Confusion re: LCD monitors

Hi,
I have newbieish question, but would appreciate any input.

I don't have a lot of money to invest in this, but have been wondering if it's worth getting an entry level 19 inch LCD monitor. All I have now is a 17 in CRT with my desktop, and I actually end up mostly using my laptop's 14 in LCD with Photoshop elements. With prices so low for 19 in LCD's, especially at the low end, would it be worth it, or will I be no better off if I only get a cheap one?

What features are important? The ads usually mention resolution, whether wide screen or not, contrast ratio, response time, and anolog/digital, and whether DVI input. Help! What do I actually need to worry about with these? For example, a local vendor is advertising a Viewsonic (1912WB) with 19 in wide screen, 1440x900 resolution, 500:1 contrast, 8ms response time, and DVI input, for $249 canadian (about $220 US). How would you interpret these stats, and particularly for digital photo editing, what should I be concerned with?

Thanks,
Neil

Hi Neil.

Although a high-end CRT will beat any LCD (although in the broadcast industry manufacturers try their hardrest to sell us on 'broadcast spec' LCD's which give 'near CRT' image quality), a decent but cheap LCD should beat a similarly priced CRT. Confused yet?

I spend most of my work time in front of Grade A broadcast CRT's, yet prefer the convenience of a LCD for my home PC (my photos don't have to be 'broadcast spec' afterall!).

Try an independant review site for recommended models, I like http://www.tomshardware.com .

Hope that helps.

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Geoff

http://www.pbase.com/tuckeruk

http://www.pcworld.com/howto/bguide/0,guid,9,page,1,00.asp#

Hope this helpful.....I googled for "Monitors Flat Panel Reviews"
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Lucy
U ZI owner!
Olympus C30-20Z
http://www.pbase.com/lucy
FCAS Member #98, Oly Division
'Photography is the art of seeing what others do not.'

The pros all go for the S-IPS type, (Super inline panel switching). These are the ones with the widest viewing angle and approach CRT quality.
All the highly regarded Apple "cinema" displays are S-IPS screens.

It's an LG/Plilips initiative.

It's funny that as we make progress we are sacrificing image quality for modernity of design, as we sacrifice sound quality for convenience, (CD vs mp3).

Would the Apple cinema displays be considered just as good as eg. Lacie or Eizo monitors

Okay,,I am hijacking. In this regard does the calibrating software work with notebook screens or should you go to lcd?

Reveiws show that the Apples are not as good as the Eizos or NEC's (they make the Lacies).

Items of interest:

Brightness Min 250
Contrast Min 500
DPI Highest .29 prefer .25
Analogue/Digital

To name a few. I just returned a 20" wide screen. In its native moe the type was just too small for my older eyes. Went back to a 19" that rotates Portrait and landscape.

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Thanks,

Digitalshooter!

Member of the 7D and Beercan Cult!

The light at the end of the tunnel is becoming clearer and its calling me to the darkside!

I bought a Va1912w a week ago and am very happy with it, i ran the nvidea setup for color and it corrected the slight reddish tinge the moniter had in the color grey, yep id reccomend it and the wide screen is unbeatable
Greenbushy

I would not recommend any va viewsonic monitors for any color critical work. These are all pretty cheap monitors and use TN panels which is the farthest from what you need. Teh VP series isn't too bad from Viewsonic.

Take a look at monitors with S-IPS thats what you really need for color critical work.

afriman said:

Would the Apple cinema displays be considered just as good as eg.
Lacie or Eizo monitors

Click to expand...

No. Apple does not make 10 or more bit internal LUTs monitors. Apple monitors are not DDC/CI capable.

As an unrelated note:

In general for graphics work you want a monitor that can reduce white luminance ("brightness") to 130 cd/m2. Minimum brightness is rarely if at all mentioned in the reviews.

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Serge Cashman

There's only two specs that really matter when purchasing an LCD for your application. Firstly is the number of DVI inputs. I simply do not recommend purchasing an LCD without one. Analog inputs in most cases ruin the text clarity and make accurate color representation vastly more difficult (requiring calibration, as do CRTs).

The second spec that matters is the number of display colors. Most any affordable LCD is going to use but 6 bits/channel for color representation, meaning the true number of simultaneous display colors is limited to 256K. The rest of the "16M" typically advertised are achieved via ditthering. Good units will use S-IPS or PVA panel technology which is 8 bits/channel and thus allows 16.7M simultaneous colors.

Unfortunately, most LCD makers hide the truth about their panels, as does viewsonic. Their official specs for the VA1912WB don't inform at the level of color depth. Fortunately newegg lists this information, and in this case it is a '16.2M' set. This along with '16M' indicates a 6 bit panel that can produce only 256K simultaneous colors.

I would recommend the VX2025 Viewsonic as an inexpensive image-editing device. Although a gaming-oriented panel, it is a PVA unit and has good to excellent color reproduction. I have one, along with a 2005fpw dell, and both serve well for color-sensitive applications. Most new LCDs available these days are aimed at the gamers, and as such sacrifice color depth to improve refresh (rating, at least...) by using a 6-bit panel. The popularity of this choice has driven the price of 6 bit panels to record lows, meaning that most any truly inexpensive LCD will predicated upon the use of one.
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Panasonic FZ5 and LZ3 pics - http://www.s90223656.onlinehome.us