In Need of a New Monitor

Remdog · December 29, 2007

My old monitor is on its last leg. I do not know if I should purchase a CRT flat screen (If still available) or get a flat panel. I will use my new monitor for everyday work in addition to photography work. Working in photoshop is simply a hobby. Thought I should mention this if anyone needs to know so they can offer a suggestion. Any suggestions on brand, model and size will be greatly appreciated.

BikePilot · December 29, 2007

I recently got a samsung 216, 21.6" lcd monitor. I like it a lot, good contrast, plenty bright etc. Only thing I don't like is that it doesn't flip vertically like my dad's higher-end samsung, but it was also a quarter the price of his (mine was ~ $250). I live in a small apartment so the space saved from a flat panel vs a CRT is a big deal for me. I also find that its much easier on my eyes. My dad's is 1600x1200, I don't rember the model number, but I think samsung only does one in that resolution. Its very nice, if I could afford it I would have gone that route.

good luck!

Poseidon · December 29, 2007

There are a lot of threads discussing monitors, some started by ME!

Use the search function, to get TONS of results, but here is a cliff notes of what I have learned so far:

IPS and S-PVA are the best, use this site: www.flatpanels.dk to find out what panel the screen is.

TN are the fastest, but.... They are the worst for photo editing, I can attest to this- I had 2 Samsung 204B's.

I am looking at either 2x24" HP2465's or a single Dell 3007-HC to replace my 1 remaining 204B. (The other died.)

Good luck!
-Mike

Oh, Welcome to Dgrin!

LiquidAir · December 29, 2007

I just picked up an HP w2007 to replace my aging CRT. It looked horrid when I first hooked it up, but after calibrating it the color looks quite good. Its more contrasty than the CRT, but I guess you expect that from an LCD.

dogwood · January 9, 2008

And just to toss in my two-cents-- I've personally had great luck with the pro series Viewsonics. I'm currently using a dual monitor set-up with two Viewsonic LCD's-- and they're great screens. They easily give the much, much more expensive apple cinema display I use at work a run for it's money (just try rotating a cinema display!)

Just make sure you go for the pro series-- I've used the consumer series from Viewsonic and they're not all that great.

bwg · January 11, 2008

Poseidon wrote:

I am looking at either 2x24" HP2465's or a single Dell 3007-HC to replace my 1 remaining 204B. (The other died.)

I have 2 of the Dell 3007-HC and they are gorgeous screens. The panel is the same one as in the Apple 30" cinema display. Consistent lighting and the color is wonderful (92% of NTSC color gamut)

LCD · January 13, 2008

I too need help
I've been searching for a ccouple of weeks for a new set-up computer and monitor.

I thought I was beginning to understand what to look for. I thought that the higher the contrast ratio, the better. So, I was looking at some monitors that were 4000:1 or 5000:1.

I wasn't really concerned about the response time - thinking that that would be more important for gaming than image editing.

So then I see thought, let me just go and check what the d-grinners have to say about monitors... I went to look at the View Sonic pro series based on Dogwoods recommendation and I see a very low contrast ratio of 400:1.

Do I have it all backwards?

Thanks for your help!
Lisa

Newsy · January 13, 2008

Most of the Viewsonic PRO series are a good choice. It is because of the S-IPS panel that several of them use.

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

ViewSonic VP2000s has a 20 inch 16 ms S-IPS (LG.Philips LM201U04) panel.

ViewSonic VP201b has a 20 inch 16 ms S-IPS (LG.Philips LM201U04) panel.

ViewSonic VP201s has a 20 inch 16 ms S-IPS (LG.Philips LM201U04) panel.

ViewSonic VP2030b has a 20 inch 8 ms (g2g) P-MVA (AUO M201UN02 V5) panel.

ViewSonic VP211b has a 21 inch 25 ms PVA (Samsung LTM213U4-L04) panel.

ViewSonic VP2130b has a 21 inch 8 ms (g2g) S-PVA (Samsung LTM213U6) panel.

ViewSonic VP230mb has a 23 inch 25 ms P-MVA (Fujitsu FLC59UXC8V) panel.

ViewSonic VP231wb (Widescreen) has a 23 inch 16 ms S-IPS (LG.Philips LM230W02) panel.

ViewSonic VP2330wb (widescreen) has a 23 inch 8 ms (g2g) P-MVA (AUO M230UW01 V0) panel.

The VX series almost all use a TN panel - OK for gamers, general office use and occassional image editing.

The VG series are also TN panels.

