Hi

I am wondered on whether I should buy the expensive 22" LCD monitor (like $1,200+) or an average one cost $600 plus buying a couple hundred on an calibrate tool like the SpyPro, etc...

Thanks for all of your C&C.

Sam

I use a sub $300 Hanns-G 22'' with my MBP 15'' very happily. Both calibrated with Huey Pro. Very close, though the Hanns is still a bit more saturated.

That being said, my eyes have not witnessed the beauty of 90%-110% gamut coverage of higher end monitors.

My few cents...

Ben

I would say buy monitor between $600-1200 more likely to $900 and the profiling tool...
what good $1200 monitor will do for you if showing colors incorrectly?

Thanks for the comments, and I concurred to Kosin's statement, just to make sure my logic is alright, considered the price range. Of course, if I am "filthy rich" I would buy the best LCD, plus the best calibration tool. Perhaps, it will be in my next karma

Sam

I'm a little lost on what you're talking about. As far as I'm aware, there is no such thing is a commercially available 22" LCD that costs more then $600.

As a general rule of thumb, 22"s are terrible monitors. With the exception of the Lenovo 220x, they all feature the same resolution (1680x1050) as a 20" lcd, which means a garbage pixel pitch.

Alongside that, you've got the fact that they're all TN panels (except the Lenovo), which are horrific for photography due to poor color reproduction, bad viewing angles etc.

You'll either want a high end 23" or 24" LCD for what you want to spend (Apple Cinema Display, NEC) on the low end, or a 30" LCD like the Dell 3007WFP for the $1200 range.

No monitor comes well calibrated, but the NEC's are pretty close.

You really don't need to spend more then $200 on a hardware calibration tool - a nice Spyder calibrator or Huey do great jobs.

Remember - you will never, no matter how calibrated it is, get good quality out of a 22" monitor.

Keep your eye out for S-IPS panels because they are the highest quality of the available panel types. PVA and MVA are in second place, with TN as by far the worst for photography/color accurate work.

Thanks Taylor Barrett, do you have any model# for those brands you mentioned so I can google and compare?

Sam

Taylor Barrett wrote:
I'm a little lost on what you're talking about. As far as I'm aware, there is no such thing is a commercially available 22" LCD that costs more then $600.

As a general rule of thumb, 22"s are terrible monitors. With the exception of the Lenovo 220x, they all feature the same resolution (1680x1050) as a 20" lcd, which means a garbage pixel pitch.

Alongside that, you've got the fact that they're all TN panels (except the Lenovo), which are horrific for photography due to poor color reproduction, bad viewing angles etc.

You'll either want a high end 23" or 24" LCD for what you want to spend (Apple Cinema Display, NEC) on the low end, or a 30" LCD like the Dell 3007WFP for the $1200 range.

No monitor comes well calibrated, but the NEC's are pretty close.

You really don't need to spend more then $200 on a hardware calibration tool - a nice Spyder calibrator or Huey do great jobs.

Remember - you will never, no matter how calibrated it is, get good quality out of a 22" monitor.

Keep your eye out for S-IPS panels because they are the highest quality of the available panel types. PVA and MVA are in second place, with TN as by far the worst for photography/color accurate work.

This is all very good advice .. except I would add the 24" iMac has a very nice S-IPS panel monitor.

I have a question, somewhat on topic....

I have 2 CRTs right now....the main one is a 19" ViewSonic Professional PF790, and a crappy Samtron 76V for palettes and the like. I've been thinking about a LCD display (or 2) to replace these CRTs.

Is there any advantage to LCD over CRT, other than space? I use a Spyder2Express to calibrate the Viewsonic.

Thanks.

No matter what monitor you NEED a calibration tool.

Taylor Barrett wrote:
I'm a little lost on what you're talking about. As far as I'm aware, there is no such thing is a commercially available 22" LCD that costs more then $600.


The only one I know of is the new Viewsonic 221 with LED backlights and a 12000:1 contrast ratio. I think it goes for $800 on Newegg now.

But I agree, there's no reason anyone should be spending more than $325 on a 22" monitor. You can buy a superb Samsung or Viewsonic for <$290.

Go with an NEC monitor (21")... similar quality without the price of an Eizo, Apple or LaCie and the IPS panel is pretty darn accurate out of the box.

pipspeak wrote:
Go with an NEC monitor (21")... similar quality without the price of an Eizo, Apple or LaCie and the IPS panel is pretty darn accurate out of the box.

