Reading mode: Light Dark

Flat Panel Displays? Worthwhile?

Go to last post
Just my 2 cents Mark. I have a flat panel at work and use Photoshop from time to time in the job. I find the colors over saturated and the image appears soft (not sharp). I have played with all of the adjustments and check for new drivers all the time. It's great for my other non graphics work. I find myself going to my other computer at work with a regular (old Sony) monitor when I need to do Photoshop work.
Don
Mark Brown said:
Deskspace is an issue for me. How do they work for digital
workflow? Suggestions on buying? Thanks.
Click to expand...
 
Mark,

I know that all the experts will say that LCD flat panels are no good for doing photography. However, I have a similar problem to yours. When I retired my wife and I became full-timer RVers, and the area available for me to set up my computer/digital darkroom is very restricted. For me it was either a flat panel or a laptop. For many reasons I didn't want a laptop. I bought a Compaq computer and a matched Compaq FP500 flat panel monitor. The computer has a digital video card so there is no digital-analog-digital conversion going on.

My monitor is clear and bright and sharp as a tack. The only problem I have is the viewing angle. My monitor is three years old and I have to be careful to view it straight on. If I look from above the screen is dark and if I look from too low the screen is too light. There is even a gradual shift in brightness from the top of the screen to the bottom. Even so, I manage to process scans from my film scanner, and now shots from my G2, with fair success. If I were doing it professionally, I would have to settle down somewhere and get a conventional monitor. I'd rather not do either. The flat panel monitor makes it possible for me to do what I want in the space I have available.

I understand that most of the problems my monitor gives me would be solved if I bought a new one. But, for now, this one is fine.
Cheers--Happy SnappingDon McVee http://www.pbase.com/mcveed
 
Hi
I think flat panels, like all technology, are improving rapidly.

Mine is brand new, sharp so you wouldn't believe, beautiful colours! It makes my Sony Trinitron look fuzzy!

Go and check them out, you'll be amazed!Two things though: it is digital output and I'm using a Ge force 3.
Downside: $$$$$$$
regards
Ian
 
I have a 17 inch flat panel that I bought from Dell. i believe it is a rebranded Samsung. It will take both analog and digital inputs, but for now its running analog. It is a great monitor, but I doubt that it would be suitable for professional Photoshop users. The sharpness and color are fine, but the contrast ratio is not up to a good CRT. There is a wide variation in the contrast ratios of various units on the market, be sure to pay attention to them as some are as low as 200 to 1.

Space was a major issue for me and the tradeoff was worth the slight disadvantages.--RalphMVirginia/USA
 
Mark Brown wrote:

Deskspace is an issue for me. How do they work for digital workflow? Suggestions on buying? Thanks.

I used a desktop computer and a good quality NEC monitor for 10 years. Now I use a laptop with LCD screen. I have reclaimed my desk, it is wonderful. Personally I like the idea of the laptop as I can move the whole keyboard and screen around my desk as one unit. I put it on a slippery pad.

Regarding the LCD? Well about one year after starting with computers my eye lids started doing the spastic thing. My eyes felt tired and sore and I started having trouble with very dry eyes. One doctor even told me I was going blind. After about 12 months of using the LCD, my eyes are pretty much back to normal (I am stroking my laptop just now).

I think the tube image must be shifting around and doing funny things to my brain. I even wonder if some month long nausia spells might have been caused by it. My brother says he wet his bed when he was a child due to flickering flourencent lights at school. I use my laptop in a room with dim room lights and use it at the lowest brightness setting. The clarity of my DELL 8000 15" 1400 x 1000 screen is wonderful. I would hate to go back to using the fuzzy tube or a resolution lower than this.

I can generally view two pages of 10 pt text side by side. The more I can see at one time, the faster I work. My experience is that a LCD screen can be viewed closer by and can have about 1.40 times the dots per inch of a tube monitor. So even a 10.5" LCD could work well at 1024 x 768, but this depends on your eyes. Before I started using my LCD, I thought that I needed the identical resolution per inch of my tube monitor, but I personally don't think this needs to be the case.

The viewing angle of the DELL 8000 is pretty good, but much better than another LCD I had from another maker for awhile. So watch out. The colors seem good, but I have nothing to compare to.

Ben
 
LCD panels are good IF you buy a decent, modern video card that can drive a panel directly via a DVI-I interface.

