SGI 1600SW
Encyclopedia
The 1600SW is a widescreen
flat panel video monitor
from Silicon Graphics
introduced in 1998. It won many awards after release and sold 54,000 units. It is notable for longevity, with used models still actively traded on eBay
a decade later, despite the difficulty of adapting the monitor to run with modern video cards, due to the 1600SW's OpenLDI
video interface.
Formac sold the same monitor bundled with its own OpenLDI graphics adapter as Formac ProVitron 18/500. Radius sold the monitor as the Article which differed mainly in having a translucent white case and a conventional mount. SGI sold the monitor primarily under Model #AM173Y01.
The 1600SW was revolutionary for its time, featuring a 17.3 inch diagonal wide screen panel in a market then dominated by CRT
monitors. The 1600SW had a 16:10 aspect ratio (referred to by SGI as SuperWide) with a resolution of 1600 x 1024 pixels. The refresh rate was 60 Hz in 24-bit color and 110 dpi (which makes for a smaller dot pitch
than most competitive monitors). The 1600SW shared the same styling motif as the SGI Visual Workstation
320, 540 and O2
, with a unique (and troublesome) off-center mount. The display won a dozen international awards and despite its age, it still compares well to modern displays produced a decade later. At introduction the 1600SW cost in the neighborhood of $2500.
or VGA standard connector. There are several companies that make adapter boxes which allow continued use of these older displays. All of these adapters were developed for the 1600SW monitor:
SGI referred to video cards that support the 1600SW's 1600 x 1024 resolution as Super Wide Savvy. Most modern cards have no trouble with this resolution, but on PC based machines, problems and screen distortion can exist during system boot. Apple Macintoshes boot directly into the proper resolution. Thus, with a little work, the 1600SW can be adapted to almost any modern computer.
Widescreen
Widescreen images are a variety of aspect ratios used in film, television and computer screens. In film, a widescreen film is any film image with a width-to-height aspect ratio greater than the standard 1.37:1 Academy aspect ratio provided by 35mm film....
flat panel video monitor
Video monitor
A video monitor also called a broadcast monitor, broadcast reference monitor or just reference monitor, is a display device similar to a television set, used to monitor the output of a video-generating device, such as playout from a video server, IRD, video camera, VCR, or DVD player. It may or...
from Silicon Graphics
Silicon Graphics
Silicon Graphics, Inc. was a manufacturer of high-performance computing solutions, including computer hardware and software, founded in 1981 by Jim Clark...
introduced in 1998. It won many awards after release and sold 54,000 units. It is notable for longevity, with used models still actively traded on eBay
EBay
eBay Inc. is an American internet consumer-to-consumer corporation that manages eBay.com, an online auction and shopping website in which people and businesses buy and sell a broad variety of goods and services worldwide...
a decade later, despite the difficulty of adapting the monitor to run with modern video cards, due to the 1600SW's OpenLDI
OpenLDI
OpenLDI is a high-bandwidth digital interface standard for connecting flat panel LCD monitors to computers. While it is virtually unknown in standalone displays, it has a strong basis in the interconnect for internal displays, as in laptops. OpenLDI is based on the de-facto FPD-Link specification...
video interface.
Formac sold the same monitor bundled with its own OpenLDI graphics adapter as Formac ProVitron 18/500. Radius sold the monitor as the Article which differed mainly in having a translucent white case and a conventional mount. SGI sold the monitor primarily under Model #AM173Y01.
The 1600SW was revolutionary for its time, featuring a 17.3 inch diagonal wide screen panel in a market then dominated by CRT
Cathode ray tube
The cathode ray tube is a vacuum tube containing an electron gun and a fluorescent screen used to view images. It has a means to accelerate and deflect the electron beam onto the fluorescent screen to create the images. The image may represent electrical waveforms , pictures , radar targets and...
monitors. The 1600SW had a 16:10 aspect ratio (referred to by SGI as SuperWide) with a resolution of 1600 x 1024 pixels. The refresh rate was 60 Hz in 24-bit color and 110 dpi (which makes for a smaller dot pitch
Dot pitch
Dot pitch is a specification for a computer display, computer printer, image scanner, or other pixel-based device that describes the distance, for example, between dots of the same color on the inside of a display screen...
than most competitive monitors). The 1600SW shared the same styling motif as the SGI Visual Workstation
SGI Visual Workstation
The SGI Visual Workstation was a series workstation computers manufactured by Silicon Graphics, Inc. designed to run Windows NT, Windows 2000 and Linux. The Visual Workstations are notable for their use of Intel Pentium II and Pentium III processors...
320, 540 and O2
SGI O2
The O2 is an entry-level Unix workstation introduced in 1996 by Silicon Graphics, Inc. to replace their earlier Indy series. Like the Indy, the O2 used a single MIPS microprocessor and was intended to be used mainly for multimedia. Its larger counterpart was the SGI Octane...
, with a unique (and troublesome) off-center mount. The display won a dozen international awards and despite its age, it still compares well to modern displays produced a decade later. At introduction the 1600SW cost in the neighborhood of $2500.
Complete list of Video Cards with a 1600SW (OpenLDI) connector
- Formac ProFormance 3 (special version with OpenLDI; PCI bus)
- Number NineNumber Nine Visual TechnologyNumber Nine Visual Technology Corporation was a manufacturer of video graphics chips and cards from 1982 to 1999. Number Nine developed the first 128-bit graphics processor , as well as the first 256-color and 16.8 million color cards....
Revolution IV-FP (Revolution IV with OpenLDI; AGP or PCI bus) - 3D Labs Oxygen VX1-1600SW (AGP or PCI bus)
Monitor switches for OpenLDI
There is a 4-way monitor switch by Dr. Bott called MoniSwitch Pro LDI that allows sharing OpenLDI display among 4 computers, each of which must be equipped with an OpenLDI graphics adapter.Adapting the 1600SW to Modern Video Cards
OpenLDI is rarely used today, as all popular home and office LCD panel monitors use a DVIDigital Visual Interface
The Digital Visual Interface is a video interface standard covering the transmission of video between a source device and a display device. The DVI standard has achieved widespread acceptance in the PC industry, both in desktop PCs and monitors...
or VGA standard connector. There are several companies that make adapter boxes which allow continued use of these older displays. All of these adapters were developed for the 1600SW monitor:
- SGI Multilink Adapter (VGA or DVI) (discontinued)
- Dr. Bott SGI-Saver (DVI) (discontinued)
- PIXsolution PIX-Link 1600SW (DVI) (discontinued)
- GFX-1600SW sold by Niktec (DVI adapter, in passive PCI form factor, also sold built in to 1600SW monitors)
SGI referred to video cards that support the 1600SW's 1600 x 1024 resolution as Super Wide Savvy. Most modern cards have no trouble with this resolution, but on PC based machines, problems and screen distortion can exist during system boot. Apple Macintoshes boot directly into the proper resolution. Thus, with a little work, the 1600SW can be adapted to almost any modern computer.
External links
- SGI: Legacy Products: Displays an archive of original material (P/N AM173Y01).
- 1600SW MDR36 connector pinout