gordon davis wrote:
I will be using my 19 inch CRT for the main editing job but I'm still not sure I understand why the default resolution of 800 x 600 on a 19 inch screen seems on the face of it to be just as 'sharp' as a 1,400 x 1,050 one on a TFT.
Resolution is probably a bit of a misnomer - "screen size display" is probably a better term because the "sharpness" of a screen has much more to do with the dot size of the screen itself, the refresh rate of the screen and other factors (of concern only to screen manufacturers). If you can (it will depend on your video card), you should probably increase the "resolution" of your 19" CRT to something more than 800 x 600 (which is more suited for a 15" screen). Try looking at your screen at resolutions of 1024 x 768 and 1152 x 864 and 1280 x 960 to see if one of the higher screen sizes appeals to you. I find a 1280 screen on my 19" to be ideal.
I think I've gotten into a forum which is way above my head here. For instance it would help if I knew what the hell an ICC profile is ! Maybe I should come back in a few months time after I've done a bit more reading.
Stick around - we all have start the learning curve somewhere. An ICC profile is a bridge between the colours on your screen and the colours your printer produces. The issue is that sometimes the colour balance of your monitor (screen) can be different than the printer - so something that looks perfect on screen comes out printed with too much magenta, or too much cyan, or whatever.
There are two ways to tackle this problem. If you know that the printed output always has too much cyan, you can reduce the cyan in your on-screen versions so that they come out ideal when printed (but it will look crappy on-screen). Or, you can set up an ICC profile that does this adjustment for you, automatically. Note that usually only higher end photo editing software (Adobe Photoshop, Corel Photopaint, etc.) support the use of ICC profiles.
You may also be extremely lucky like me and have a screen/printer that are ideally matched, and print 100% without an ICC profile (I don't know why mine works so well (Dell screen, Epson printer), it just does). So, if you are happy with your printed output (i.e. the colour balance looks the same on paper as it did on-screen) - then you can ignore trying to get an ICC profile. Sometimes you can pick up an ICC profile off the web (one that someone has done for your printer). There are ways of making one yourself but it is very tricky to get it just right - so the first thing to check is if you really need one using the adage "if it ain't broke .. don't fix it".
Have fun!