If TN, S-IPS, MVA and S-PVA are gibberish to you, I suggest reading the following thread:

The Anand LCD Thread
http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.aspx?catid=31&threadid=2049206&enterthread=y

You will want to narrow your search to S-IPS and S-PVA panels. As previously suggested, use the flatpanesl.dk site to research that.

S-IPS is better than S-PVA for showing shadow detail. S-PVA will no doubt have a higher contrast ratio but PVA and MVA type panels suffer from what is known as "black crush". Whether or not you can live with it is dependent on just how much budget you have and what you do with your images. If you are displaying at local art galleries, selling your images, or your prime source of income is your images... then you should narrow your search to S-IPS panel monitors.

Here is a site where you can get a bit of an idea what happens to an image as your angle of view changes.
http://www.digitalversus.com/duels.php?ty=6&ma1=36&mo1=104&p1=1040&ma2=52&ph=8

The link should show two monitors that while not the best, are good - the Samsung is S-PVA and the NEC is S-IPS. For fun, compare these against the TN panel Acer AL2106WB.

Tell us your $$$ budget for monitors as that will help tremendously to narrow down what reades here can suggest for you.

.

dmmattix · January 19, 2008

Newsy wrote:

Most of the Viewsonic PRO series are a good choice. It is because of the S-IPS panel that several of them use.

From http://www.flatpanels.dk/panels.php
ViewSonic VP2000s has a 20 inch 16 ms S-IPS (LG.Philips LM201U04) panel.

ViewSonic VP201b has a 20 inch 16 ms S-IPS (LG.Philips LM201U04) panel.

ViewSonic VP201s has a 20 inch 16 ms S-IPS (LG.Philips LM201U04) panel.

ViewSonic VP2030b has a 20 inch 8 ms (g2g) P-MVA (AUO M201UN02 V5) panel.

ViewSonic VP211b has a 21 inch 25 ms PVA (Samsung LTM213U4-L04) panel.

ViewSonic VP2130b has a 21 inch 8 ms (g2g) S-PVA (Samsung LTM213U6) panel.

ViewSonic VP230mb has a 23 inch 25 ms P-MVA (Fujitsu FLC59UXC8V) panel.

ViewSonic VP231wb (Widescreen) has a 23 inch 16 ms S-IPS (LG.Philips LM230W02) panel.

ViewSonic VP2330wb (widescreen) has a 23 inch 8 ms (g2g) P-MVA (AUO M230UW01 V0) panel.
The VX series almost all use a TN panel - OK for gamers, general office use and occassional image editing.

The VG series are also TN panels.

If TN, S-IPS, MVA and S-PVA are gibberish to you, I suggest reading the following thread:

The Anand LCD Thread
http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.aspx?catid=31&threadid=2049206&enterthread=y

You will want to narrow your search to S-IPS and S-PVA panels. As previously suggested, use the flatpanesl.dk site to research that.

S-IPS is better than S-PVA for showing shadow detail. S-PVA will no doubt have a higher contrast ratio but PVA and MVA type panels suffer from what is known as "black crush". Whether or not you can live with it is dependent on just how much budget you have and what you do with your images. If you are displaying at local art galleries, selling your images, or your prime source of income is your images... then you should narrow your search to S-IPS panel monitors.

Here is a site where you can get a bit of an idea what happens to an image as your angle of view changes.
http://www.digitalversus.com/duels.php?ty=6&ma1=36&mo1=104&p1=1040&ma2=52&ph=8

The link should show two monitors that while not the best, are good - the Samsung is S-PVA and the NEC is S-IPS. For fun, compare these against the TN panel Acer AL2106WB.

Tell us your $$$ budget for monitors as that will help tremendously to narrow down what reades here can suggest for you.

.

Really informative post. Any other sources than the flatpanel.dk site? Many of the S-IPS panels noted on that site are discontinued now. Any other method of finding what LCDs use what panels?

thanks

Mike

Newsy · January 20, 2008

dmmattix wrote:

Really informative post. Any other sources than the flatpanel.dk site? Many of the S-IPS panels noted on that site are discontinued now. Any other method of finding what LCDs use what panels?

thanks

Mike

Mike, that is the best I've been able to find so far.

A few others do have some interestings info however.

http://www.prad.de/en/monitore/index2.html

http://www.lcdsearch.com

http://www.behardware.com/
- you have to pick through their reviews but they usually offer insight on the panels.

Cheers!

.

dmmattix · January 20, 2008

Newsy,

Thanks. Again this has been very informative.

Mike

In Need of a New Monitor

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