Mitsubishi DiamondPoint SB70-BK

Mitsubishi DiamondPoint SB70-BK
The one I don’t use… because she's too perfect
April 2003 

CRTs are out, flat panels are rolling in, looking like dim, smeared garbage but everyone’s convinced they’re the future anyway. Yeah, have fun with that dog crap looking Dell square thing that's getting just as hot as this CRT for 60hz and eye strain.

And sitting right here in that exact moment is this goddess of a tube. She's not even a damn flagship model! Not a pro monitor! Not even marketed as such.
This is a top shelf sleeper tube through and through. This is the CRT that made me realize this technology was still lightyears better than early LCD, LED, and plasma displays. They replaced CRTs because they were thin and convenient. If THIS is what CRTs still looked like in 2003… then the industry didn’t move forward, it traded quality for convenience and sadly that really feels like the whole world today.
This is one of my first PC CRTs since I started collecting along with that Gateway 2000 I previously wrote about. I brought her home thinking it would be a cool little rig to game on. It hit me pretty quick how insanely good this monitor was at EVERYTHING. Bright without being blown out. Colors punchy without looking fake. Absolutely clean perfect motion as a CRT should be. I realized early LCDs weren’t just a little modern upgrade, they were nowhere close. I would still put this girl up against any budget flat panel you can find at a big box store.

Here are the BIGGEST issues I've found with this tube. I COULD daily this on my modern rig and I COULD run anything on it but I don’t want to. She's just too perfect to abuse. CRTs are FINITE. They will NEVER produce another. Could I find another one? Maybe…. But keeping my collection pristine is very important to me.

Her condition: One small crack in the bezel. A few microscopic anti-glare scratches. Otherwise? MINT.
Some specs:

Geometry:  Grid holds together across the screen. No obvious warping. Corners behave VERY well.

Brightness / Tube Health: Bright as hell. Whites don’t explode. Blacks don’t wash out. She is VERY healthy. Its that aperture grille magic man.

At 1024×768: she is happy. Still clearly analog underneath but at 85hz? She is perfect.

This tube also sports a weird "super bright" mode that temporarily increases contrast or something. Its really bright and kind of cool but I avoid it.

I rate this CRT a 8.8/10.
She changed how I judge other displays and ended up unplugged on the top shelf because I don’t want to ruin her.

Quick video of me capturing some testing of this monitor

Parent Manual (click here)

See other Internet Archives from ME