The Matrox G550 is probably the best 2D and a decent to good 3D video card. Cost is less than $100-. The G550 can drive two displays under win2k and xp.

Running a digital flat panel from an older video card and an analog/vga connector forces the display signals to be converted at least 3 times, possibly 6 from digital to analog and back again before the signals hit the screen. Waste of time, quite inefficient, and the multiple conversions detracts from sharpness and purity.

Cheap flat panels are worse than a conventional analog tube display.

Good flat panels when paired up with a decent video card are as good as all but the most expensive tube displays.

I have three Philips 170B panels bought a year ago. There are newer panels that are less expensive and just as good.

Insist on using DVI interfaces for both your video card AND the flat panel.
Mark Brown said:
Deskspace is an issue for me. How do they work for digital
workflow? Suggestions on buying? Thanks.
Click to expand...
 
Ben,

I think your problem with the CRT monitor is a result of the refresh rate itself. Oftentime, I see the refresh rate of of the video card being set at 60Hz. This frequency is to low and the flickering causes many people to get a headache. You should change the refresh rate of your video card to the fastest that your monitor can handle. It should solve your eye/headache problems.

To change your refresh rate, go to your desktop, do a right click, click on properties, click on settings / advanced / adapter. Change the refresh rate here, try something like 70 Hz or higher, being careful not to use higher frequency than ur monitor can handle.

Flat screen monitors are nice, but they have a problem with graphics because they can't refresh fast enough. It takes time for images to fade and new images to come on screen. This is a limitation of existing LCD technology. Future flat screens should be much better. Before buying a flat screen, I would want to test it with any graphical apps (including games) that will be used on the computer.
Ben Wiens said:
Mark Brown wrote:
Click to expand...
Deskspace is an issue for me. How do they work
Ben Wiens said:
for digital workflow? Suggestions on buying? Thanks.

I used a desktop computer and a good quality NEC monitor for 10
years. Now I use a laptop with LCD screen. I have reclaimed my
desk, it is wonderful. Personally I like the idea of the laptop as
I can move the whole keyboard and screen around my desk as one
unit. I put it on a slippery pad.

Regarding the LCD? Well about one year after starting with
computers my eye lids started doing the spastic thing. My eyes felt
tired and sore and I started having trouble with very dry eyes. One
doctor even told me I was going blind. After about 12 months of
using the LCD, my eyes are pretty much back to normal (I am
stroking my laptop just now).

I think the tube image must be shifting around and doing funny
things to my brain. I even wonder if some month long nausia spells
might have been caused by it. My brother says he wet his bed when
he was a child due to flickering flourencent lights at school. I
use my laptop in a room with dim room lights and use it at the
lowest brightness setting. The clarity of my DELL 8000 15" 1400 x
1000 screen is wonderful. I would hate to go back to using the
fuzzy tube or a resolution lower than this.

I can generally view two pages of 10 pt text side by side. The more
I can see at one time, the faster I work. My experience is that a
LCD screen can be viewed closer by and can have about 1.40 times
the dots per inch of a tube monitor. So even a 10.5" LCD could work
well at 1024 x 768, but this depends on your eyes. Before I started
using my LCD, I thought that I needed the identical resolution per
inch of my tube monitor, but I personally don't think this needs to
be the case.

The viewing angle of the DELL 8000 is pretty good, but much better
than another LCD I had from another maker for awhile. So watch out.
The colors seem good, but I have nothing to compare to.

Ben
Click to expand...
--John
 
newsposter said:
The Matrox G550 is probably the best 2D and a decent to good 3D
video card. Cost is less than $100-. The G550 can drive two
displays under win2k and xp.

Running a digital flat panel from an older video card and an
analog/vga connector forces the display signals to be converted at
least 3 times, possibly 6 from digital to analog and back again
before the signals hit the screen. Waste of time, quite
inefficient, and the multiple conversions detracts from sharpness
and purity.

Cheap flat panels are worse than a conventional analog tube display.

Good flat panels when paired up with a decent video card are as
good as all but the most expensive tube displays.

I have three Philips 170B panels bought a year ago. There are
newer panels that are less expensive and just as good.

Insist on using DVI interfaces for both your video card AND the
flat panel.
Mark Brown said:
Deskspace is an issue for me. How do they work for digital
workflow? Suggestions on buying? Thanks.
Click to expand...
Look at kds lcd and staples sells them cheap that is where i got mine.
Click to expand...
 
