...with a really good display for postprocessing, what would you buy?
Some answers potential questions about my question:
- Hardware prereqs must include a dual processor and 4gb of ram...not unusual these days. The hard drives that come with these kinds of laptops are typically 80 gb or so, which is fine. External drives can always be added.
- Comments not desired on XP 2gb limit or Vista issues, please.
- I'm not interested in Apple. No sermonizing, please.
The real deal: I like working in a recliner with a laptop on my lap. I don't like working in a chair at a desk.
I'm actually fine with the laptop I have now for running CS3 along with my business software, EXCEPT for the display. When I look at my photos on other displays, I sometimes see color casts that aren't revealed on my laptop's 15" 1400x1050 LCD display. I'm looking for a display that would show cc's when they exist.
It sounds like your screen is out of calibration and/or is using an old color profile. If you haven't done so, use a photometer and associated software to calibrate and profile your screen. After doing that, (and ensuring Windows is using the new profile) if the color is still bad, you could have either a bad screen or video card.
Assuming that all is good with this machine, except for the color, I'd look under the hood before spending money to replace it.
btw: I've seen some really nice Toshiba machines. I don't know their specs, but the build quality looked great.
Unfortunately, laptop screens are not as consistent and don't offer the same image quality as high-end desktop models. The best screens I have seen so far are the LED-lit ones on the new Mac Pro laptops (all current 15" models, and the new 1900x1200 pixel 17").
Not only do they run Windows just fine, but you also have OSX available so you get the best of both worlds.
My one minor complaint about Mac laptops is the strange keyboard layout.
Typically laptop displays are 6 bit, only capabable of displaying 262K colors. For accurate photo editing I would not want to have to use a display that cannot display the full range of color and greyscale that a 8 bit monitor can. Also, laptop displays are notoriously position-dependent since their viewing angles are intended for direct frontal viewing. Ambient light has a big impact on color temperature and contrast. I have yet to see a laptop that can be reliably calibrated and used for photoediting. Your photographic needs would be best served by using an 8 bit LCD from Eizo or Samsung on a desktop computer, then buying a cantilevered table from an outfit like http://www.sitincomfort.com/ovtadrselich.html that is designed to accommodate computer users in reclining chairs.
Posted by Lance Warley on June 8, 2008 at 10:21 AM
OK and thanks. You guys have pointed me in another direction. I'm going to hunt for a good display to attach to my laptop, still do most of my processing in the laptop/Lazy Boy, and do a final check on the good display.
Now I'm looking for a thread that must surely exist on suggested displays.
A simple rant here....we photographers know about how important calibrating monitors is. It baffles me that in this day and age the makers have not found a simple way to auto calibrate them built in. WE can spend alot of time and money insuring ours are perfect and then average Joe looks at our images and thinks they look wrong and move on to another site. That just really ticks me off. Sorry this was off topic somewhat.
Troup, self-calibrating monitors have been around since the late 80s (made by Barco). More recently Sony's Artisan monitors come with calibration devices built-in. Unfortunately photographers make a very tiny portion of the market for display manufacturers so this feature never made it into the mainstream, and for those that offer it is only available on very high-end models.
Discussion
7 repliesSome answers potential questions about my question:
- Hardware prereqs must include a dual processor and 4gb of ram...not unusual these days. The hard drives that come with these kinds of laptops are typically 80 gb or so, which is fine. External drives can always be added.
- Comments not desired on XP 2gb limit or Vista issues, please.
- I'm not interested in Apple. No sermonizing, please.
The real deal: I like working in a recliner with a laptop on my lap. I don't like working in a chair at a desk.
I'm actually fine with the laptop I have now for running CS3 along with my business software, EXCEPT for the display. When I look at my photos on other displays, I sometimes see color casts that aren't revealed on my laptop's 15" 1400x1050 LCD display. I'm looking for a display that would show cc's when they exist.
Thanks in advance.
It sounds like your screen is out of calibration and/or is using an old color profile. If you haven't done so, use a photometer and associated software to calibrate and profile your screen. After doing that, (and ensuring Windows is using the new profile) if the color is still bad, you could have either a bad screen or video card.
Assuming that all is good with this machine, except for the color, I'd look under the hood before spending money to replace it.
btw: I've seen some really nice Toshiba machines. I don't know their specs, but the build quality looked great.
-PB
Not only do they run Windows just fine, but you also have OSX available so you get the best of both worlds.
My one minor complaint about Mac laptops is the strange keyboard layout.
Guy
Now I'm looking for a thread that must surely exist on suggested displays.
Troup
Guy