Flat Panel LCD Displays for Photoshop Work

[Glenn Kroeger]

I think QT's first sentence is backward? LCDs are sharper and brighter, but not so good with color?

[chris jordan]

Ted, I did a ton of research before buying my monitor, and discovered that many photoshop experts use the same monitor: the Sony G520P, which is a 21" CRT monitor. I have owned two now, and they are fantastic. Right around $500, and remarkably stable-- I check the calibration of mine every few weeks and it stayed spot on for the first year and a half I owned it. Don't bother dropping the extra grand for the "Artisan" series-- just get a Colorvision monitor spyder and you're good to go. Whatever you do, DON'T get a ViewSonic CRT monitor-- they are famously bad. Mine literally blew up in my studio-- made a huge bang, filled the place with smoke and scared the living bejeezus out of me. I have two friends who have the same experience with those. I have heard from several reliable sources that the flat-screen monitors are good enough for high-end color work now (and can be calibrated same as a CRT), but I haven't tried one yet myself.

[QT Luong]

Thanks for the correction, Glenn.

[Greg Miller]

To reinforce Chirs Jordan's comment, the Sony G520P uses the same CRT as the Sony Artisan. They cherry pick the CRTs for the Artisan and the rest are used for the Sony G520P. The Artisan also has a few added features but the price difference means you really need to want the benefits of the Artisan to pay the extra $.

[Doug Dolde]

LOVE my Eizo Coloredge CG21. I'd never go back to a CRT.

[Ben Hopson]

I also prefer CRT displays and curently have a Mitsubishi Diamond Pro. I use the Eye One Photo for calibration and could not be happier with the results.

Like Chris, I have done the Exploding House full of smoke thing with a 22" Viewsonic. On a Superbowl Sunday no less. To add insult to injury the monitor was under warranty and after I paid a small fortune to ship it to Viewsonic, they in turn replaced it (I believe it was about three months later) with a refurb that I could never get to focus. I guess I could have paid another hundred dollars to ship it to them again, but I opted to try something different. No problems with the Diamond Pro.

[paulr]

I haven't had the chance to look at a super high-end lcd (like the eizo), but all my other experience with lcd screens (including the cinema display) were shaky for any kind of photoshop work. The big problem for me is that a slight change in your viewing angle changes everything. I can get more consistent results on my old crt iMac (calibrated with a puck).

[Ted Harris]

A quick comment on the Sony G520P mentiuoned by Chris and others. It shows up as discontinued on several sites! I may jhust limp along with this good old LaCie electronblue III for as long as I can. The only thing really wrong with it is what appear to be scratches or flaking inside the front of the tube ... unfortunately in the center so it is annoying when you notice it but all the way at the top of the screen so it seldom interferes with an image.

Did take a quick trip into Circuit City when I went out to run errands in the big city earlier today and, as I am sure everybody knows, that is a vry frustrating experience. First most of the LCD's are not hooked up to a computer in any way that will allow you to view your own images and second even those that are present limitations. I had a DVD with me with images but the computers on the floor that had LCD's hooled up either 1) didn't ahve Photoshop available or 2)had insufficient RAM to view my largere files or 3) some combination of 1&2 and, none of them had anything larger than a 17" LCD hooked up. ALL the larger displays were lined up with some fish swimin' round and no way to check any settings or images! Frustrating and it is the only choice I have without driving 60 miles.

[Bruce M. Herman]

I have a Lacie Electron 22 Blue that I purchased special order from Lacie through a local computer store. CompUSA also sells them for about $770. They aren't in the store, but appear to be in stock. These cost a bit more than your 19" model, but are still much less than the LCD monitors that have been mentioned. I'm pretty happy with mine.

Best wishes.