I am currently using a Dell, old style "tube" monitor, and the color and contrast has been working great for me. But it's getting quite bulky for the small apartment I live in here in Los Angeles. So I've been looking around for a possible LCD monitor.
Do you think it's worth doing the change to LCD? The specific one I am looking at is Samsung T190. http://www.circuitcity.com/ccd/productDetail.do?oid=213987
It's a lot slimmer, but I am not sure of the quality. I know it's no match with my current monitor.
I personally don't know exactly, I have heard that you can't quite see the color and tonal range out of LCD as you can with the old tube monitors. It's close but LCD does not show as much as the tube, but this is what I have heard and is not actually confirmed, but personally don't mind using an LCD, I h ave used it for some time now and haven't had any complaints, but I don't see some of the flaws that alot of the people on this site see, I do credit that to a lack of experience and not soooo much the monitor
Posted by bill meikle on August 5, 2008 at 11:00 AM
I moved from tube to LCD and didn't find a disadvantage, I like the extra desk space! I think the colors of the LCD and the viewing angle are good now.
Posted by Mel Ladewig on August 5, 2008 at 11:25 AM
There are big difference in LCDs. From what I've seen, some only show 6 bit color. Some are 8 bit and can nearly match the Adobe RGB gammut (much wider range of color than a normal sRGB monitor). Some are meant for gaming while others meant for accurate color representation for art and photography editing.
I'm not sure where that particular monitor fits into all this.
Posted by Craig Schultz on August 5, 2008 at 12:10 PM
I would suggest purchasing an LCD with an IPS panel. This panel type is very good for graphic work due to color shifting and brightness changes being minimized as you shift your position in front of the monitor.
I've used Dell LCDs for the last 4 or 5 years; prior to that I had a Sony Trinitron CRT. I don't see any significant drawbacks to the LCDs with regards to discernible image quality, and obviously the space/size benefits are tremendous.
Samsung makes some of the best LCD TVs, but I've never used their monitors for photography work. You could always put a few images on a USB drive and take them into Circuit City to view on that monitor.
For the same price as the T190, you could get a Dell Ultrasharp 19" widescreen LCD. I've had a 20" and now have a 24" version and they'll be tough to beat in the price range that you're looking at. Dell also carries an economy line that is a little less expensive, but for a relatively small amount more, the Ultrasharp series is a better value, imo.
Oh, my - you've hit my hot button!
Overall, the switch to LCD from CRT is a fairly safe one to make these days. But they are two very different technologies so there are different things to watch out for.
If you are trying to match your display to your printer, be aware that you might need to turn down the brightness of the monitor significantly ( in order to match the lighting that is illuminating your prints.) Some people have found that even turning down the backlighting to zero leaves it still too bright.
If shadow detail is very important to you, be careful about what you buy. The 8-bit color adjustment available in video cards is sometimes not precise enough to define all the colors in your shadows, and it takes one of the higher end monitors with built-in graphics processors (12-bit or 16-bit) to get all that detail.
As Craig mentioned, there is a big difference in panel types in that some offer a wider angle of view without any color or brightness shift. Imagine adjusting an image, and seeing a different color or density depending on where your head is in relation to the screen.
Posted by Les Barstow on August 5, 2008 at 6:00 PM
I've been eyeing up one of the Dell UltraSharp HC (High Color) monitors, but haven't managed to pool the resources to replace my CRT yet. The HC line appears to be very good for color reproduction and not too pricey. Unfortunately, the line only has two models: 24" and 30" widescreen. The 24" model (now apparently without the "HC" designation - just look for the most expensive 24" model - it will say "True Color" in the details... - is $679 list.
Discussion
8 repliesI have another question for you guys.
I am currently using a Dell, old style "tube" monitor, and the color and contrast has been working great for me. But it's getting quite bulky for the small apartment I live in here in Los Angeles. So I've been looking around for a possible LCD monitor.
Do you think it's worth doing the change to LCD? The specific one I am looking at is Samsung T190. http://www.circuitcity.com/ccd/productDetail.do?oid=213987
It's a lot slimmer, but I am not sure of the quality. I know it's no match with my current monitor.
What do you all use? And what's your comments?
Thank you in advance!
Chun Ming Huang
I'll give you the info that I understand
I personally don't know exactly, I have heard that you can't quite see the color and tonal range out of LCD as you can with the old tube monitors. It's close but LCD does not show as much as the tube, but this is what I have heard and is not actually confirmed, but personally don't mind using an LCD, I h ave used it for some time now and haven't had any complaints, but I don't see some of the flaws that alot of the people on this site see, I do credit that to a lack of experience and not soooo much the monitor
I'm not sure where that particular monitor fits into all this.
http://www.outbackphoto.com/tforum/viewtopic.php?TopicID=1700
I like this site for monitor information: http://www.prad.de/en/monitore/index2.html
Samsung makes some of the best LCD TVs, but I've never used their monitors for photography work. You could always put a few images on a USB drive and take them into Circuit City to view on that monitor.
For the same price as the T190, you could get a Dell Ultrasharp 19" widescreen LCD. I've had a 20" and now have a 24" version and they'll be tough to beat in the price range that you're looking at. Dell also carries an economy line that is a little less expensive, but for a relatively small amount more, the Ultrasharp series is a better value, imo.
Good luck!
Overall, the switch to LCD from CRT is a fairly safe one to make these days. But they are two very different technologies so there are different things to watch out for.
If you are trying to match your display to your printer, be aware that you might need to turn down the brightness of the monitor significantly ( in order to match the lighting that is illuminating your prints.) Some people have found that even turning down the backlighting to zero leaves it still too bright.
If shadow detail is very important to you, be careful about what you buy. The 8-bit color adjustment available in video cards is sometimes not precise enough to define all the colors in your shadows, and it takes one of the higher end monitors with built-in graphics processors (12-bit or 16-bit) to get all that detail.
There are a couple of articles that explain this in more detail:
http://www.colorwiki.com/wiki/Monitors_Part_One
As Craig mentioned, there is a big difference in panel types in that some offer a wider angle of view without any color or brightness shift. Imagine adjusting an image, and seeing a different color or density depending on where your head is in relation to the screen.
Don't know about the Samsung, though. Sorry.