Flat Screen Monitors

[George Stewart]

For those with hefty bank accounts, may I suggest: IBM's (Lenovo's) T221 or NEC's MultiSync LCD2180WGLEDBKSV.

[Dominique Labrosse]

Struan,

I just did a bunch of research for a new work monitor. We were hours away from ordering the Apple 23" then switched to the 24" wide screen Eizo flexscan. This was mostly for QA and warranty issues.

There is a great VRML tool on the Eizo website that lets you compare the gamut of different monitors. You can find it here:

http://www.eizo.com/microsite/profilvergleich/fs_vergleich.html

I used the tool to compare my Mitsubishi Diamontron profile created with my Eye One Display against the Eizo flexscan profile provided in the downloads section of the Eizo web site. The flexscan measured out wider on the sides of the 3D model but shorter on the tops and bottoms. Which means that the CRT would show better shadow detail than the LCD. But the LCD showed greater range in the saturated colours. That said the ColourEdge gamut was huge and put either one to shame. Word on the street is that the 24" Flexscan will be converted to a ColourEdge model in the next couple of months at a similar price point (about $1700 US or so). If you can hold on it might be worth the wait. The ColourEdge series have the ability to calibrate using hte 14 bit look-up table.

Hope this helps...

[Paul Coppin]

If you like the Mitsubishi, it'll likely be worthwhile to get it fixed - that problem is due to a few things (including card and cable connectors). I'm not a fan of LCDs for photography, but love them for general computer work. Compare the resolution of your current monitor to the pixel density of the LCD - you might not like how your stuff looks on LCD. The phospors on a conventional CRT monitor tend give a closer feel to continuous tone, expecially if the screen mask is fine, and more closely resemble the print image whether digital or conventional..