[Retired] The LCD Thread

[ChorniyVolk]

Yeah alkemyst.

And T2K, what do you mean, junk? I remember hearing good stuff about some relatively cheap calibrator, Spyder II or something like that.

 

[gorobei]

you can read the reviews of calibrators on tftcentral.co.uk

-the spyder2 was considered fair, but never really did much for the deltaE. the price is a little much given that you can get an xrite eye1 for a little more.

-the hueypro is probably what you are looking for. it will get you in the ballpark as far as eyeballing it. but you wouldn't use it for anything professional.

-lacie blue eye pro is their defacto standard.

the xrite eye1 is good enough for me, just waiting to find a good deal on it.

 

[alkemyst]

colormunki's are good deals. ChorniyVolk...you were ambiguous in your post. Many probably thought you were talking the LCD for under $100.

 

[ChorniyVolk]

alkemyst, I don't know, I said "use with my U2410", and "to get it calibrated". The first isn't completely obvious, but I can't imagine buying a monitor to calibrate another monitor. How would that even work?

As far as the actual suggestions, where do the colormunki's fit in between those other suggestions? And where do the suggestions fit in terms of quality and ability? I mean, how big a difference is there between the huey pro and the eye1? I'm not a professional graphics or image editing person, but I'd like good accurate colors to a certain extent for general use. I'm wondering if the job of calibration in the big picture has, say the huey pro and the eye1, at 50% and 80% or something like that, or if it's more like 90% and 95% because that extra 5% is important to people dealing in professional work, but not to most others.

Plus, wouldn't the higher end stuff be more useful on a higher end IPS panel? The U2410 is great and all, but obviously it's not the best, it's just at a really great price.

 

[alkemyst]

The deal is until LCD's made a debut most just shopped size and resolution...

Now everyone wants the best of the best. However, most don't know what that looks like nor would end up preferring it.

You can search out the Colormunki and see reviews. In the end almost any hardware calibrator gives good results.

I have an NEC 90 Series so it talks directly to the monitor rather than just the OS.

 

[ChorniyVolk]

Also, I read through that wiki, and it's surprisingly simple. So a color space is a a space within the range of colors that the human eye can see, that can be put up on whatever is using it, in this case an LCD monitor. sRGB is used on the internet and in games, while adobe rgb has a larger area of colors so it is used for photo editing and such.

So on my U2410, every setting other than sRGB and Adobe RGB has what kind of color space?

And I've heard of the problem with viewing sRGB content on a wide gamut display, is that what the purpose of the profiles in the U2410 are for? To make sure that when you switch to sRGB, that everything is viewed in the sRGB color space?

What exactly causes the problem? Is it that the content has a readout of what colors are used within the sRGB triangle to render the image, but when it's viewed in a wider gamut, the position of those numbers is in a different spot and instead of the numbers changing to match the same colors, they get stuck as the same numbers in different spots on a larger triangle, which makes all the colors change when viewed?

And what's the purpose of tagging an image with a profile? What does that do?

 

[blu62vette]

Hey everyone-

More fresh meat to add to this thread. I am monitor shopping. Learned quite a bit from this thread and a couple other sources. I am looking for a monitor for photography something that can show images very well at shows. So for me closeness to the actual image is a necessity. Currently using a macbook pro, way overdue for a good monitor. Probably looking in the 24-26 inch range. Thoughts welcome. I guess one question is what competes with the Apple Cinema Displays. I have yet to find a good comparison to those though know others must give them a run for the money looking at the specs on several others. My price range would be cheaper is better up to around 500.

One question I read the wide gamut was bad for photo display, can someone give me an example of wide gamut as far as the number when looking at specs? As an example the HP LP2475w shows 102% color gamut, from what I have read this seems high and may not be the best for photo reproduction. This actually looks like a pretty nice monitor but am I right on gamut? Thanks

 

[ChorniyVolk]

Also, the way they're handling this U2410 dithering firmware issue is total bullshit. Either you have to exchange your monitor for a refurbished one with the new firmware that may have other problems (I'm pretty sure I lucked out because I can't see any of the green/pink tint crap), or you can do the job yourself and void your warranty all because Dell fucked up in the first place.

