Jumped to an LCD Monitor [Archive] - Canon Digital Photography Forums

defordphoto

27th of February 2005 (Sun), 15:11

Well, I did it. After touting that CRT's are the ONLY way to go for what we do—and that was true for a long time—I made the jump into an LCD TFT monitor.

I got the Samsung Syncmaster 910T. It's 1000:1 and 260CdM and that's what pretty much sold me on this one. I saw one in store awhile ago, but pretty much bought it for it's specs and I could not be happier.

This is one bright freaking monitor! And the colors are perfect!! I dumped my Sony Trinitron for this and don't miss it at all. I figured that if I made a mistake I'd just get a dual-monitor card and run it that way, but I going straight with the Syncmaster and have not looked back. Sharpness, color rendition is perfect.

Got it at newegg.com and they are on sale. With $30 mail-in it's $397. A killer price for a 19" TFT!

I was looking pretty hard at Dell as we use them at work, but this was cheaper and the difference is quite astounding. The brightness and clarity on the Samsung is world's over the Dell Ultra-Sharps that we use at work.

KevC

27th of February 2005 (Sun), 15:44

Awesome! I find myself at my laptop way more than my desktop. Obviously I'm at my desktop while working on Photoshop, the lowly 4200RPM HDD is way to slow for me. However, I do admire my laptop's LCD way more than the ancient CRT on my desktop. I'm deeply considering purchasing an LCD in the near future. 19" is nice, but way out of my price range. I'm considering the 710T, your panel's little brother.

defordphoto

27th of February 2005 (Sun), 16:06

The one thing the 17" has over the 19" is a 12ms refresh rate. The 19" is 25ms and the gamers whine that it ghosts, but I don't play games so could care less. I have seen any ghosting either...In addition, Samsung has a 90-day no-dead-pixel warranty too! Only one of its kind.

drisley

28th of February 2005 (Mon), 22:39

Thanks for the post.
I too have touted CRT's for years as being the only way to go.
But alas, I think the radiation from my CRT is starting to fry my brain. I've been looking closely at the Samsung 19" LCD's too. They are supposed to have the best contrast and colour rendition.
I've been looking at the 193P which has a very good 800:1 contrast and 20ms response.
Curious, is the brightness level supposed to be lower to be better? Ie, can lcd's in fact be too bright? This monitor has a 250 cdm brightness.
I've also been looking at the 913N

cmM

28th of February 2005 (Mon), 23:03

i just ordered me a dual video card... now I'm looking for another LCD to complement my CRT... I gotta check out this Samsung (it's 17" version though)

tim

28th of February 2005 (Mon), 23:21

I'm in the market for a good LCD in 6 months or so (after dual core Athlon 64s are released), so i'll keep the Samsung ones in mind. I just did a quick price check... that one costs US$724 if I buy it from one of the cheapest places in New Zealand! I'll definitely be getting a mate in the states to help me out if I go that way.

FlipsidE

1st of March 2005 (Tue), 07:32

The one thing the 17" has over the 19" is a 12ms refresh rate. The 19" is 25ms and the gamers whine that it ghosts, but I don't play games so could care less.
- You pegged me. For me, I wouldn't purchase an LCD unless it could be used for both gaming and photo editing. That said, 25ms isn't really "slow." It isn't as nice as 12ms, but there are some hardcore gamers out there with 25ms LCD's that absolutely love 'em. Unfortunately, though, it seems that good gaming LCD's are still quite expensive (upwards of $500 to $700+). So, I'm still holding off right now.

FlipsidE

tommykjensen

6th of March 2005 (Sun), 02:28

gary_hendricks

6th of March 2005 (Sun), 03:07

I own a Philips 170C and absolutely love it. Once you go LCD, you'll never go back.

defordphoto

6th of March 2005 (Sun), 05:43

Jim, are You still happy with the new monitor?

Currently I have a 17" Samsung SyncMaster 700b monitor and I think it soon will be time to replace it and Your post here may convince me to turn to lcd tft also instead of the big clumsy crt monitors.

Yes. No regrets at all. Going from my Sony to this Samsung was seamless for photo editing. I'm extremely pleased.

tim

16th of March 2005 (Wed), 03:24

Sweet, i'm gona get me one of those I think :) The cost here is US$632 so a lot higher than there, but for this it's worth it to me to have local support.

Have you tried games on it at all? I'm not a hard core gamer but I have a but of a run around in Doom3 or something like that every now and then :)

roanjohn

16th of March 2005 (Wed), 07:37

1000:1 :shock: THAT IS ONE BRIGHT MONITOR?? Are you sure that won't blind you??!!!??

Congratulations on finally crossing the river to LCD land. I have a CRT monitor at work and after an hour of staring at it, my eyes get very tired.

............hate CRT.

Ro1

tommykjensen

22nd of May 2005 (Sun), 05:28

Jim, the monitor have both VGA and DVI input.

