Computer Graphics with Photoshop - which 19-21" LCD monitor?

Author

which 19-21" LCD monitor?

Bill Hilton

2006-07-10, 6:18 pm

OK, the old 21" CRT is flickering and apparently on its last legs (the
gamut of the last ICC profile is shrinking) ... worked great for years
so no complaints but it's time to bite the bullet and replace it,
probably with an LCD since that's almost all I can find.

So, any recommendations for a 19-21" LCD that, ideally, interfaces well
with the Gretag Eye-One ... say up to $800?

Hunt, you and I live in the same town and I know you make your own
custom boxes ... any recommendations for stores in our locale with high
end graphics monitors? I'm looking at Fry's for the most part, with
their 21" HP's and Samsung Syncmasters or similar, but hopefully there
are better specialty stores? Ideally well to the south of you :)

Bill

Larry Scripts

2006-07-10, 6:18 pm

My brother just bought this LCD monitor. It is beautiful and fast!

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...N82E16824009061

Larry

Bill Hilton

2006-07-10, 6:18 pm

> Larry Scripts wrote:
> My brother just bought this LCD monitor. It is beautiful and fast!
>
> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...N82E16824009061

Thanks Larry ... two questions ...

It's an Acer and I assume Acer doesn't make monitors and that it's
re-branded, so anyone know the original manufacturer?

Also, on the Newegg site there were a lot of positive comments from
game boys but none from people using Photoshop or other high end
graphics programs. Anyone know how well this monitor does with typical
monitor calibration programs?

Bill

Jack F. Twist

2006-07-10, 6:18 pm

"Bill Hilton" <bhilton665@aol.com> wrote in message news:1152065825.289865.295300@m73g2000cwd.googlegroups.com...
>
> Thanks Larry ... two questions ...
>
> It's an Acer and I assume Acer doesn't make monitors and that it's
> re-branded, so anyone know the original manufacturer?
>
> Also, on the Newegg site there were a lot of positive comments from
> game boys but none from people using Photoshop or other high end
> graphics programs. Anyone know how well this monitor does with typical
> monitor calibration programs?

Calibration doesn't mean much when a monitor has limited
color gamut. LCDs have excellent response but within a
narrower (usually much narrower) gamut. Unless you've
got $4K (or more) to spend on a high-end Eizo, NEC
Spectraview etc LCDs are not the best choice for graphic
editing.

Larry Scripts

2006-07-10, 6:18 pm

I don't know who actually makes the monitor. An LCD does have a limited gamut. He said he was already using an LCD monitor, so I
just told him about a new one. I still prefer a CRT because of the better gamut.

Larry

Roy G

2006-07-10, 6:18 pm

"Larry Scripts" <larryscripts@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:44ac2ae2$0$15787$14726298@news.sunsite.dk...
>I don't know who actually makes the monitor. An LCD does have a limited
>gamut. He said he was already using an LCD monitor, so I
> just told him about a new one. I still prefer a CRT because of the better
> gamut.
>
> Larry
>
>
Hi.

I have enclosed a posting which I saved off of one of these groups some time
ago. I have managed to lose the headers, so I will apologise now to Paul
for not being able to give him the credit for the research.

I hope you find it as interesting as I did.

Copy starts here>>

I was surprised a while back when I heard that Sony were stopping CRT
production, followed by a few other manufacturers, since up to that point I
was under the impression that LCD technology couldn't compete for colour
accuracy. But Sony surely wouldn't have made that decision otherwise. I
then had my attention drawn to a series of photos taken inside the Adobe
building in which there was no CRT to be seen! So if Adobe only use LCDs I
figured it was probably time to change! Others who saw those photos
identified many of the monitors to be the Dell 2405FPW.