 

[alkemyst]

I think the gamut questions are better left for a whole other thread. Personally like 720p and the 1080p arguments, I feel most really don't perceive the differences in reality.

 

[blu62vette]

Gotcha I will leave gamut be.

When looking at the begging of the thread where the recomendations are one other I noticed is that in the photography list there one 24" and the rest are smaller. Is there a reason for the smaller monitors for this type?

Part of me thinks the HP LP2475w may not be a bad option for size and price.

 

[igloo15]

Great Guide, is the guide going to be updated soon? Looking for a good 24" 1920 by 1200 for gaming but a lot of the monitors on the Hardcore gaming list no longer exist.

 

[xboxist]

Yeah, I'd guess that a full half of xtknight's recommendations aren't even available through retail outlets any longer. But please keep in mind he compiles this guide on his own time and I can't blame him for not dedicating every waking moment to updating.

 

[alkemyst]

easy way to find the updates is to google "[OLD MODEL NUMBER] vs"

Personally I really think this NEC 2490 I picked up for under $500 rocks...unfortunately someone bought up the remainder of almost all the NEC inventory there.

 

[xtknight]

Hey there -- I'm glad there has been lots of active discussion since I've had my "hiatus". Yeah...I don't think I'll be nearly as active. Just not much is going on in the LCD/flat panel world, but when something big does, I'll be the first to discuss it. Especially OLEDs...

Hey everyone-

More fresh meat to add to this thread. I am monitor shopping. Learned quite a bit from this thread and a couple other sources. I am looking for a monitor for photography something that can show images very well at shows. So for me closeness to the actual image is a necessity. Currently using a macbook pro, way overdue for a good monitor. Probably looking in the 24-26 inch range. Thoughts welcome. I guess one question is what competes with the Apple Cinema Displays. I have yet to find a good comparison to those though know others must give them a run for the money looking at the specs on several others. My price range would be cheaper is better up to around 500.

One question I read the wide gamut was bad for photo display, can someone give me an example of wide gamut as far as the number when looking at specs? As an example the HP LP2475w shows 102% color gamut, from what I have read this seems high and may not be the best for photo reproduction. This actually looks like a pretty nice monitor but am I right on gamut? Thanks

Wide gamut is really not that bad at all for photos. Typical gamut is 72% NTSC, so when you exceed gamut, you can map the colors three-dimensionally in software to the lower gamut. Difference is maybe 1% or 2% if that, I'm guessing...(of course, as long as you're using color management). If you don't use color management, then it's an overvibrant mess.

Tagging photos with a color space allows the correct color transformation to be performed.

 

[xtknight]

So on my U2410, every setting other than sRGB and Adobe RGB has what kind of color space?

I'm not familiar with the U2410's settings, but probably only sRGB is close to the sRGB space. The rest are variations closer to Adobe RGB 1998 maybe with different color temperatures in them.

And I've heard of the problem with viewing sRGB content on a wide gamut display, is that what the purpose of the profiles in the U2410 are for? To make sure that when you switch to sRGB, that everything is viewed in the sRGB color space?

The profiles let the host OS (probably Windows) know what kind of color space the monitor has (which will NOT exactly equal Adobe RGB 1998, but will be close). And, it will also have a color table that will be uploaded to the video card to correct slight color deviations.

What exactly causes the problem? Is it that the content has a readout of what colors are used within the sRGB triangle to render the image, but when it's viewed in a wider gamut, the position of those numbers is in a different spot and instead of the numbers changing to match the same colors, they get stuck as the same numbers in different spots on a larger triangle, which makes all the colors change when viewed?

Precisely, that's the most exact thing I've heard to describe it, as a matter of fact.

