Photographers Choice LCD

[nixter]

I am about to lay down my coin and I don't want to get screwed like the last time when I got a TN by ignorance.

I am a photographer and graphic designer and I would like the impossible. I need a monitor with accurate color for under $300 preferably under $250. I know this is very hard to do. All I care about is the color quality and brightness.

These are the 3 I have found based on suggestions in this forum. Thoughts on which is best and/or are there any better ones?

ASUS VW222U NewEgg
LG L226WTQ-BF NewEgg
ViewSonic VX2255wmb NewEgg


Thanks...

Nick

 

[Harvey]

Somewhat off your intended direction, but for accuracy and fineness of detail, if you have the desk space, a really good CRT still dusts the best LCD's I've seen.

 

[razor2025]

Well, those 3 LCD's you've listed are probably all TN-panels. They list their viewing angles as 160*, which is a pretty good sign that they're TN.

You should check this out:

http://forums.anandtech.com/me...ght_key=y&keyword1=SVA

It's MVA panel, which would be better than TN in terms of color accuracy and 24" to boot. All under $300. I would suggest that you pony up a bit more on your budget and go for IPS based panel for $400-500 range. Or, you can hunt down the 2005/7fpw on forums for ~$200.

 

[NitroTurtle]

Yeah, those 3 are all most likely TN panels. Not only from the viewing angles, but also the 2-3ms response times.

I agree with razor, spend a bit more and get IPS. If your main purpose is accurate colors, you won't be happy with anything else.

 

[nixter]

Ok...so if I up the budget $400-450 what can I get. I tried searching for 2005/7fpw and it seems that is a Dell. Would this http://accessories.us.dell.com...l=en&cs=19&sku=20073SB be the current model of that monitor?

This is a little background on the situation:
At work I currently use a Samsung 244T and when I edit photos on my MacBook I sometimes can see more grain on the resulting jpg on that monitor vs the macbook. This is what I am trying to fix. I will be connecting this monitor to a Apple G5 with another monitor connected. That other monitor is a 19" Sony Trinitron CRT. When I use that I can really see the differences between bad LCD and CRT.

 

[elmer92413]

You might want to also invest in a colorimeter, because even if you get a ips or mva panel you aren't guaranteed accurate colors out of the box.

 

[IlllI]

try one made from eizo or nec
be prepared to pay for it though

also as a rule of thumb 99.999% of all 22in panels are tn panels

 

[NitroTurtle]

I believe that's the LCD being referred to above, but Dell changes panel types frequently, so I'm not sure if you're guaranteed an IPS.

This one looks like something that might fit the bill: Text

Though, I have no experience with the NEC, as I've never had your specific need. I use an S-PVA panel myself, but my main purpose is gaming and multi-media. I just know I wasn't happy until I spent the cash to get the right screen (spending even more in the process :disgust: ). From the description you've given, and the fact that you'll be constantly comparing it to other monitors, you'd probably be better off just spending the cash up front to get the one you want.

 

[nixter]

Nitro Turtle I think that is probably the one I am going to get unless I can find something even less. This HP (http://www.newegg.com/Product/...?Item=N82E16824176053) looks good but I really hate silver bezels...(I'm Picky).

One thing I have been noticing as I have been looking around for the IPS type panels I am seeming to find that the good ones are still not widescreen and generally have a rez of 1600x1200 which is what I run on my CRT. Has anyone else noticed this?

 

[IlllI]

i think this one uses ips panel http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16824185010
but if you are doing serious photo work, you should invest in a good color calibrator

 

[nixter]

I am thinking I could just get over the silver bezel...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16824176053
that one looks really good. I have verified that it is S-IPS
http://www.flatpanels.dk/panels.php
Result:
HP LP2065 has a 20 inch 8 ms (g2g) S-IPS (LG.Philips LM201U05) eller et 8 ms (g2g) A-MVA (AUO M201UN02-V6) panel.

Anyone see anything wrong with this panel that I am missing?

 

[NitroTurtle]

Originally posted by: nixter
I am thinking I could just get over the silver bezel...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16824176053
that one looks really good. I have verified that it is S-IPS
http://www.flatpanels.dk/panels.php
Result:
HP LP2065 has a 20 inch 8 ms (g2g) S-IPS (LG.Philips LM201U05) eller et 8 ms (g2g) A-MVA (AUO M201UN02-V6) panel.

Anyone see anything wrong with this panel that I am missing?

That looks like a nice price, if you feel like gambling on the panel. Looks like you might get S-IPS, but also might get A-MVA.

 

[IlllI]

Originally posted by: nixter

Anyone see anything wrong with this panel that I am missing?

read the reviews? the one at the top says "uses newer MVA type called AMVA"

 

[nixter]

Originally posted by: clandren

Originally posted by: nixter

Anyone see anything wrong with this panel that I am missing?

read the reviews? the one at the top says "uses newer MVA type called AMVA"

That review was from June. If you read under the "Customer Reviews" tab the first two are from this month 9/2008 and they say it is S-IPS. Which seems to contradict the only negative review...

