I have a similar question: I want two new monitors, but such a monitor that is the absolute best for the health of the eyes. I want to spend until € 2000,- piece. Not much bigger than 22 inch, but it has to be really relaxing while working on it for many hours/day and the colour/image output has to be the best possible.
I was actually looking to Eizo CG222W and NEC Spectraview 2490, but very probably there are better options available...
Both are good choices.
I also would like to know more about TN, PVA, NVA and IPS monitor technology in relation to the health of the eyes.
As far as eye health issues, I doubt there is much difference between panel tehnologies.
But in terms of color reproduction, stability and correctness, there are substantial differences.
For image editing with any ambition at all in regards to colors, forget about TN based displays. We are unfortenately stuck with them in laptops, but lets keep it there.
The main problem with TN panels is the substantial shift in color, color temperature and contrast depending on the viewing angle. This is most clearly noticeable vertically - to a degree where you have distinct differences in color, color temperature and contrast between the bottom part and the top part of an image you are looking at regardless of how you position your head.
Another issue is that TN panels almsot always only have 6 bit color (per color channel), that means just 64 shades of red, green and blue respectively as compared to the 8 bit MVA/PVA/IPS displays who has 256 shades per color channel. Now they compensate this by various dithering technologies, like FRC (Frame Rate Control) where you basically flip subpixels between color tones and trick the eye (or rather the brain) to see intermideate tones.
Least but not last, TN panels are typically used for the cheapest displays, meaning other components like the back lightning and the internal electronics are often the cheapest possible. This is of course not a fault in TN technology as such, but you can often assume that a TN display will be more unevenly lit, be less stable over time and have less calibration capabilities and color precision.
MVA and PVA have some very slight shift in contrast and brightness depending on the angle, but nowhere near what you see in a TN based display. PVA panels can be used for serious editing (Eizo has made several PVA based pro grade models). Some people though find PVA panels a bit "harsh", this is probably because they can display such immense native contrasts (1000:1, 1500:1 and beyond) - keep in mind that print on paper usually have a contrast of roughly 150:1 so these contrasts are indeed very high.
(And a note on contrast values: Many modern displays sports a technology with various names but often called "dynamic contrast" and giving absolutely stunning contrast values of 10000:1, 50000:1, 100000:1 and beyond). A very useful tehnology for watching movies or even playing games. But since the technology involves varying teh brightness depending on what is displayed, it is an absolute no-no for serious color use. Just forget those fancy contrast values in cheap displays, they mean sqat to us color people.)
IPS panels have almost no shift at all regardless of viewing angle and is probably the most popular technology for serious color work. IPS panel tend to feel a bit "softer" then PVA displays, mainly because a lower native contrast (but still beyond what we really need).
My tip: Go for IPS or PVA based displays if you work with photos.
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By the way, film is not dead.
It just smell funny
