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Thread ID: 100859	2009-06-23 09:21:00	LCD question for you graphic designers on F1	braindead (1685)	Press F1

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
784975	2009-06-23 09:21:00	If you don't have $2000-plus to splash out on a calibrateable LaCie LCD graphics monitor, which lower-priced LCDs would you aim for that would get you into the ballpark, quality and tweakability wise? My workflow can't justify that kind of outlay at the moment and my IBM Trinitron monster monitor isn't cutting it any more as far as good blacks are concerned. Muchos Gracias!	braindead (1685)
784976	2009-06-23 09:28:00	Although I don't have much knowledge in this area I do know that the human can only see the certain percentage of all colors, There no point in getting a screen that can produce 32 million different colors(or more) when you can only see 7 million; Your best bet is to go into a local retailer and look at there monitors, If you find one you like pricespy it and get it for cheaper.	PCT Joe (15018)
784977	2009-06-23 22:06:00	I haven't looked at LCDs in a while, but ones with an IPS (en.wikipedia.org) panel have pretty good colour accuracy compared to the cheaper TN based ones. I have a Dell 2007WFP and it has an S-IPS panel which has a very nice picture :) Check the forums at DPReview (forums.dpreview.com) to see what some photographers are using as they will have similar needs. TFT Central (http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/) has a database of what type of panel is in a particular monitor. There is a Danish site with a similar database, but I can't remember the link offhand.	autechre (266)
784978	2009-06-23 22:07:00	pls delete - double post	autechre (266)
784979	2009-06-23 22:33:00	Great post autechre - thanks for that info! Thanks to you too PCT Joe :)	braindead (1685)
784980	2009-06-23 23:20:00	All monitors can be calibrated. Also you don't need $2000 :D The best monitor (that I know of) is the 24" lp2475, around $1100. Has an LG H-IPS panel so it has wide viewing angles, true 16.7m colour (TN panels can only display 262,000 colours and use dithering to approximate the rest) and wide gamut. For me, the most important is viewing angle; with cheaper TN panels, a solid colour looks darker at the top than at the bottom, even if your head is at the 'sweet spot'. It also has very deep blacks as well is full rotate, tilt and pivot (landscape to portrait) functions on the stand. In addition it has 2x DVI, HDMI (with spdif output for hdmi audio), displayport, composite, component and svideo output. Do you know much about the panel types? I can post more information about panel types if you need it, or you can seach my previous posts. If 24" is too large, there is also the dell 2209wa, it is the only 22" IPS I'm aware of.	utopian201 (6245)
784981	2009-06-24 00:05:00	Now we're cookin' utopian201. Thanks mate. That sounds like its definitely in the ballpark. I've just been looking at the links autechre provided and came across an NEC LED 2690 WUXi which looked interesting. But the morons at NEC don't know who stocks them in NZ and gave me names of retailers who don't :xmouth: I don't know anything about panel types so you're starting with a fresh mind :) HDMI is a definite yes since I'll be using it for video editing as well. Sure - I'll look up your previous posts and much appreciate your input.	braindead (1685)
784982	2009-06-24 00:21:00	yea, I was considering getting a NEC 2490 WUXi, but it didn't look like it was available in NZ. The NEC is standard gamut vs HP's wide gamut. The NEC also has a polarizer so blacks stay black at extreme viewing angles (where as on the HP, the backlight starts to shine through a bit when viewing right on the edge). My other alternative was the Dell 2408wfp (Samsung PVA screen). But I chose the HP because: H-IPS (vs Dell's S-PVA) - it is the cheapest 24" IPS I know of. was only slightly more expensive than the Dell ($1080 vs Dell at around $999 I think - these were prices early this year before NZ dollar dropped) While both have HDMI input, the HP has spdif output, so you can take the audio signal from HDMI and output it to a 5.1 spdif receiver. The dell only has a stereo sound output (:S - which breaks the whole multimedia aspect of HDMI if you ask me!). The only other difference is the dell has a memory card reader and a 4 port USB hub. The HP has a 6 port usb hub and no memory card reader (which I would find more useful). What will you be using it for? Depending on how 'professional' you are, the LP2475w will give you about 60-70% performance of the LP2480zx (the ultimate in professional monitors - it was designed for dreamworks animation) at about 25-50% of the price. I have a 30kg Philips battle tank of a trinitron monitor and only IPS panels can meet/surpass its image quality. Copied from a previous post: You can check which panel a certain screen has here: www.tftcentral.co.uk The main LCD panel types are: TN: Lowest cost, worst viewing angles and colour reproduction, low image processing lag. Apparently best for fast paced gaming, worst for image editing and professsional work where colour accuracy is important. TN panels can only display 262k colours natively and use dithering to display 16.7m. *VA (MVA, PVA, S-PVA): Middle of the road, better viewing angles and colour reproduction, typically high image processing lag (as high as 64ms!). Typically best black levels and contrast. Can display 16.7m colours but unfortunately (or fortunately if you're a design professional) most newer panels of this type are wide gamut, meaning sRGB images are oversaturated in non colour managed applications. Can suffer from slight horizontal contrast shift (like TN's vertical contrast shift, but not as obvious) IPS (S-IPS, H-IPS): Most expensive technology, viewing angles and colour reproduction almost as good as (or even better than) that of a CRT, medium image processing (between 20-40ms). Almost all are wide gamut (which is a disadvantage, or an advantage depending on how you look at it). No contrast shift. All panel types have similar response times so ghosting is not really a problem anymore. Although some panels use overdrive, so you get a 'negative' ghosting effect, depending on the background eg on the TN (viewsonic 22") I'm using now, there is a slight ghosting trail, which isn't noticable on my IPS screen. So in this instance, TN has worse ghosting than IPS, even though the TN has a "quicker" documented (5ms for TN, 6ms for IPS) response time.	utopian201 (6245)
784983	2009-06-24 00:43:00	Wow! Thank you for taking the time to post all that info utopian201. I'm a professional amateur :) I'll mainly be using the monitor for graphics work and somewhat less so for HD video editing. I don't know how that mix of workflow would succeed. I'll research a bit more using your info. I can relate to the tank. Everytime I lift my 22" IBM CRT I have to be hospitalised :) But what a picture! The blacks/brightness are not what they used to be. I bought it used for $100. Not too bad :)	braindead (1685)
784984	2009-06-24 04:26:00	Let me know which monitor you end up getting. When I was looking for screens, I scoured the internet for reviews to find one with the best bang for buck. Apparently the HP does have some QC issues, but I was lucky enough to get a defect free one. I think robbyP got one too, but his one had dead pixels. Heres a recent overview about monitors technology: www.anandtech.com it basically says you get what you pay for and there can be massive differences between a $400 and $1000 24" screen.	utopian201 (6245)
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