What size monitor please

[tikkeltokkel]

I have a an old Relisys 17" monitor (circa 1997) that i bought at an auction . I've used this with my previous p.c. and have subsequently moved into photography as my only job. I dont have a huge selection of monitors in my country but need to know how many of you guys use 19" or 21" monitors . I can get a 0.20 dot pitch samsung monitor and a 0.21 dot pitch 21" samsung 1100p plus monitor. Do you guys have experience with these or phillips or siemens/fujitsu please . Is 21" the way to go ?

Mike 10d 17-40 24-70 70-200

[Jesper]

If (digital) photography is your job, you need professional tools - not a seven year old cheap-o monitor... :?

Buy a good, new monitor, I'd say the bigger the better, and calibrate and profile it properly (with a device such as a Colorvision Spyder) so that you can reproduce colours accurately and consistently.

Photography is not my job, but I'm using a Sony 19" monitor (Multiscan E400) and I use a Spyder to calibrate and profile it.

[CyberDyneSystems]

You really only have two choices for size.

19" if you don't want to go "whole hog"

Otherwise just get a 21"

The Sony's are excellent,. I have two and will use nothing else at this point.

[robertwgross]

One word of warning if you shop for a new monitor. Read all of the specifications.

I purchased a new monitor once and dragged it to the computer room. First, it was so heavy that I could barely get it up onto the computer desk. Second, it was so deep (front to back) that it really did not fit well into the computer desk.

I agree, the electrical specifications and view on-screen are very important. Still, read all of the specifications.

---Bob Gross---

[kellylipp]

Covered many times but how about once again since someone asked:

Have any of you big dogs used a large flat panel monitor for serious work? If so, happy, sad, indifferent? What about calibration? Do the tools work with a flat screen (I'm thinking not as there are far fewer knobs to turn on a TFT).

So you know where I come from: just bought the ViewSonic 191B. I think it looks great and it is very easy on the eyes and the desktop. Reasonably good luck with color rendition between what I thought I shot, what I see on the screen and what the printer does.

Thanks,

Kelly

[kellylipp]

OK, so I answered one of my questions:

Yes, Spyder does work with LCD's. Now, has anyone used it and again, what are your thoughts?

And if you live in Colorado Springs, how about we split the cost and both use it?

Thanks,

Kelly

[J.A.F. Doorhof]

I use a Iiyama 5131 and although it does not measure perfect primaries it's very very nice to work with.
Blacklevel adjustments need perfect tuning of the brightness of a TFT and you need to desatured the colors a bit because a TFT has much more color than the average CRT, but after some carefull tweaking with a CRT next to it for reference I love working on the flatpanel.

I only wish the blacklevel would be a bit better, but I'm working on that by making a ND filter for the monitor.

Greetings,
Frank

[LiquidMantis]

</lurk>

Outside of black levels, another problem with LCDs is that they can't compete with CRTs for resolution. I'm running my 21" CRTs at 1920x1440, I haven't seen an LCD that will go above 1280x1024 yet.

-will
<lurk> 8)

[CyberDyneSystems]

"Word" the Lurker!

:mrgreen:

//that means "ditto"

[J.A.F. Doorhof]

1600x1200 running here :D

The REAL problem with LCD's are the primaries and the blacklevel.
In other words colorcorrection is almost impossible on a mediocre TFT, on the better ones it can be done however with very good results, I see what I see on screen exactly on my prints.

Blacklevel however is the REAL problem, but after getting used to it, and double checking with the Nokia monitor test for brightness it's perfect every time.

A CRT on 1920x1440 is by the way not very sharp, I run that kind of resolutions not even on my CRT projector :D.
I compared a 22" Iiyama Pro CRT on 1600x1200 with the 5131 and the TFT beats the Iiyama in sharpness and that is perfect for photoshop work.
I run a 2 monitor setup so if in doubt I can switch to the CRT for double checking :D.

Also nice of the TFT is the portrait position, when working on portrait this is amazing, and must be seen to believe.

