Matrix Orbital MX2 LCD display Review

LCD's have been around on the modding scene for some time now, Matrix Orbital are well reknown for producing high quality displays, with lots of added extras. They have recently introduced a USB lcd this is great as serial ports are becoming rarer. The MX2 follows on from the first USB lcd's with features that make it much more useful in action. Lets have a look how it gets on in the test lab.

What features does this lcd have?

• Custom Startup screen
• Integrated 7 key keypad or real aluminum overlay
• 3x 12 Watt fan capable outputs
• USB Interface
• 255 settings for Fan Speeds
 
• RPM Reporting of fans
• Full version of LCDC included
• Low Power GPOs (Can be used with the Indicator LED Bus or DIY LEDs)
• A to B 3ft USB cable

As you can see its featured packed and thats not just it, there is a few more tricks it has up its sleeve.

• Temperature Probes ($9.25)
• The Indicator LED Bus ($12.95)
• Internal USB Cable ($8.25)

Choice, choices, choices...

The MX2 is available in so many diffent versions you could get confused. First you have to choose the type of overlay. There are two options:

• Integrated 7 key keypad overlay

There are two choices of colours of each, the keypad version is available in:
Black

White/Beige.

The keypad is a great addition allowing you to control the lcd with the buttons. Using the LCDC software provided with the LCD you have many ways in which they can be used.
The other option is:

• Real Aluminium overlay

There is a choice of silver or black. The silver is the unit we have here. The brushing and quality of the aluminium is perfect. It should look just right in any aluminium case.
Once you've decided on this choice you then have to pick what colour of lcd you want. There are plenty to MX2 colours to choose from:

• Black text/Yellow-Green backlight
• Yellow-Green text/Black backlight
• Blue text/White backlight
• White text/Blue backlight(The unit tested)
• Red text/Dark Red backlight

First Impressions

Recieving the package for the LCD from Canada the packaging has to hold up to a lot of miles in the hands of a courier. The way the unit is packed is very important, Matrix Orbital has done a very good job. The unit is packed in a nice white Matrix Orbital box Inside was a nice suprise the LCD itself was in a special MX2 box with some nice graphics on. There is plenty of bubble wrap and foam to prevent any damage. This whole box was in a larger box with the accessories and plenty of little foam bits. It would take a lot of abuse thats for sure.

The LCD

Installing the LCD is a breeze its a simple matter of hooking up the usb cable and installing the drivers. The USB connection is much more prefferable to the older Serial and Parrallel type lcds, the most important difference being the communication and power cable are combined into one. The bay unit can be slide into a spare 5.25 bay and attached with the four screws included. The drivers are included on a extra small CD which is a nice touch but those of you with CD drives mounted sideways may have problems inserting the things. The CD contains the full copy of LCDC along with lots of useful tools and help files.

Those of you who have owned an LCD before will notice the multitude of connectors on the back of the LCD. There are four white connectors for the temperature probes (Upto 32 can be supported) there are 3 brown 3 pin connectors these are for the fan connections. Then there are the connectors for switches they can be used for the keypad overlay or switches of your choice mounted elsewhere. After that there is the USB connections a 4 pin floppy disk style power connector for powering the fans and final the connection for the LED indicators.

Powered Up

Once you have installed everything you get to see the LCD powered up for the first time. The display is nice and bright with great viewing angle and completly adjustable contrast. The starting screen is adjustable so if you want your own you can. Using the LCDC software you can display lots of items on the display. Nicer still is the transitions between screens, they make the lcd much more active. The LCD communicates at 19.2Kbs and is fully buffered so there are no delays.

Digibus

One of the major new features of this lcd is the ability to connect fans directly to the lcd and use the software to control them. Upto 3 fans can be connected using small 3 pin connectors, you will need to connect a floppy disk power cable to the lcd to provide power for the fans. There are three ways the fans can be controlled:

• Manual: this allows you to turn On and Off fans using the keypad or events in LCDC
• Automatic (temperature based): this automatically increase/decrease the fan speed based on the desired temperature and try to keep a target temperature
• Automatic (percentage based):this allows you to set the speed of a fan based on any LCDC variable

At 12V each fan header can provide 12 Watts or 1000mA of power. There are 255 different settings in all for fan speed. The ability to control the fans so easily is excellent it means that you no longer need an rheobus/baybus in addition to an LCD.

LCDC

Included on the CD is a full copy of LCDC. LCDC normally retails at $17.50 so its great to see it included with the LCD. To get LCDC working is very painless, you install the software and enter your registration key. Once this is done the software automatically detects your LCD. LCDC is simply the best LCD software out there its extremely flexible at is custom made for the MX2 lcd. With this software you can do pretty much anything you'd ever want to do with your LCD, From showing pc statistics to checking your email to controlling fans. Please look in the gallery at the end of this review for a small sample of screens that are possible. To get you started quickly there is a very good example file so you dont have to spend ages getting it working. The LCDC Gallery has some screens that have been premade so that you can use them quickly.

Temperature Probes

A new addition of the MX2 lcd is the ability to add temperature probes. The temperature probe is a Dallas DS18S20. The probe measures from -55C - 125C , it's accurate down to 0.5C. For details on how to attach the probe go here. Once attached the probes are excellent, I recorded a temperature in my room of 34.5C (Can you tell we are in a heatwave?). The flexibilty of the LCDC software makes using the probes very easy. You simply plug them in and ask LCDC to detect them. They can be used to dictate what speed your fans are ran at. Or simply to record how hot your room is. They make an great addition to an already well featured LCD.

Indicator LED Bus

The next addition to the LCD accessories is the LED Bus. This is a small circuit with 3 blue LED's. They are connected via a small ribbon cable to the LCD. The LED's can be used to indicate pretty much anything you can think of from , you've got mail to indicating that you are over a certain temperature. When lit the LED's are extremely bright, looking at them directly isn't something I'd recommend.

Internal USB Cable

The final accesory is another good idea from Matrix Orbital. The internal cable means that those of you who have motherboards with on spare board usb ports, can route the cable directly to them without having to cut a hole for the cable to exit the back of your case. The cable comes with one end unbuilt so that you can arrange the order of the cables to suit your particular motherboard.

Movies

In order for you to better see the LCD in action here are some low quality video's of the LCD in use.(MPG Format)
Network Stats on display
Indicator LED flashing

Gallery

Full Image Gallery

Pro's

• Plenty of colour choices
• The most fully featured lcd to date
• USB connection which is much better than serial connections
• Some nice accessories
• High viewing angle and excellent contrast
• Includes LCDC the best lcd software out there
• Support for baybus and fan control uses
• Great looking aluminium bay plates (Black/Silver
• Integrated keypad available (Black/White)

Con's

• Confusing model numbers
• I would like to see the accessories included as standard
• LED's very bright, this could be a good point depending on your desired use.

Conclusion

I cant speak more highly of this lcd, the MX2 is the best LCD I've seen to date. The extra features make baybus's/temperature displays all but redundant. The inclusion of a full copy of LCDC makes this a great deal.

Where to buy

Direct:

Matrix Orbital

UK:

Kustom PCs

For a full list of distributers in other countries check this page for details.

Thanks

Thanks to Matrix Orbital for supplying this LCD for review.