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Thread: Flat Screen Monitors

  1. #1

    Join Date
    Jul 1998
    Location
    Lund, Sweden
    Posts
    2,214

    Flat Screen Monitors

    A recurring thread, but I hope not a redundant one.

    My Mitsubishi Diamondtron screen is starting to flicker and wave, and it's time to get something new. Here in Sweden the secondhand market is restricted and expensive, so the advice in previous threads to look for a reconditioned CRT isn't really practical and I am certain that my next monitor will be a LCD, and I will almost certainly have to buy it mail order. I would therefore love to garner opinions from a bunch of fellow photographers rather than rely on generic web and print reviews.

    Naturally I have gazed with lust upon the Eizo Coloredge and Radiography screens, but that is just too much money.

    The Apple 20" Cinema display is attractive, has a fairly good reputation and is priced at a level I can justify. However, other marques offer more the money: more screen, tilting/rotating for portrait images, more and more varied inputs. Also, I prefer squareish aspect ratios so the widescreen benefits are lost on me.

    The local market offers LaCie, Sony, Eizo Flexscan and Philips models at around the same price as the Apple, with LaCie and Eizo specifically targeted at graphics arts and photography usage. There are also cheaper screens with similar specs from Dell and Samsung, but those who rave about them on the net don't go into specifics about the image quality and suitability for digital photography.

    At present I am leaning towards the Eizo Flexscan L797. It's a bit more than the others, but Eizo's warranty is much better, their policy on defective pixels is much more rigorous, and they generally talk a language that implies they are used to selling to those who care about image quality as LF photographers understand it.

    Specific Questions: Is the Eizo L797 as good as its specs and Eizo's general reputation would suggest?

    Are there any current standouts for price/performance among the other models?

    Any makes I should definitely avoid, and if so, why?

    I am grateful for any and all responses, even ones that don't make sense (.-).

  2. #2
    Big Bend
    Join Date
    Dec 2005
    Location
    San Antonio, Texas
    Posts
    367

    Flat Screen Monitors

    Are you sure it is your monitor going out and not your video card?

    I'm using a LACIE 321, and very happy with it. I can't comment on the other's you mentioned.

    Best
    Joe

  3. #3

    Flat Screen Monitors

    I would get the Apple Cinema 20". I faced a similar choice like you about 3 months ago, and ended up with the Apple. Although it has fewer controls, I read a very good review of color accuracy that rated it higher than almost any other screen -- including the very expensive Eizo's. The main drawback of the Apple Cinema 20" is that it can only accurately be calibrated to 6500K, not 5000K or 6500K. For me that's not a big deal because I always calibrate to 6500K. I no longer have the review, sorry . . .

  4. #4

    Flat Screen Monitors

    I don't know if it's available where you are, but I've got the Dell 2005FPW on my desk at work and I'm pretty happy with it (although my day job has nothing to do with image manipulation). The LCD is the same unit that's in the Apple display but the case has the ability to rotate the screen 90deg and it has electronics in it to take VGA as well as DVI input. It's also cheaper.

  5. #5
    Ted Harris's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2000
    Location
    New Hampshire
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    3,465

    Flat Screen Monitors

    I faced a similar decision some 8-9 months ago. I got tied of reading reviews and decided to buy only after i had made some real world comparisons. I made a DVD which contained several very high resoluton files (all 300 MB to 1 GB) of 4x5, 5x7 and 8x10 transparencies. I then started a round of dealers actually looking at these images on one screen after another, when possible doing side-by-side comparisons. I, like you, was originally focused nt he Apple 20" Cinema Display and its brethern.

    Unfortunately for my pocketbooks, time after time what I saw on the Apple 23" Cinema Display was so superiuor to any of the 20" offerings that I broke down and spent the additional money. I was doing one-to-one comparisons, looking at the same image, same size, same resolution, signalcoming from the same CPU hooked upo to two monitors ...did this several different times at several different showrooms ... and always came away with the 23" display a clear winner. I live in a rural area and it took me many months to do this on my infrequent trips to urban areas where I could actually see displays at work, but it was well worth it. Had I not done this I would have ended up with the 20" display and, I believe, never been fully satisfied.

    Finally, there are other options out there that may works as well but I urge you to take the time and make the effort, even if it means a wait, to go look and do your looking at your images, not those provided by the retailer.

    Pleae don't blame me if this exercise costs you money <smile>.

  6. #6

    Flat Screen Monitors

    Struan,
    it sounds the fly back transformer of your monitor is weak - if you're a handy person you can replace it for $35 - but it's not an easy job and requires preparation. My very old iMac is having the same problem, but if it dies, I won't bother to repair it but replace the whole set for something more modern.

    I can recommend Eizo flatscreens. We have a smallish model from several years back (L365?)and it's fantastic in use. If I have to buy another one, I'd go for a bigger Eizo - and prices are falling on the second hard market. Lots of Eizos are used in offices around the world and chances are you can get a fairly young one that is getting dumped for an 'upgrade'.

    As regards other brands, I have no experience whatsoever, only that I had a LaCie CRT for a week and traded it in for a Sony as fast as I could. Never regretted that.

  7. #7

    Join Date
    Aug 1999
    Posts
    110

    Flat Screen Monitors

    I have the Flexscan L997, and would recommend the Eizo monitors. Make sure it includes the monitor control software that allows 6 color setup as that is the only way you'll get accurate color temperature using a color calibration system. You'll find that the backlight needs to be set much lower than it comes from the factory (mine's at 78%) - which affects the color temperature.

    If you use the color temperature software sliders or pushbutton monitor controls, and set the monitor at 6500K, and then actually measure it, you'll find that the color temperature is much lower. For example, my screen's color temperature was about 5200K when set at 6500K using the slider. Through the 6 color setup and some trial and measurement, I have the screen at a measured 6493K.

    Finally, the L997 is specified as having an sRGB colorspace. When the monitor profile is examined in X-Rite Gamutworks, the actual colorspace is larger than Adobe 1998!

  8. #8

    Join Date
    Sep 2003
    Location
    God's Country
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    2,080

    Flat Screen Monitors

    Struan,

    I'm with Ted on his choice of monitors... mine is also the 23" and I love it.

    GREAT monitor!

    Cheers
    Life in the fast lane!

  9. #9

    Join Date
    Jul 2005
    Posts
    953

    Flat Screen Monitors

    just a thought but if your monitor is less than 3 years old then it is still in warranty.

    My mitsubishi monitor started playing up last autumn and was still just in warranty. I contacted them and they sent a refurbished replacement straight away and picked up the old monitor after I had time to check that it was OK. No cost involved to me and the replacement was like new.
    I was more than impressed with their service.

  10. #10

    Join Date
    Apr 2001
    Location
    Culver City
    Posts
    169

    Flat Screen Monitors

    Apple's support discussion board has a long thread:

    http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=1106174&#1106174

    regarding color consistency problems with the 23" Cinema Display (with the aluminum case). Complaints are a generally pink cast and vertical stripes of yellow or bluish color cast, which are a couple of inches wide, usually at the sides. The problem may be due to anti-reflection coating applied to the screen.

    The 20" and 30" displays do not seem to suffer from this problem.

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