Eizo FlexScan T565 (Gray)

CNET editors' review

• CNET editors' rating: 4.0 stars Excellent
  Detailed editors' rating
  Overall score: 8.0 (4.0 stars)

• Reviewed by:
  Kristina Blachere
• Reviewed on: 03/04/2002
• Updated on: 04/10/2003

Eizo touts the FlexScan T565 as having something for everyone: namely, preset fine-contrast modes for different types of applications, such as Web browsing and graphics work. The monitor also comes with useful display-control software and the option to add speakers that are powered by the display. But fancy stuff aside, the T565 is a well-designed CRT with a glare-reducing flat screen that would be an asset to most homes and offices that can afford its somewhat higher price.Eizo touts the FlexScan T565 as having something for everyone: namely, preset fine-contrast modes for different types of applications, such as Web browsing and graphics work. The monitor also comes with useful display-control software and the option to add speakers that are powered by the display. But fancy stuff aside, the T565 is a well-designed CRT with a glare-reducing flat screen that would be an asset to most homes and offices that can afford its somewhat higher price.

Easy to install and adjust
Setting up the FlexScan T565 is routine. There's no poster-style quick-start guide, but the included user manual details all the basics, such as setup, features, an icon-by-icon breakdown of the ScreenManager functions, and rudimentary troubleshooting.

While $449 may seem like a lot to pay for a 17-inch CRT, the FlexScan T565 shows its worth in the depth and capabilities of its controls as well as its image quality. A joysticklike button amid the front panel's arrows lets you access and adjust controls within the ScreenManager onscreen display (OSD). Some people may find the one-button system a bit clumsy to manipulate, as the Enter function is in the center of the button, but this setup makes the OSD much easier to navigate overall. The menus on the OSD are small, neatly designed, and well organized. They also feature animations to show you that, for example, the Tilt function adjusts the picture's left/right alignment. Controls include basics such as pincushion/pinbalance, brightness, and contrast, as well as extras such as a power manager and a function that repositions the OSD.

If you find no joy in joysticks, there's an alternative. The display also comes with ScreenManager Pro For USB software, an enhanced version of the ScreenManager OSD software that can be accessed only when you've connected the downstream USB port on the display to a USB port on your PC. With ScreenManager Pro, you can control the program's menus with your mouse instead of the front-panel button.

Automatic settings for movies and more
The FlexScan T565 has another front-panel feature that's unique and potentially useful: The Auto/Fine button automatically sizes the image within the frame and lets you toggle between preset brightness and contrast settings, depending on what you're viewing. There are text, browser, picture, graphics, and four different movie modes, all of which enhance certain kinds of images. Movie Mode 1, for instance, makes the monitor extremely bright (which could be good for watching a flick in a normally lit room), but it also makes fine details such as type and desktop icons look intolerably blurry.

And how does adding some sound sound? As another interesting extra, Eizo offers a clip-on speaker unit, called the i-Sound, for $45. The little bracket with speakers on either end slides under the front panel and draws its power from the monitor, rather than requiring a bulky AC adapter and a free electrical outlet.

Nice 'n' clear
The FlexScan T565 has very good display capabilities for its size. Its maximum resolution is a high 1,600x1,200 pixels with an adequate 75Hz refresh rate, so it won't strain your eyes. However, the recommended 1,280x1,024/85Hz setting looked better and not so crowded to us. CNET Labs tested the display at the more typical (for 17-inch CRTs) 1,024x768 resolution, using DisplayMate's video diagnostics. At that setting, we saw almost no degradation in the corners, and text was legible from 12- to 6.8-point font. We noticed a slight outward hook to the bottom edges of the picture, and we couldn't correct some slight bulging along the vertical sides with the tilt and geometry controls, but it was visible on only our test screens. We also noticed that the whites on our grayscale tests looked a bit dingy and grayish, even at 100 percent brightness. Color reproduction on Web images and higher-resolution graphics was generally very good, though colors tended to be muted and subdued rather than eye-catchingly bright. Continue reading

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