Any model numbers to reference?

And can someone elaborate/define these LCD panel acronyms for me?



Keep your eye out for S-IPS panels because they are the highest quality of the available panel types. PVA and MVA are in second place, with TN as by far the worst for photography/color accurate work.

I have purchased two View Sonics; both went out immediately after the warranty went out!
No more!

How can we tell which type of TN, IPS, MVA or PVA a screen uses?

+1 for NEC... you can pick up a 21+ inch NEC IPS panel for about $600-$700 and it's the same quality but far cheaper than the graphics big boys (Some Lacie monitors are actually rebranded NECs). Worth remembering is that NEC is perhaps the largest supplier of medical monitors in the world... and medical monitors have to be very color accurate.

I have an NEC Multisync LCD 2180UX and it was almost perfect out of the box. Check TigerDirect for refurbs... they are often half the price of new.

Edited by pipspeak on May 13, 2008 at 08:42 AM GMT

zepart949 wrote:
How can we tell which type of TN, IPS, MVA or PVA a screen uses?

http://www.flatpanels.dk/panels.php

You might have to try a few different permutations of a monitor name/number but you should find most there.

Mike Mahoney wrote:
Taylor Barrett wrote:
I'm a little lost on what you're talking about. As far as I'm aware, there is no such thing is a commercially available 22" LCD that costs more then $600.

As a general rule of thumb, 22"s are terrible monitors. With the exception of the Lenovo 220x, they all feature the same resolution (1680x1050) as a 20" lcd, which means a garbage pixel pitch.

Alongside that, you've got the fact that they're all TN panels (except the Lenovo), which are horrific for photography due to poor color reproduction, bad viewing angles etc.

You'll either want a high end 23" or 24" LCD for what you want to spend (Apple Cinema Display, NEC) on the low end, or a 30" LCD like the Dell 3007WFP for the $1200 range.

No monitor comes well calibrated, but the NEC's are pretty close.

You really don't need to spend more then $200 on a hardware calibration tool - a nice Spyder calibrator or Huey do great jobs.

Remember - you will never, no matter how calibrated it is, get good quality out of a 22" monitor.

Keep your eye out for S-IPS panels because they are the highest quality of the available panel types. PVA and MVA are in second place, with TN as by far the worst for photography/color accurate work.

This is all very good advice .. except I would add the 24" iMac has a very nice S-IPS panel monitor.


Do you know if the 20" Imac has a S-IPS panel?

I have a 20" Imac Core Duo 2, not latest metal one, the previous white plastic one.

I also use a Dell 20" 2007 screen that i believe has a very good panel in it as i find that the dell screen is much more accurate than my imac even when both calibrated in identical light with a Spyder 2 Pro.

Chris

Eizo is the only way to go.

Of course if you have the space for a couple of CRT's, the Sony Trinitions are extremely good and can be bought 2nd hand for around the price of a burger and chips these days. Personally I find the colour reproduction of any decent calibrated CRT better than the ACD that I had, far far easier to calibrate and because you can control the brightness, really control it, you don't need to work in a super bright room just to get the screen brightness to a normal level. It is a bit silly that you can buy a Sony Artisan for far less than a decent consumer LCD and it will be far better. On the other hand it does weigh 32kg. For me the ability to work in a room with normal lighting and getting perfect colour from $30 screens far outweighs buying huge, horribly expensive and not actually that good LCD's. YMMV or course..

Hey Zepart, I guess you have to be in the "secret society" or have a decoder ring!
Seriously guys, I'd like to purchase an LCD to replace my old CRT but have no idea how to tell the difference between S-IPS or TN and what the heck it means. I think I've figured out that S-IPS means a wider view angle and color/brightness doesn't change with viewing angle but other than that I have no idea even how to tell or ask. The guys at BestBuy just looked at me with a stupid look when I asked what type of panel a monitor had. I would appreciate any help or if someone knows of a website that explains this further that would help.
Thanks,
Forest

This link should help:

http://www.pchardwarehelp.com/guides/lcd-panel-types.php

Thanks Jerry, that's exactly what I was looking for. Now I know what a twisted nematic is, not that it'll mean anything to me.
Forest