which monitor is the best?

Ho

Nov 25, 2006

LCD is about your only real choice now. The best CRTs (Sony Artisan, LaCie, high end NEC, Iiyama) still have advantages but they are extinct (no longer being made and no longer for sale). The best you can hope for if you want to buy a CRT is to find a good, slightly used model (less likely with each passing day), or hope that a cache of CRTs is uncovered in a warehouse somewhere. It has happened, but the odds are against you.

The price you pay for a LCD will depend on your needs (amateur or pro?) and the depth of your wallet. Be aware that there is much confusion in LCD land regarding color gamuts and bit depth. More of each is not always a better thing (google for Karl Lang, read anything he says and take it as gospel). A relevant excerpt:

A wide gamut LCD display is not a good thing for most (95%) of high end users. The data that leaves your graphic card and travels over the DVI cable is 8 bit per component. You can’t change this. The OS, ICC CMMs, the graphic card, the DVI spec, and Photoshop will all have to be upgraded before this will change and that’s going to take a while. What does this mean to you? It means that when you send RGB data to a wide gamut display the colorimetric distance between any two colors is much larger. As an example, lets say you have two adjacent color patches one is 230,240,200 and the patch next to it is 230,241,200. On a standard LCD or CRT those two colors may be around .8 Delta E apart. On an Adobe RGB display those colors might be 2 Delta E apart on an ECI RGB display this could be as high as 4 delta E.

It’s very nice to be able to display all kinds of saturated colors you may never use in your photographs, however if the smallest visible adjustment you can make to a skin tone is 4 delta E you will become very frustrated very quickly.

Do your homework (READ) and look for a models with uniform backlighting, sensible brightness (many LCD monitors can double as airport beacons), and, if needed for your work, reports that others have successfully calibrated the models you are considering.

bterlaan

Nov 26, 2006

Thank you, Ho, that is very useful. I’ll look up Lang’s advices. Asking this forum is part of doing my homework :-))

Daryl_Pritchard

Nov 27, 2006

Whatever you buy, LCD or CRT, although especially true of the former, a wise investment would also include a colorimeter for calibrating your display. Adobe Gamma is not designed with LCDs in mind, so a 3rd party alternative, software or hardware-based, is needed. Perhaps the least expensive hardware solution is the Pantone Huey, under $100 US, and I’ve seen several people speak favorably of it. I have the Monaco Optix XR with EZColor 2.6 profiling software (about $250) and have been pleased with it; a pretty good review of it may be found at < http://www.camerahobby.com/Digital_MonacoEZ_Color_OptixXR.ht m>.

In conjunction with having built a new PC, I also decided I wanted to get an LCD monitor and purchased the recently released 24" BenQ FP241W. In calibrating it, I found that I could not calibrate the brightness per the profiling wizard, as every time I decreased the brightness to move a pointer into the desired range, the pointer would them jump right back to the higher point where it began. Setting a 6500°K white point was easy though, requiring a drop from 50 to 49 on the Red, with Green and Blue remaining at the 50 midpoint. With regard to the brightness, Monaco’s website said that for LCDs it works best to just set the contrast and brightness to what the user finds most comfortable and then profile the LCD without any changes to those settings; apparently the critical task of getting a proper color profile built for the LCD is still achievable this way. I believe Monaco described this as profiling the LCD rather than calibrating it. I’ve yet to do any work in Photoshop to provide any results on the print matching, but my initial impression of this BenQ monitor is that colors appear excellent. The proof will be in the printing of course.

Before buying the BenQ, I purchased a Dell 2407WFP for about $700 (the Benq was $800) and it was pretty much dead on arrival, not maintaining a display for more than 1-2 seconds. So, I was leery of quality control with Dell, that they’d ship a monitor so obviously bad. I heard the 2407WFP was actually integrated by BenQ, which also concerned me, not having heard of BenQ as anything but a low-end equipment manufacturer. But, this FP241W has been reported as perhaps a sign of change at BenQ for the better, and I hope so, as the monitor does indeed seem well-built and has seen favorable reviews. Depending upon your budget, I suggest you give the BenQ a look.

Regards,

Daryl

Phosphor

Nov 27, 2006

CRTs from small retailers or liquidators who still have "new-old stock" or CRTs from CraigsList or CRTs from ebayCRTs from small retailers or liquidators who still have "new-old stock" or CRTs from CraigsList or CRTs from ebayCRTs from small retailers or liquidators who still have "new-old stock" or CRTs from CraigsList or CRTs from ebayCRTs from small retailers or liquidators who still have "new-old stock" or CRTs from CraigsList or CRTs from ebayCRTs from small retailers or liquidators who still have "new-old stock" or CRTs from CraigsList or CRTs from ebayCRTs from small retailers or liquidators who still have "new-old stock" or CRTs from CraigsList or CRTs from ebayCRTs from small retailers or liquidators who still have "new-old stock" or CRTs from CraigsList or CRTs from ebayCRTs from small retailers or liquidators who still have "new-old stock" or CRTs from CraigsList or CRTs from ebayCRTs from small retailers or liquidators who still have "new-old stock" or CRTs from CraigsList or CRTs from ebayCRTs from small retailers or liquidators who still have "new-old stock" or CRTs from CraigsList or CRTs from ebay

….Only when they run out will I buy LCD.

🙂

Nov 27, 2006

(Go for a good LCD)100 ;P

John Joslin

Nov 27, 2006

Phos

While it is totally correct to say that $ for $ CRTs give better colour rendering, they are so enormous and heavy that for most users* the small footprint and convenience make it worth paying the extra for a comparable LCD.