 

[ViRGE]

Originally posted by: nixter

Originally posted by: clandren

Originally posted by: nixter

Anyone see anything wrong with this panel that I am missing?

read the reviews? the one at the top says "uses newer MVA type called AMVA"

That review was from June. If you read under the "Customer Reviews" tab the first two are from this month 9/2008 and they say it is S-IPS. Which seems to contradict the only negative review...

I'd recommend asking xtknight in this thread about the matter. He should know for sure whether it's a panel lottery or not.

 

[IlllI]

from the contradicting reviews it seems like they do use a panel lottery. dell does that too with some of their models. i remember reading in the past a few companies shipping higher quality panels to reviews (to get a better review) and then switching them over to something else

 

[hoss]

Does it have to be an LCD? You will need to spend way more than you have budgeted to get a decent one. CRTs are still your best option on a budget. You can pick up quality CRTs on Craigslist for a song. I believe some Dell CRTs are rebadged Trinitrons and should serve you well.

 

[nixter]

boss....I have one of those already. I kind of wanted to save deskspace and have only one crt and one lcd.

 

[mazeroth]

If you're serious about accurate colors you should really invest in a Spyder calibrator. I use one and it's night and day difference. I'm using the cheap Soyo 24 TN panel and can go back and forth between a calibrated profile and an uncalibrated. The calibrated makes all the difference.

Do a search for Spyder 2 and Spyder 3.

 

[hoss]

Do you need high quality, color corrected prints or print worthy files to send to clients for publication? Are we talking print publications or online? If you are dealing with magazines or fine art you will not find a worthy LCD in your price range. If you are printing at home on a high-end photo quality inkjet then you can can buy a lower quality monitor, but I know from personal experience that you will end up printing a lot more test prints then you want to dial in the color. A spyder/colorimeter, as mazeroth suggests, will be a huge help. However, you still won't be able to get the colors to match as much as you would like between the printer and a low end LCD. Now if your output is the web then don't fuss over the color too much since the end viewer isn't likely to have a color corrected monitor anyway.

 

[nixter]

90% of my photos are taken for use on the web. That said those other 10% will/hopefully will be printed large and hung. I will not be printing the photos myself. I will use a lab like the one smugmug uses or mpix. They will be handling most of the color matching.

I want a good monitor that replicates a CRT or at least as close as I can come for my price range. Right now I an sitting in front of a 19" Trinitron CRT (looks great) and a Samsung SyncMaster 225BW (looks bad on the dark color range, starts blocking out).

I am unsure that calibrating a cheap LCD TN will get the range of colors I am looking for. I have a friend that has a calibrator and I am going to give it a try.

 

[hoss]

Honestly, if your not printing or producing work for print then you really don't need a photo-quality monitor. In fact you probably don't even need to use a spyder to callibrate. I think there is freeware out there that will get you close enough just by eyeballing it. Remember that 99.9% of computer users don't calibrate their monitors so you just have to live with your image looking different on different screens. As you have noticed some LCDs have a problem on the dark end. Blacks aren't always rich and may lose detail.

As for the prints, for the colors to match between your monitor and the printer (smugmug or mpix) you will need to download the printer's ICC profile and you will need to calibrate your monitor to create its ICC profile. Smugmug and mpix will not magically match these for you since all monitors are a bit different, even within the same model. Only with both profiles (monitor and printer) can you actually match colors. I know you can order a calibration print, but I'm not so sure how valuable that is other than to eyeball the differences. You may be able to adjust your profile so that it looks like the image. However, that will only work for the colors present in the image and may not help for a different image (think portraits vs landscapes). One thing you might try is finding an existing profile for you monitor on the web. I believe some people post them to the web. Despite not being exact this will probably be much better than the stock profile, which is generic for all monitor types.

 

[ViRGE]

Originally posted by: nixter
90% of my photos are taken for use on the web. That said those other 10% will/hopefully will be printed large and hung. I will not be printing the photos myself. I will use a lab like the one smugmug uses or mpix. They will be handling most of the color matching.

I want a good monitor that replicates a CRT or at least as close as I can come for my price range. Right now I an sitting in front of a 19" Trinitron CRT (looks great) and a Samsung SyncMaster 225BW (looks bad on the dark color range, starts blocking out).

I am unsure that calibrating a cheap LCD TN will get the range of colors I am looking for. I have a friend that has a calibrator and I am going to give it a try.

It won't. If you're even marginally serious you need an 8bit panel such as a PVA/MVA, and really you should be using IPS.

 

[nixter]

Just to let you all know...I decided to go with this HP. http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16824176098
It has a good viewing angle of 178 x 178 and according to flatpanels.dk it is
"HP LP2275w (widescreen) has a 22 inch 6 ms (g2g) S-PVA (Samsung LTM220M3) panel."
and it was a good price with a $30 mail in rebate.

Hopefully it works out...i think anything at this point will blow my Samsung 225BW out of the water.