monitor resolution

[neecy52]

i'm using a sony vaio with 1024x768x60 h resolution. do i need a better monitor to work with the photoshop software that came with the d10? thank you

[RichardtheSane]

Yes.

The LCD on your sony does not reproduce colours well enough to get good results from your photos :)

[neecy52]

can i get one that will plug into my laptop? what do you recommend

[RichardtheSane]

I wouldn't know where to start on a recommendation, however your laptop *should* have a 15 pin monitor port. Which sony do you have?

[neecy52]

pcg vx89, yes there's a 15 pin monitor port. how much resolution should i have?

[ldivinag]

since you will be using an external monitor, push it as high as the video card on the laptop will go.

remember, one of the downsides with lcd panels is that they have a resolution that they look great in.

if you go lower than that, it will look blurry.

if your machine handles dual monitors, drag the main editing screen onto CRT monitor and the palettes and aux windows into the LCD one.

[CyberDyneSystems]

As far as recomendations for an External,.

You want an Aperture Grill with a flat screen. (don't confuse "flat" with the thin "LCD" screens,.. I mean flat glass, but you want a CRT,.. which is the full size monitors with a tube)

The sweet spot is a 19" and the best brads for Aperture Grills are Sony and Mitsubishi. NEC is nice too.

[neecy52]

thank you all for your input. your help is invaluable.

[gandini]

CyberDyne's general recommendations will help you a lot. I have a Sony Trinitron 21" working at a resolution of 1200x1600 pixels. Although not driven by a laptop, it theoretically could be driven by my new Dell since the video card in it can handle an external monitor up to 1200x1600. But this is a fancy video card (latest nVidea) and your laptop might not be so capable. You should check out the specifications of the vidoe card in your laptop, since even if you get a fancy monitor, you can only drive it as hard and fast as the video card will go. Also be warned that CRTs, while offering great performance for photo editing, work best at high refresh rates (75Hz or higher.) LCDs do not refresh, so this is not a problem for them. Unfortunately, once again, the refresh rate is determined by your video card. It requires a pretty powerful card to give you 1200x1600 at 85Hz like I have from my desktop.

good luck

[RichardtheSane]

Your sony has an Intel I815 VGA adaptor with 11-32Mb shared VGA memory. I suspect you can use either the BIOS or sony notebook setup to increase the memory size.
This should be able to drive a monitor running 1280x1024 comfortably at 85Hz, but to avoid looking soft at the high res and refresh rate you need a decent monitor. :)