Photographers - LCD monitor good enough?
 

I do quite a bit of photo editing and retouching on a sony CRT, considering the Dell 19 in. LCD ultrasharp monitor. Is LCD good enough?

in one word: yes

Yes they are good enough. If you are really concerned about quality, I wouldnt buy Dell though.

Recommendations?

what do u suggest...apple monitors ???

LCDs are fine, make sure you get the right driver / gamma correction for it to start with. If you really want to go all out, you can get one of those color checking bots to check out your screen and adjust the colors.

Just remember, your LCD will almost always show black a long time before you get there.

I am not 100% sure about Dells (dont have one myself) but its said they all have backlight problems (black isnt really black). If you want quality I would say Eizo is the way to go.

nec dude, nec

LG has some nice monitors

http://www.eizo.com/products/lcd/index.asp
these are the ulimate for photographers

I use a 21" Sony Artesian and an Apple Cinema Display (lcd)

The Sony has a intergrated color management system that is second to none, but could be overkill unless you are also doing print work. (does your yellow match the yellow at the clients ad agency, which matches the yellow at a printer about to run his presses?)

The new Apple stuff is great for web work.

viewsonic 191b

black is never black with LCD monitors.. a high contrast ratio is to prefer when you buy a LCD..

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contrast_ratio

yes, good enough.

but for accurate color work match up the monitor to your camera output.

what i mean is, shoot in raw then when editing if you want output in sRGB (or RGB) you must set your monitor to one or the other so you can properly judge white balance.

also set your density level correctly so you can tweak exposure settings properly.

usually for web work you will want to use sRGB because that is what most surfers will be viewing your images in.

YES and it will save some place for you :)

Samsung 204T is one of the best I've seen.

:thumbsup

Hey sorry to bring this back from the dead :upsidedow

I do a lot of editing and photography work and have been using a samsung 15 or 16" crt monitor for the past 3 or 4 years.

Today I picked up an LG L1919S Is this model any good? I guess i should have asked that before I bought it lol.

Heres some tech

Display Type: LCD
Resolution: 1280 x 1024
Brightness: 300 cd/m2
High Contrast Ratio: 1400:1
Response Time: 8ms
Viewing Angle: H:160, V:160


Now that I have it in front of me at home it's almost bigger then I want with me having to move my head around to look at differnt icons at the top or bottom. Do you guys really feel comfotable with 19 does anyone use 17's?

Also latinasojourn said I should use sRGB the monitors setting says it is at 6500K so you recomend I would put it down to sRGB?

anyways now that I got it home I'm not sure if i should return it and try a 17 or stick it out tillI get used to it lol :1orglaugh arrgh I hate buying computer stuff :helpme

I wonder what Dean uses?

I use a Samsung 213T 21" LCD Flat Panel Monitor. I also calibrate the monitor 'once a month' using the GretagMacbeth Eye-One Display Calibration Tool. Interesting how much a monitor can drift in a months time. By calibrating, I can keep a handle on drifting and know that my work is more consistant in color and contrast. :thumbsup

You get used to it. I've got a 20" CRT right now.

I ended up spending $500 on the Gateway 21" widescreen LCD. It tilts to portrait orientation and does hi def input as well. The black point can not be calibrated to absolute black so to me it's "marginal" for photos but good for other daily uses. Dean I will be running dual monitors so I'll have to pick up the Samsung 213T 21 you use and calibrate it. I could never do print softproofing on this thing though I have to rely on a sony trinitron crt for that.

I'm not sure if the 213T is still in production but you might be able to find one somewhere. I recently picked up a Samsung 215TW for my regular "surfing" computer but I think it would work fine for color correcting/retouching. I also calibrate it once a month and it seems very easy to calibrate and the skin tones of my pics look great on it.:thumbsup

Brands don't really matter. Every company uses different kinds of panels that most of them don't even make. You should research LCDs a bit before you go out and buy one. tony404 is right about the eizo though, those are really good. I would hate doing any kind of work on a TN panel...

This nec is good and uses a AS-IPS panel...
NEC MultiSync 20WMGX2
Size 20.1" Widescreen
Panel Type TFT/AS-IPS
Native Resolution 1680x1050
Pixel Pitch 0.258 mm.
Color Depth 16.7 mil (8-bit)
Response Time (g2g) 6 ms.
Luminance 470 cd/m²
Contrast Ratio 1600:1
Viewing Angle 89U/89D/89R/89L
Inputs DVI-HDCP, VGA, Composite, S-Video, Component
Other PIP, TV Tuner, Advanced DVM, Integrated Speakers, OptiClear screen coating
Retail Price (USD) $625

Here's small bit of info about LCD panels...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TFT_LCD

There's some other good info but most of it is on forums at hardocp.com and anandtech.com, they are even stickied, I'm sure you can find it if you want.

NEC MultiSync LCD1980FXi - 19in LCD monitor
perfect for photographers ;)

Thanks for the future reccomendations guys.

LCD can be great as long as it's configured correctly for color. I would suggest using a ColorVision Monitor Spyder to calibrate your LCD to the truest color you can get... It can calibrate LCD or CRT.

http://productivityapps.itbusinessne...e.jsp?id=25981

You should be able to find them locally at any camera store. Good luck!

I tired the cheaper colorvision one and it was terrible had to return it and that was a nightmare because at microcenter its considered software.

dell ultrasharp and apple monitors are the same... same manuf makes them....

lcd still does come anywhere near the colors/depth a crt produces.... i'd stick to crt... have you checked out Lacie brand yet? great monitors!

EIZO http://www.eizo.com/products/graphics/index.asp

I love them :)

And Monte Carlo's and Corvettes are the same, Chevrolet makes both ......

True but there are differences ......


http://64.233.187.104/search?q=cache...ct=clnk&cd= 4

Actually this is a good article. There are several different types of LCD panels and technologies. Black can be black if you choose the right kind of panel.

I have an LCD in transit which is a relatively new one from Samsung called the 971P. It utilizes S-PVA which provides a higher contrast ratio (1500:1) and a much wider field of view than the standard TN + film panels.

I wanted to use it for gaming too, and Samsung claims a 6ms (gtg) response time. Guess we'll see. I still have my 56lb Samsung professional CRT, 900NF, if this turns out to be a bust....

Here's a review. I will end up paying a little over $300 with my buy.com coupon and mail-in rebate. SRP on this monitor is above average for 19" at $499.

http://www.overclockersonline.com/in...ticles&num=581

eizo.com - for quality and accurate colors EIZO is one of the few manifacturers which make good LCDs

(Actually my 2 lcds are HP and samsung, but its coz of the price)

and almost every company is cheating with the info - contrast and so and so - just coz there are too much ways to measure it ...

the only proper way to choose is to go to a shop and choose your model by yourself (ofcourse after that u will order it online) but if you want good lcd - theres no option just looking the info on the sites ...
and yes - Eizo are the crazy

I would go with the samsung

LCD's are great :)