I switched from CRT to LCD 18 months ago. I spend upwards of 12 hours a day at my computer and find LCD much easier on the eye.

Only a small fraction of my time is spent looking at graphics, but for my purposes, the quality is fine. Obviously, the more you spend the better quality you will get. I have two NEC LCDs connected to my desktop, and the graphics quality is superior to the screen on my Dell laptop (which in total cost about the same as the NECs).

I would not go back to CRT.
Ben Wiens said:
Mark Brown wrote:
Click to expand...
Deskspace is an issue for me. How do they work
Ben Wiens said:
for digital workflow? Suggestions on buying? Thanks.

I used a desktop computer and a good quality NEC monitor for 10
years. Now I use a laptop with LCD screen. I have reclaimed my
desk, it is wonderful. Personally I like the idea of the laptop as
I can move the whole keyboard and screen around my desk as one
unit. I put it on a slippery pad.

Regarding the LCD? Well about one year after starting with
computers my eye lids started doing the spastic thing. My eyes felt
tired and sore and I started having trouble with very dry eyes. One
doctor even told me I was going blind. After about 12 months of
using the LCD, my eyes are pretty much back to normal (I am
stroking my laptop just now).

I think the tube image must be shifting around and doing funny
things to my brain. I even wonder if some month long nausia spells
might have been caused by it. My brother says he wet his bed when
he was a child due to flickering flourencent lights at school. I
use my laptop in a room with dim room lights and use it at the
lowest brightness setting. The clarity of my DELL 8000 15" 1400 x
1000 screen is wonderful. I would hate to go back to using the
fuzzy tube or a resolution lower than this.

I can generally view two pages of 10 pt text side by side. The more
I can see at one time, the faster I work. My experience is that a
LCD screen can be viewed closer by and can have about 1.40 times
the dots per inch of a tube monitor. So even a 10.5" LCD could work
well at 1024 x 768, but this depends on your eyes. Before I started
using my LCD, I thought that I needed the identical resolution per
inch of my tube monitor, but I personally don't think this needs to
be the case.

The viewing angle of the DELL 8000 is pretty good, but much better
than another LCD I had from another maker for awhile. So watch out.
The colors seem good, but I have nothing to compare to.

Ben
Click to expand...
 
Johnweb wrote:

Ben, I think your problem with the CRT monitor is a result of the refresh rate itself. Oftentime, I see the refresh rate of of the video card being set at 60Hz. This frequency is to low and the flickering causes many people to get a headache. You should change the refresh rate of your video card to the fastest that your monitor can handle. It should solve your eye/headache problems.

Ben reply: Actually I did have the monitor and video card set to 70Hz. I bought the NEC monitor because it was the only early monitor that would handle the high refresh rate.
 
Joe,

For graphic games you don't want to buy any of the older generation LCD as they have this afterglow which makes it hard to play games with. Before you buy one, you need to go and actually play game on one. LCD looks good with a static graphic, but might cause a headache with fast changing graphics. Newer LCD tend to have better refresh and contrast.

The following article have a good technical disccusion of various LCD models with pro/con on LCD vs CRT.

http://www.tomshardware.com/display/02q1/020114/index.html
Joe Krol said:
How are LCD displays with graphic intensive games? Joe
Click to expand...
--John
 
the article at toms carries forward info that is atleast a full year out of date.......
jryanweb said:
For graphic games you don't want to buy any of the older generation
LCD as they have this afterglow which makes it hard to play games
with. Before you buy one, you need to go and actually play game on
one. LCD looks good with a static graphic, but might cause a
headache with fast changing graphics. Newer LCD tend to have
better refresh and contrast.

The following article have a good technical disccusion of various
LCD models with pro/con on LCD vs CRT.

http://www.tomshardware.com/display/02q1/020114/index.html
Joe Krol said:
How are LCD displays with graphic intensive games? Joe
Click to expand...
--
John
Click to expand...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Keyboard shortcuts

f
Forum
m
My threads
Mobile site
About
Editorial content
Cameras & Lenses
Community
All content, design, and layout are Copyright © 1998–2025 Digital Photography Review All Rights Reserved.
Reproduction in whole or part in any form or medium without specific written permission is prohibited.
When you use DPReview links to buy products, the site may earn a commission.
©GPS Media - Guides, Products, Services.
Back
Top