LCD monitors for image editing

[jpkirk]

I am in the market to replace my 21" and 19" CRT monitors with a single wide format LCD monitor. I am currently running a dual head Windows system. I'm looking for some input on what might be an appropriate size (I'm thinking 24" or larger) and experiences with brands and models. I was just looking at the Samsung Syncmaster 245BW. It is reletively inexpensive and is not loaded down with a bunch of bells and whistles that I don't need. I like that. One of my concerns is the ability to calibrate it.

Any thoughts.

Thanks.

jim

[Denis Pleic]

You should do a test run in the store, if possible, and see for yourself what kind of controls it offers.

I have some experience with low- to mid- end Samsung LCDs, and was not too happy with what they offered in the way of calibration - i.e. usually 3 presets for color, gamma, etc. No way to select the color temperature in Kelvins, or any fine tuning, and their "MagiColor" or whatewer it's caled is simply annoying.

They are praised as good monitors for gamers, though :)
(meaning they have fast response times and lively colors: the former is irrelevant for your application, and the latter is simply a big annoyance!)

Just my 2c worth...

[Ken Lee]

If I were in the market for a monitor for image editing, I would ask Pat Herold at Chromix (http://www2.chromix.com/index.cxsa).

[Doug Fisher]

The Samsung 245T is a better panel compared to the 245BW. You might want to read the archives here to do a little research before buying.

Doug
---
www.BetterScanning.com

[jpkirk]

Hmm, been a year since I asked this question. Still have not done anything. Probably will not either. Other hardware needed to be updated. Like processor, memory and video card. Now have dual core, 8gigs of RAM and a moderately hot rod display card (NVidia 9800 GTX+) that CS4 likes. Plus Vista64 so now I don't have memory swaps while working on large images. The monitors are just fine for now.

[jpkirk]

Hmm, been a year since I asked this question. Still have not done anything. Probably will not either. Other hardware needed to be updated. Like processor, memory and video card. Now have dual core, 8gigs of RAM and a moderately hot rod display card (NVidia 9800 GTX+) that CS4 likes. Plus Vista64 so now I don't have memory swaps while working on large images. The monitors are just fine for now. But thanks for replying. Sorry it took so long to come back.

[Leonard Evens]

I had been using a professional model Viewsonic CRT, but it got too dim. So, due to difficulties with handling the weight of a decent size CRT, I switched to LCD. My first try was a Samsung 226CW. I found it unsatisfactory because I couldn't do decent calibration/profiling with it. (I use the Argylll suite of programs---
www.argyllcms.com
--- mostly under Linux, and I own an Eye One Pro photometer. If you get such a device it will come with the vendor's software for Mac or Windows, but the Argyll programs work better, I've found.) I never had such problems with the CRT. The problem is partly that LCDs differ in significant ways from CRTs, so you may encounter similar problems even if you don't try color management. LCDs often have Contrast and Brightness Controls, but it is not clear what they mean. They don't correspond at all to what you are used to with a CRT. Sometimes you are advised to leave the Contrast at the default and just use the Brightness control to modify the light level. At other times it is suggested that the meanings are reversed. With a CRT, these controls may control the actual voltages applied to the guns, but with an LCD, they may just affect a lookup table built into the monitor instead. My problem was that I found it very difficult to get both the light level I wanted and the correct behavior in the shadows.

A more serious problem with most LCDs is that they are very sensitive to vertical viewing angle. For example, with the 226CW, I arranged to look straight on and but there were still subtle differences in gamma from the top to the bottom. (The specifications say that it has equal vertical and horizontal view angles---something like 170 degrees, but that ignores the subtle differences I am talking about, and they can be crucial when evaluating images. ) Some models such IPS types and some others are much better in this regard. Do a google search and you will come up with lots of information on this problem.

I finally gave up on my 226CW, which I will give to my wife who doesn't care about image viewing, but can use a wide screen monitor. I got a Samsung XL20, which I am just beginning to work with. But even uncalibrated it is an improvement over the 226CW. It has an LED light source instead of a backlighting florescent, as is typical with most LCDs. I hope it will resolve my problems, but it is still early days, so I may be disappointed. But it is expensive. I got mine through Amazon for $800. It does come with a colorimeter for calibration/profiling, which might add at least $100 if you bought it separately. You may not want to spend that much. Also, the XL20 is not wide screen. The XL24 appears to be the same monitor in wide screen, but it must be even more expensive. But you should at least look for a monitor that doesn't have the vertical viewing angle dependence problem. Look at
www.pchardwarehelp.com/guides/lcd-panel-types.php
for an explanation and further links.

[Doug Dolde]

If you have the dough get an EIZO. Otherwise one of the NEC graphics monitors.

[Rolfe Tessem]

Not cheap, but the NEC 2490WUXi is superb, and comes with calibration tool and software that works at the hardware level.