And what's the purpose of tagging an image with a profile? What does that do?

I answer this in the last post: it makes the color transformer aware of what the source is. The destination is given by the monitor profile send to the host OS, of course.

 

[xtknight]

Yeah, I'd guess that a full half of xtknight's recommendations aren't even available through retail outlets any longer. But please keep in mind he compiles this guide on his own time and I can't blame him for not dedicating every waking moment to updating.

Yeah....... sorry. It does not help that the LCD market is so volatile. I'm going to try to find models available in the US to post up. Many of the reviews are foreign or only concern foreign monitors, which makes it very difficult to find US equivalents. Sometimes it is guesswork. If I cannot complete all the spec entries I will try to at least get some models up there. It's my goal for the next two weeks. But as I say I will not be as active as I was. I'm definitely going to try to keep things reasonably updated though, it's not fair to just run away either. Hopefully some of the stuff I have been teaching has encouraged others to seek reviews and pick the best monitor for them. I think it's become readily obvious the recommendations list cannot be updated so fast to match the market. But the good thing is, the monitors that are posted up there will never become worse (hopefully not), it's just that it's missing what is out there now.

Gaming is probably the hardest section to update because almost all the overdriven TNs that don't have RTC errors are good and fine for it. I'm not really sure what to put up there. Most of the TNs at that level aren't going to vary much anyways. Same with Office Work in a way. Is any LCD *really* that bad for Office Work? On the other hand, photo editing and multimedia can have more specific needs. Also PVA and IPS monitors tend to be more constant across several countries. TNs are all over the place in promotions and different model numbers depending on the country...

I used to dedicate every waking moment when I was in high school probably. College haha it's just not the same. Too much work man....and more work is the last thing I feel like doing.

 

[herbals]

What are currently some of the good gaming LCD monitors out there? It seems really hard to find solid information. Any1 got any advice on something from Benq,Samsung,LG,Asus
or any1 else? thankyou.

 

[alkemyst]

Is any LCD *really* that bad for Office Work? On the other hand, photo editing and multimedia can have more specific needs. Also PVA and IPS monitors tend to be more constant across several countries. TNs are all over the place in promotions and different model numbers depending on the country...

I used to dedicate every waking moment when I was in high school probably. College haha it's just not the same. Too much work man....and more work is the last thing I feel like doing.

well said and very real. Most really over do it trying to find that perfect screen, especially those that target print media specs. They align themselves that printing christmas pics with the kids = Nomenus Quarterly.

I am very critical on my screens for viewing, but I don't go overboard and try to pick refurb and used most of the time on it.

I really love my nec 2490 though...feels just like my trinitrons of the past.

 

[xboxist]

I really wanted that refurbished 2490 but in the end I just couldn't bring myself to pay over $500 for a 1-year warranty on an electronic piece.

A promising, upcoming monitor I have my eye on now is the HP ZR24W:

http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/pscmi...eet_120409.pdf

 

[alkemyst]

most electronics I buy only has 1 year warranties. For less than half price, I can settle for the smaller than 3 year warranty.

 

[xboxist]

And I envy you for your ability to be ok with it, trust me. I've used that monitor and it's badass.

 

[Moonzi]

I'm looking for a decent 24 inch monitor just to use as my web while gaming monitor

I use this for gaming right now;

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16824254040

I'm looking to spend between 175 and 225 for it.

Should I just buy another one of the hanns-g or is there a better price/quality out there?

 

[zhargalm]

Hello guys! I'm looking for some not very expensive widescreen 19'' monitor. Can you help me?
-zhargalm

 

[alkemyst]

Hello guys! I'm looking for some not very expensive widescreen 19'' monitor. Can you help me?
-zhargalm

Search hot deals if you are just looking for anything....

if not give us more information, start at page 1 of this thread and figure out what you are looking for.

 

[zhargalm]

i've heard that Acer X193Wb is a good monitor. but i can't find it in a place where i live. are there any similar?