Is it possible to have 2 computers connected and switch between them?

I have 2 pc's and use a KVM switch but I think the output on the monitor loose a little "power", can't really explain. But if I buy a LCD I would connect me photo pc with dvi and my normal pc with vga and switch the input on the LCD and let my KVM switch control mouse and keyboard.

ghamden

22nd of May 2005 (Sun), 06:37

Here is a great monitor i have used it for about 6 months looks great and for some reason it has been discounted you can find it new for as low as 699.00

http://www.pricegrabber.com/search_getprod.php/masterid=708367/search=syncmaster+213t

ghamden

22nd of May 2005 (Sun), 06:40

Same monitor but like mine black

http://www.pricegrabber.com/search_getprod.php/masterid=1171983/search=SyncMaster+213T+

tim

22nd of May 2005 (Sun), 06:47

tommykjensen

22nd of May 2005 (Sun), 07:06

On my 910T, yes, you can do that.

It's 800:1, and it's very, very bright when you turn it up, the 1000:1 monitor would be unreal.

Ohh, are You saying that there are 2 different versions of the same monitor? Which is then best?

tcaran

22nd of May 2005 (Sun), 07:26

I wanted to pass along that the Dell 19" Ultrasharp can be had for under $300 using stackable coupons:
http://www.techbargains.com/dellcoupons.cfm

Dell 19in 1905FP Digital LCD Flat Panel 800:1 contrast ratio, 20ms response, DVI $479.00 - 35% off Coupon Code: S0BDZ6HBTFDPSL Exp Th 5/26 5:59am - $60 off $500 Coupon
code: MHD4PQCF$WJ2S3 = $251.35, Free shipping. Add $21 in items to qualify for $60 off coupon.

If you can't find something you want for $21 to get over the $500 mark, there is another code for a $30 coupon. I plugged them in at the Dell site and they worked. Total using the $30 coupon came to $281.35 before tax (free ship). I got one last week the same way (but a few dollars more). Haven't set it up yet, though.

tommykjensen

22nd of May 2005 (Sun), 07:29

I wanted to pass along that the Dell 19" Ultrasharp can be had for under $300 using stackable coupons:
http://www.techbargains.com/dellcoupons.cfm

Unfortunately none of those coupons work in Denmark.

tim

22nd of May 2005 (Sun), 07:32

Ohh, are You saying that there are 2 different versions of the same monitor? Which is then best?

Nope, AFAIK there's only one version, I was talking about the comment roanjohn made earlier. This seems like a good monitor so far, but I still have to color calibrate it so can't vouch for that at all, but I do like it way better than my old laptop screen :)

tcaran

22nd of May 2005 (Sun), 07:34

Unfortunately none of those coupons work in Denmark.

Ugh. Sorry to hear that.

Camo 757

23rd of May 2005 (Mon), 22:18

just picked Dell 20" wide screen for $397 with coupons. AMAZING!

roanjohn

24th of May 2005 (Tue), 06:44

just picked Dell 20" wide screen for $397 with coupons. AMAZING!

That is super duper cheap!!!

Ro1

tommykjensen

24th of May 2005 (Tue), 11:07

Anybody have experience with

NEC MultiSync LCD1970NX-BK

A co-worker recommended this monitor. One of the things he emphasized was that it is a S-IPS panel.

RAitch

24th of May 2005 (Tue), 17:55

I was never an LCD fan because of the clarity and latency. Now, with a baby, I only have time to use a computer 5 minutes at a time if I'm lucky. In fact, I'm typing with one hand now... the other one wrapped around him.

The only way I have time is to use my notebook. I'm pretty impressed how far LCDs have come. I've been doing all of my PSing on it too. It's been so long since I've used a CRT to PS. Oh well... I'm happy with the results so far.

drisley

24th of May 2005 (Tue), 18:45

TommyKjenson,
Is that a good thing?
S-IPS panel, is that the kind that actually have 16 million colours and no dithering like most monitors?

tommykjensen

24th of May 2005 (Tue), 23:11

TommyKjenson,
Is that a good thing?
S-IPS panel, is that the kind that actually have 16 million colours and no dithering like most monitors?

Actually I don't know. I haven't checked up on it yet but was just told that to get the best LCD monitors I should look for LCD's based on S-IPS panel. They are more expensive but should be better. I should probably check what S-IPS means :lol:

drisley

24th of May 2005 (Tue), 23:28

I just did a google, and found THIS (http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/other/display/lcd-guide.html) very informative LCD guide!

tommykjensen

24th of May 2005 (Tue), 23:39

Thanks, I'll read that later today.

drisley

24th of May 2005 (Tue), 23:44

Thanks, I'll read that later today.
According to that LONG and informative read, S-IPS monitors have the advantage of having the best colour reproduction, and best viewing angles of all monitor types making them ideal for photographic use.
However, they have relatively low contrast, and slower response times compared to other types, making them not so great for games.