I'm a CRT fan/freak/enthousiast, but for MY work on photo's I love the TFT I now use.

Greetings,
Frank

[GPR1]

The LaCie monitors are also excellent.

[chris.bailey]

If you are working a lot in PS there are only two real options, a widescreen TFT or two monitors. After doing the latter I now have a 23" widescreen Sony TFT running at 1920 x 1200 and it is superb. I have used monitors made by Eizo downwards and the current setup is the best I have used period.

[Jesper]

</lurk>

Outside of black levels, another problem with LCDs is that they can't compete with CRTs for resolution. I'm running my 21" CRTs at 1920x1440, I haven't seen an LCD that will go above 1280x1024 yet.

-will
<lurk> 8)

My brother's laptop LCD screen goes up to 1600 x 1200. I'm using 1280 x 960 on my Sony 19" CRT, otherwise the letters and icons become too small for comfort... :?

[Morden]

On the PC that I use for photo processing I have a 19" Iiyama 4821. Once calibrated as best I can get it, the colour reproduction is quite good. I use it at its native resolution of 1280 x 1024 (or 1024 x 1280 :) ), at which it destroys any of my CRT displays in terms of sharpness and "ease of use". Being able to quickly rotate it to "portrait" mode - and back - is very handy.

Admittedly my photo work is not "serious" - and that PC has to be used for other purposes - but overall I consider the Iiyama 4821 a superb display.

[LiquidMantis]

My brother's laptop LCD screen goes up to 1600 x 1200. I'm using 1280 x 960 on my Sony 19" CRT, otherwise the letters and
icons become too small for comfort... :?

Oh you're right. We have a Dell laptop at the office that does 1600x1200. Forgot about that. And from other responses in this thread it appears there are desktop LCDs that will do it as well.

[Rudi]

I run the Samsung Syncmaster 191T, which has now been replaced by the 193T. It's a 19" LCD flat-screen monitor, and I am very happy with it. It easily outperforms my old Mitsubishi Diamond View CRT, and is as good as my mate's 21" Sony CRT (We actually had the two of them side by side, both calibrated. This was after my mate's CRT came back from Sony warranty repair, so it was up to spec. There was no difference that we could see, except the Samsung was easier on the eyes - the flicker in the CRT is noticeable when you've got them side by side! :)).

[Belmondo]

I recently purchased a used 21" Sony from http://www.merkortech.com. Despite some very difficult communications (see thread titled 'dell monitors,' it arrived safely, works very well, and is a delight to have on the desktop. The value of the extra real esate on a 21" monitor cannot be over-stated.

I've chosen to use two monitors. This way, I have the CRT for image editing and post processing, and the flat panel for everything else. Sorry to say---for viewing, I prefer the flat panel because of its brightness and on-screen color saturation. For color fidelity, though, the CRT is the hands down winner. The only problem is that my graphics card only allows me to use one screen resolution for both monitors. If I want 1024 X 768 on the flat panel, that's what I have to use on the CRT. If I want a much higher resolution on the CRT, then text on the flat panel becomes almost to small for my weary old eyes to decipher. I'm looking into other graphics cards to see if there's one available that handles two monitors, and offers the capability of using different resolution on each one. I don't know if such things exist or not.

[Morden]

I don't know if such things exist or not.

Several manufactures produce cards that support seperate resolutions on two displays, e.g. Matrox and many recent Nvidia-based cards.

[Belmondo]

I don't know if such things exist or not.

Several manufactures produce cards that support seperate resolutions on two displays, e.g. Matrox and many recent Nvidia-based cards.

Thanks for that.
I've already decided I'm going to go with the Matrox card if it does what I want. I've heard only good things about them. The card I have is one of those things that was on the shelf at best buy and was the only thing that supported two monitors. I was in a hurry to get the second monitor up and running, and this is what I ended up with.

BTW, I'm replacing a Vewsonic 19" monitor with the 21" Sony. The Viewsonic was a bit brighter, but too hard to adjust, and not as true to the color. It'll make a great monitor for a second system if I decide to set one up somewhere.