Apparently the Dell 2405FPW is an extremely good 24" widescreen monitor from
a colour accuracy point of view, yet it's cheaper than the rest of the
competition, which seems a contradition in terms. Check out this review;
http://www.behardware.com/articles/...rs-roundup.html

The key thing to be aware of when buying an LCD monitor for use with photo
processing is the screen technology used. There are three main types, IPS,
VA and TN. TN is the most common, and cheapest, but doesn't have true
24-bit colour. Good for gaming but not photo processing. VA is the one to
go for if you are serious about photography. Unfortunately, the LCD
technology used is often not stated in many tech specs, so you may have to
do a bit of searching to find out. If it isn't mentioned, it's probably a
TN. BeHardware is a good site for LCD reviews, but their coverage of
different models is limited.
http://www.behardware.com/articles/...a-nutshell.html

Since the LCD technology is the key thing, the manufacturer is less
important, so don't worry about the brand name on the front, instead try to
find out which company made the screen. I believe Samsung and AU Optronics
are two of the best VA screen manufacturers. The Dell 2405FPW uses a
Samsung screen, yet is considerably cheaper than the Samsung model which
uses the same screen. Viewsonic produce some excellent monitors, using the
AU Optronics screens, check out this article;
http://www.behardware.com/articles/...tor-killer.html
Although I believe this model has already been superceded. Things are
changing very fast in the LCD world.

I recently bought the Belinea 10 20 35W, a 20" widescreen. Previously I
wouldn't have touched Belinea with a bargepole, but it uses an AU Optronics
MVA screen and is very affordable (make that "was", a new import tax is set
to change that). Looking at the Color Quality page of the review, you'll
see that the colour accuracy out of the box is pretty awful (average delta
6.5) but after calibration it scores a superb 0.5, so take no notice of the
poor colour quality score in the conclusion, that only applies if you don't
calibrate it. I'm very pleased with it, the blacks are really black and it
has much better shadow detail than my ageing CRT.
http://www.behardware.com/articles/...a-vs-s-ips.html

Paul

<<<<End

Roy G

Timo Autiokari

2006-07-10, 6:18 pm

Jack F. Twist wrote:

> Unless you've got $4K (or more) to spend on a high-end
> Eizo, NEC Spectraview etc LCDs are not the best choice
> for graphic editing.

LCD technology is not good for digital imaging nor graphics work and no
amount of money change that fact. LCD has much more severe problems than
the gamut issue, namely the dark end (blackpoint) is not not properly
black and the viewing angle will change the appearance way much too much.

My gamma calibration targets show some of the errors of the LCD displays
quite well, go to
http://www.aim-dtp.net/aim/evaluati...space/index.htm and from the
left pane select the gamma calibration target that appears to be as gray
as possible, usually it will be 2.5 but could be somewhat lower.

Position the target at about center of the screen and then move your
head something like 20cm (or 8 inch) up, down left right. Pay close
attention to the appearance of all the test sections while evaluating.

At the left edge the target has a gray gamma calibration wedge, this
section covers the whole range from level 0 to 255 and comprises two
vertical portions. What kind of change do you notice between these two
vertical portions while evaluating? There should not be any change and
will not be on a CRT monitor.

At the center of the target there is per-channel gamma calibration
wedge, this section also covers the whole range from level 0 to 255 and
comprises three vertical portions. What kind of change do you notice
between these three vertical portions while evaluating? There should not
be any change, and will not be on a CRT monitor.

At the right edge the target has two dark bars for the purpose of coarse
blackpoint check (from the normal viewing distance, under your normal
working illumination, you should be able to just barely discern the
pattern in the uppermost bar but not at all in the lowermost bar, but
this is not the issue here). How does the appearance of these two check
patterns change while evaluating? There should not be any change, and
will not be on a CRT monitor.

Timo Autiokari

Jack F. Twist

2006-07-10, 6:18 pm

"Timo Autiokari" <timo.autiokari@aim-dtp.net> wrote in message news:Vzxrg.15647$5O2.11860@reader1.news.jippii.net...
> Jack F. Twist wrote:
>
>
> LCD technology is not good for digital imaging nor graphics work and no
> amount of money change that fact. LCD has much more severe problems than
> the gamut issue, namely the dark end (blackpoint) is not not properly
> black and the viewing angle will change the appearance way much too much.

The LCDs I referred to use LED backlights, not CFFL lamps,
e.g. http://www.trustedreviews.com/article.aspx?art=2148 and
don't suffer from the same gamut limitations. These monitors
exceed the gamut range of all consumer CRTs. They're capable
of displaying 107% of AdobeRGB.

hoffmann@fho-emden.de

2006-07-10, 6:18 pm

Jack,

the very expensive TFT monitor Eizo Color Edge CG19
is near to sRGB, but many blues/magentas are missing.
Not the least near to AdobeRGB(98).

Best regards --Gernot Hoffmann