The diehards will continue to repeat the CRT mantra, but come on chaps, we’re in the 21st century now!

*including professionals

Bernie

Nov 27, 2006

we’re in the 21st century now!

That’s still no reason to abandon the better technology.

Once LCDs are better than CRTs, then I’ll get an LCD.

It’s not uncommon for older technology that is better (or at least no worse) than the new one, to be abandoned simply because it’s not new.

Bob Levine

Nov 27, 2006

I know quite a few people with 2405s and the 2407s and Daryl’s the only one I know who got a bad one. But even at that, IME, Dell’s warranty coverage is very good on monitors.

I don’t know too many companies giving out 3 years warranties on monitors. FWIW, I had a 2005 with a minor problem in one corner of the monitor after about year. 15 minutes on the phone and a replacement was on its way which I received two days later.

I would however recommend only buying from Dell’s small business side. The support is much better than the home side of things.

Bob

Nov 27, 2006

I don’t know too many companies giving out 3 years warranties on monitors.

Eizo (5 in some models), Nec…

Bob Levine

Nov 27, 2006

Alright then. I stand corrected.

Bob

Daryl_Pritchard

Nov 27, 2006

My older Samsung and this new BenQ both have 3 year warranties, but the real "proof in the pudding" will come if and when those warranties have to be applied. I’m betting Dell would be easier to deal with, although they were slow to deal with on the return and credit for my bad monitor. I could call them about repairing the broken PC Card ejector on my laptop to test them out, but I keep putting that off. Just so long as I do it within my 4 year coverage policy though, I’m OK.

Bob, there have been quite a number of reports of banding issues with the 2407WFPs, to the point that Dell did attempt to address it through firmware updates. I think it is better if not fully corrected. But, from what I’ve read, I think the 2405 was perhaps a better quality product. I was very tempted to try another 2407 but just didn’t want to have to deal with the hassle of another return on a product I’d read enough to give me cause for uncertainty. I almost feel lucky the BenQ arrived from NewEgg in good working order, and that the display was as good as it was…I was a little concerned since they built the 2407WFP and hoped they might be more careful with something carrying their own name. In reality, I’ll bet that doesn’t matter to many companies so much anymore.

Daryl

CSingleton

Nov 27, 2006

After much research, I bought the LaCie 319 and have been very happy with it. It calibrates easily with the Monaco Optix colorimeter. I seriously considered the Viewsonic G90f CRT because of the price and excellent reviews, but chose to go with an LCD monitor because of the newer technology and LCD’s are easier on the eyes for long use.

Christine_Krof_Shock

Nov 28, 2006

I disagree…

For some people LCD’s seem to be much more tiring to the eyes…I have the LaCIE Electron Blue and they will have to pry it out of my dead cold hand as this monitor is spot on with my Epson 2200, easy to calibrate and stays in calibration much longer than any LCD or CRT I have ever owned.

John_Waller

Nov 28, 2006

For some people LCD’s seem to be much more tiring to the eyes

Interesting. That’s the first time I’ve heard that in relation to LCDs.

I find LCD screens much less tiring after years of working with CRTs.

—
Regards

John Waller

Nov 28, 2006

It’s curious how some people would flop so many quids on the counter and then forget to buy a decent (and much cheaper) lighting for the room. I have seen that too many times.

(Not accusing Christine or anybody in particular of anything, of course)

Bob Levine

Nov 28, 2006

I thought it was the 2007FPW that had that problem.

Bob

Rick Moore

Nov 28, 2006

I also have a LaCie ElectronBlue CRT and it’s much nicer on my eyes than the 3 Dell 19" LCD’s in our office. For me it’s probably the pixel pitch that bothers me, and I’ve heard the same thing from other people who claim the 20" Dell panel is much nicer – the 1907FP has a .294 pixel pitch and the 2007FP has a .255 pixel pitch.

Tim_Andersen

Nov 29, 2006

I am considering the EIZO CE240W, and noticed that this monitor plus the Dell 2407WFP and the BenQ FP241W monitors all use the same base LCD; Samsung’s LTM240M2.

See the list referenced at this site… < http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1024&me ssage=19843627>

Do the extras added by EIZO improve the color management/reproduction performance of this display enough to justify the significant cost difference over Dell and BenQ? Extras include Factory Adjustment of Gamma, 14-bit Color Processing, 8ms Midtone Response Time, Independent 6-Color Control, 3-Mode Fine Contrast, and Brightness Stabilization Function. <http://www.eizo.com/products/graphics/ce240w/index.asp>

Thanks…Tim

LeDeane

Dec 2, 2006

My crt monitor went out and I had to purchase another quick. I chose a Flatron 19" lcd by LG from Best Buy. It has a lot of nice features but the color is totally dependent on the viewing angle. When I stand up a little above the monitor it washes out. Seated directly in front the lower photo on a 5×7 package is much darker than the top. I have adjusted the angle of the screen as best I can and the exposure determination is still impossible. Is this typical of lcd monitors? jc

Daryl_Pritchard

Dec 2, 2006

Off-angle color and lighting shifts are indeed typical of LCDs, but most current ones have a reasonable viewing angle. But, looking directly at a 5×7 package and finding the lower image much darker sounds a bit extreme. On my 24" BenQ LCD I see very little difference edge-to-edge if I look directly at it at a typical eye position. I suggest you return to the store and see if a display version of your LG performs similarly.

Regards,

Daryl

Michael_D_Sullivan

Dec 2, 2006

Return the monitor as defective. That is definitely not a keeper.

which monitor is the best?

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