LCD monitor noob. Please help!

Ok. Excuse the noob here. Sorry if it was already covered a million times. I've searched and am still confused.
I'm trying to catch up with LCD monitor world.

So far I've seen all this various information about them and I am very very confused.
I've read about IPS/S-IPS etc. What I still don't understand is these:
1. Are IPS monotrs 8 bit or 6 bit

2. How to tell which monitor is which? None of the vendors list any of the more interesting specs. IPS or whatever...

3. How to tell is a monitor 8bit or 6bit one. Again the same story: this info is not listed ever. No colors count or bit count.

4. I kinda understand that HP LP2065 was considered by most to be the best monitor. Then I heard that they switched the panel from IPS to something. Is that true? How is it now?

5. What if I want something widescreen around 23inches. What panel/standard/technology/particular monitor to look at? I want 8bit, good response rate, overall good photo and video performance.

Thank you all for help in advance. Flame suit is on.

mebi6966 said:

Ok. Excuse the noob here. Sorry if it was already covered a million
times. I've searched and am still confused.
I'm trying to catch up with LCD monitor world.
So far I've seen all this various information about them and I am
very very confused.
I've read about IPS/S-IPS etc. What I still don't understand is these:
1. Are IPS monotrs 8 bit or 6 bit
2. How to tell which monitor is which? None of the vendors list any
of the more interesting specs. IPS or whatever...
3. How to tell is a monitor 8bit or 6bit one. Again the same story:
this info is not listed ever. No colors count or bit count.
4. I kinda understand that HP LP2065 was considered by most to be the
best monitor. Then I heard that they switched the panel from IPS to
something. Is that true? How is it now?
5. What if I want something widescreen around 23inches. What
panel/standard/technology/particular monitor to look at? I want
8bit, good response rate, overall good photo and video performance.

Thank you all for help in advance. Flame suit is on.

Click to expand...

Hi,

There is a website http://www.flatpanels.dk . You can find a lot of info. It is in dutch but has a button to see in english.
And here is a link to a thread about HP LP2065.

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/readflat.asp?forum=1004&message=27162316&q=hp+lp2065&qf=m

Hope it helps.

--
Best regards

^^^ am I blind? I don't see "english" button on that flatpanels.dk

Hi,

When you first open this site click on the fourth item in the list on left with little magnifying glass beside it (Panelsogning). On this page you will see two dark blue buttons (Dansk English and Print Tekst). Click on the word "English".
Sorry I was not clear first time.
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Best regards

8 bit vs 6 bit

Most IPS panels are 8 bit or better. Very few, if any, will be 6 bit. The IPS panel is reserved for better quality monitors and few manufacturers are going to squander a premium panel by matching it to 6 bit electronics.

A former tip off was the color depth specification:

NEC 2490WUxi = 16.77 million = 8bit

HP LP2065 = 16.7 million = 8 bit
http://www.prad.de/en/guide/screen2723.html

HP W2207 = 16.2 million = 6 bit interpolated/dithered to 8 bit
http://www.prad.de/en/guide/screen3733.html

However, I'm not sure that color depth is still an accurate way to determine the bits. This next site explains where the color depth calculation comes from.

http://compreviews.about.com/od/multimedia/a/LCDColor.htm

Go through the PRAD web site and you will see many of the TN paneled monitors stated with a color depth of 16.2 million but some, like the Samsung 245B, is stated at 16.7 million.

My standard suggested reading....

The Anand LCD Thread

http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.aspx?catid=31&threadid=2049206&enterthread=y

XBit LCD Testing Methodology
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/other/display/lcd-testmethods_7.html#sect0

Use to discover panel types (type in IPS, etc)
http://www.flatpanels.dk/panels.php
http://tftcentral.co.uk/search.php?query=ips&select=panel

(these two sites are typically accurate but sometimes mfg's change panels in mid-model run)

Use to see & compare monitor screens from various angles:
http://www.digitalversus.com/duels.php?ty=6&ma1=36&mo1=104&p1=1040&ma2=52&ph=8
(and the link should show two monitors that while not the best, are good)

Review sites that shows images of the monitors viewed from various angles:
http://www.behardware.com/html/cat/22/
http://www.anandtech.com/displays/
http://www.prad.de/en/monitore/reviews.html

Some review sites that get technical:
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/other/
http://www.extremetech.com/category2/0,1695,23466,00.asp

A review sites that covers a lot of displays:
http://www.trustedreviews.com/displays/

How to search this PC Talk forum using Google web search

http://www.google.com/webhp?hl=en&tab=iw

Type in> > site:forums.dpreview.com "forum=1004" your search words

(keep the quotation marks around "forum=1004" to search the "PC Talk" forum or substitute your fave forum number; remove the "forum=1004" to search ALL of the dpreview forums)

Cheers !

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Newsy FZ20 user
http://newsy.smugmug.com

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