Miracle MonitorTV: Two Views From One Box

By Daniel A. Begun, Computer Shopper
September 18, 1999

Computers and televisions are both popular sources of entertainment and education, so it's only natural that some PC users would want to combine the two. The traditional approach to merging these somewhat divergent technologies is to install a TV-tuner add-in card in your PC. Miracle Business, however, takes an original approach with its $369-estimated MonitorTV.

The MonitorTV is a 17-inch monitor with built-in stereo speakers and an internal TV receiver capable of receiving up to 90 channels. Because the tuner is built into the monitor, rather than placed inside the computer, there are no cards to install or drivers to load. The television can be watched whether the computer is on or off. When your PC is on, you can switch back and forth between your television and your PC display using the buttons on the monitor's front panel or with the included wireless remote control. But since the TV signal is never passed through the PC, you can't capture video as you can with many TV-tuner cards.

The MonitorTV uses a flat-square tube with a 0.27mm dot pitch and a 16-inch viewing area, and conforms to the MPR II and TCO 95 low-radiation specifications. In addition to a traditional DB-15 analog monitor input, the MonitorTV also includes RF, S-Video, composite video, and stereo RCA audio inputs; output jacks include composite video and stereo audio.

Connecting the MonitorTV to our 266MHz Pentium II testbed system, equipped with a 32MB Number Nine Revolution IV graphics card and running Windows 98, was straightforward, but the manual's detailed instructions could have been clearer.

The monitor provided a bright image and maintained a sharp focus up to a resolution of 1,024x768 during testing with DisplayMate Technologies' DisplayMate for Windows utility. Only at its maximum setting of 1,280x1,024 at 60Hz did we see a slight softening of the overall image, although the lower corners of the monitor suffered from pincushioning at all settings. (We were able to compensate for this using the MonitorTV's extensive geometry controls.) The TV image quality was quite good, as was the audio quality. The speakers even produced decent bass response.

The dual functionality of the MonitorTV should appeal to home users, educational institutions, or anyone with desktop-space limitations. Although it might not be quite as versatile as some TV-tuner add-in cards, the device's no-hassle approach to providing TV reception is a major advantage.

Product Miracle MonitorTV
Company Miracle Business Upland, CA; 909-946-9688 www.miraclebusiness.com
Support Live phone support, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays (PT); one-year parts-and-labor warranty
Suitability An easy way to add TV functionality to a PC for space-conscious computer users or educational and medical institutions