mm) Mass : 54.5 pounds (24.7 kg) LIKES For my needs, the timm has almost everything I could want in an Amiga monitor. It has a large screen size, works perfectly with the 4000 without requiring a video card and I consider the purchase price to be reasonable. The large screen makes all aspects of graphics work much easier, no more squinting at a small monitor. The easy to adjust positioning controls make it a snap to adjust for changing video modes. The sound and composite inputs are useful features that the 1960 monitor did not have. As a bonus, I also get a full featured television set for the times I'm not using the computer. DISLIKES AND SUGGESTIONS Obviously, the dot pitch could stand to be improved. If Toshiba had made the dot pitch .39 or even .42mm, then the timm would be an incredible monitor, being perfect not only for the Amiga but also attracting the attention of the masses of PC and Mac users. As it is, the timm cannot be considered to have the high resolution that many users demand. The sound dropping out when syncing up to new video modes is annoying but not a serious problem. COMPARISON TO OTHER SIMILAR PRODUCTS This is the largest RGB monitor that I've seen on an Amiga (I'm not counting large screen televisions connected with composite or RF video). While equivalent sized monitors are available with much finer dot pitches, their prices are much higher and virtually none will sync to the 15kHz mode of the Amiga. Some of the earlier generations of large screen monitors will work with the Amiga, but few offer the wide range of video positioning that the timm offers and finding a used one in decent shape can be a hard task. Compared to the smaller, high resolution monitors the image sharpness suffers but the large screen area of the timm compensates quite a bit. BUGS Other than the slight display tilt mentioned above, no bugs or problems have been noticed in the two months I've owned the monitor. VENDOR SUPPORT So far I have not had to contact Toshiba about any problems with the timm. Hopefully I should never have to. WARRANTY The timm comes with a one year warranty against defects in materials and workmanship. During this time, Toshiba will repair a defective product or part at no charge. The picture tube has a two year warranty. Toshiba will replace a defective picture tube but the owner must pay labor charges for the replacement. The warranties are only for the original purchaser or if received as a gift from the original purchaser. The warranties are not transferrable. CONCLUSIONS If you haven't noticed by now, I like the timm. This review was typed entirely while using the timm. Will everyone be happy with a timm? Probably not. The coarse dot pitch is a serious drawback. However, given the large screen size and other features of the timm it may be just what you are looking for. I give it 3.5 stars out of 5. Only the dot pitch prevents it from receiving a 5. Even so, I consider the timm to be a worthy successor to my 1960 monitor. COPYRIGHT NOTICE Copyright 1996 David K. Martin. Permission is granted to reproduce this review provided that it remains complete and I retain the credit for writing it. If anyone wishes to reprint this review in their club newsletter, I would appreciate an email to dkm@col.hp.com. --- Accepted and posted by Daniel Barrett, comp.sys.amiga.reviews moderator Send reviews to: amiga-reviews-submissions@math.uh.edu Request information: amiga-reviews-requests@math.uh.edu Moderator mail: amiga-reviews@math.uh.edu Anonymous ftp site: math.uh.edu, in /pub/Amiga/comp.sys.amiga.reviews Web site: ftp://math.uh.edu/pub/Amiga/comp.sys.amiga.reviews/index.html