Digital Light & Color

I have searched the board for advice on monitors but some of the threads are over a year old and technology moves so fast ...

My CRT has just given up the ghost and I need to buy a new monitor.

I would appreciate any advice on TFT monitors with regard to photography.

For my non-photographic work I could really do with a big screen (20-22in).
An ultra-expensive monitor such as LaCie is out of the question.

What should I look out for?
Any particular recommendations?

While I don't have one, the Apple Cinema display is supposed to be very good and should work on a PC if you have a DVI connector. I bought a Dell 2009W a year or so ago and am not very happy with its off-axis viewing which is much worse than the Cinema display. Maybe the newer Dells are better.

A few months ago I had to make a similar decision. Finally I bought NEC's MultiSync LCD2470WNX and I'm quite happy with it. There are some minor issues in some games (yes I'm playing games :) ) - namely slight ghosting in special conditions - but I think that the overall color rendering and picture quality is very decent. It's a S-PVA panel and it means that it has better color quality than the more popular TN panels.

I can highly recommend the Dell 2408WFP. It's a 24-inch display with native resolution of 19020x1200 pixels. I've had this for just over a month and it has transformed my digital photography work flow (I used to have a 19-inch Dell Trinitron CRT - it too gave up the ghost). It's a wide-gamut display that covers AdobeRGB, allowing me to see "real" colors when I work in that color space. It has very flexible connection options, and even includes built-in USB and memory card reader slots, saving on cable clutter. Of course, you'll get the best performance with it if your PC's video card has a digital connector and you use it instead of VGA. You can find it online for around $US 600 - more than your typical 20-inch monitor, but nowhere near as expensive as a LaCie, and in my opinion, one of the best monitors available today for photography. Here is a very comprehensive review, from a web site that specializes in such reviews: http://www.prad.de/en/monitore/review/2 ... 08wfp.html. Hope this helps.

Whoops - that should have read 1920 x 1200!

I recently bought the Dell UltraSharp™ 2209WA monitor; it's a 22 inch display with an e-IPS panel (e=economy?). For a while earlier this year the prices were all over the place. Right now Dell is asking $279 and there is 3 to 5 week wait for shipping, so I guess the word is out.

http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/prod ... u=320-7825

Now, if I can just find the Profile Mechanic (monitor version) that I packed away so carefully before our recent remodeling)...

Steve Alred

Thank you for your suggestions. I'll get started in researching the various models.

I should add I am not interested in gaming.

For photo use the IPS (S-IPS, H-IPS, …) and *VA (MVA, PVA, S-PVA, …) families of panels offer the best color and much wider viewing angles than the TN panels. I have a NEC S-IPS and a Samsung S-PVA and am quite happy with both – the model numbers are irrelevant because they are no longer in production.

The current budget champ is the Dell 2209WA which is e-IPS and has a wide angle of view and reasonable colors. I also have one of these and am reasonably satisfied, but it is not the quality of the other two. However, the price was much lower also. They are extremely popular because of the low price for an IPS panel.

This site will help discover the type of panel used in the various brands:

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

Another one you might look at is HP LP2275w 22 inch which I believe is S-PVA.

Also, most monitors today are way to bright out-of-the box (they can spot weld a person’s retina) and all need calibration/profiling to reach their potential.

This thread has always been a good source of info:

http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview ... erthread=y

Jim

I agree with Jim. Be careful, though. Just cos a model was listed/tested with a specific panel type, later versions of the same model may have the panel type switched, often to an inferior version....

I dithered for a while before going wide screen. (24" Dell 2405fpw, s-pva). Wouldn't be without it now. Cost an arm and a leg back then, but it's more than paid for itself in better workflow and colour rendition. Calibrated with PM monitor, it's stunning.

I highly recommend the 22-inch ColorEdge CG222W Widescreen Monitor. I believe it is an IPS panel.

http://www.eizo.com/