Help needed to choose a new monitor please

[JeffSmith]

Hello friends,

I'm looking to buy a new monitor for my PC. I have no idea how to choose a monitor, other than the fact that I'd like a big one, around 24".

Which is best for Photoshop, glossy or matt?
Which brands have the best image quality?
What spec should I be looking for?

Many thanks for your help,

cheers,

Jeff

[dharmit]

Hi,

I had bought a 23" LCD Samsung screen a couple of months ago and am happy with it.

I will go through the process of selecting this one and hope it helps you. This process may not be exhaustive or what others do, but it can be a start.

• Check what budget you have
• If budget is >$500, I would recommend going for LED screen which is top notch technology wise.
• If budget is <$500, you have several options of LCD or PLASMA
• I would prefer LCD over plasma (well I have a LCD screen so I am biased)
• Check what refresh rate a LCD has (go for anything <5 milli seconds), mine is 2ms
• Check what contrast ratio it has (mine is 1:70,000)
• Check what is the power consumption your screen has (LED has least power consumption and Plasma has the highest)
• Check what connectivity options it has, HDMI, DVB, S-Video etc (mine has all)
• Check if your computer has that connectivity option (no point in selecting a screen which your computer can not support)
• Check if your screen has an option of Adobe RGB, sRGB etc, mine only has an option of sRGB
• Enjoy the experience of going to the shop and talking to the sales rep, never be pressured to buy as you are the one with cash and not the sales rep and learn to say no to yourself and to others.

Have fun
Dharmit

[JeffSmith]

What is the benefit of an LED monitor? Are all monitors LCD and the LED is a backlight havin gzero effect on the image OR... is LED a real bonus?

What's the best 24" monitor for photography?

[equilution]

I have the Dell 27" 2709W. I love it. Go for the extra 3". It's worth every penny. They're about $750 on Amazon right now. With monitors, you really do get what you pay for. 24" has become an "everybody's got one" kind of monitor, and are pretty commonplace. I do a LOT of photo editing and am not sure how I got along using my widescreen laptop monitor for so long.

You definitely want a high contrast ration 50K+. Stay away from plasma...they're crap, and old technology. The new Samsung LED is great, but I wanted something a bit larger.

If you're stuck on the 24" size, then I'd definitely go for the Samsung LED. It's got more vibrant and truer colors.

Hope this helps.

[autofocus]

Originally Posted by JeffSmith

Hello friends,

I'm looking to buy a new monitor for my PC. I have no idea how to choose a monitor, other than the fact that I'd like a big one, around 24".

Which is best for Photoshop, glossy or matt?
Which brands have the best image quality?
What spec should I be looking for?

Many thanks for your help,

cheers,

Jeff

Jeff, I do a ton of photo editing in support of mine, and my wife's photography business, and call me old fashion, but I think a calibrated CRT monitor is still better for photo editing than a flat screen. I believe it's a problem with the brightness, contrast, and color saturation levels of most consumer flat screens (again, compared to a calibrated CRT) This can be more problematic if you're also using labs for your photo processing. What you see is not always what you get. There are commercial LCD flat screens that are good for photo work, but the cost is pretty prohibitive for most of us ~$1200++ is not uncommon. BTW, don't get all caught up in the inflated contrast ratios that most of these manufacturers spew...it's mostly sales hype. (my day job is in the industrial electronics distribution business and I sell electronic components and LCD's, so I am talking from my own personal experience) And I'm not saying it can't be done, or you won't get decent results with an LCD regardless of how it's backlit, be it CCFL, or LED matrix, or LED edge lit.
I'm sure I'll get a lot of contra opinions on this, but that's the price you pay for posting here..lol

Vince

[JeffSmith]

Originally Posted by auto-focus

I'm not saying it can't be done, or you won't get decent results with an LCD regardless of how it's backlit, be it CCFL, or LED matrix, or LED edge lit.
I'm sure I'll get a lot of contra opinions on this, but that's the price you pay for posting here..lol

Vince

Thanks Vince, but now you've introduced some stuff with which I'm unfamiliar...

What does backlit actually mean? What does CCFL, LED Matrix and LED Edge lit mean?

Sorry to be dumb

[JeffSmith]

Originally Posted by equilution

I have the Dell 27" 2709W. I love it. Go for the extra 3". It's worth every penny. They're about $750 on Amazon right now. With monitors, you really do get what you pay for. 24" has become an "everybody's got one" kind of monitor, and are pretty commonplace. I do a LOT of photo editing and am not sure how I got along using my widescreen laptop monitor for so long.

You definitely want a high contrast ration 50K+. Stay away from plasma...they're crap, and old technology. The new Samsung LED is great, but I wanted something a bit larger.

If you're stuck on the 24" size, then I'd definitely go for the Samsung LED. It's got more vibrant and truer colors.

Hope this helps.

What about this 27" Samsung?
Samsung SyncMaster 275T - 27" - widescreen TFT active matrix LCD display

[autofocus]

Originally Posted by JeffSmith

Thanks Vince, but now you've introduced some stuff with which I'm unfamiliar...

What does backlit actually mean? What does CCFL, LED Matrix and LED Edge lit mean?

Sorry to be dumb

Jeff, they're all means of illuminating the panel. Backlit is exactly what it implies...the light source is behind the panel. Some displays in industrial applications may not be back lit at all, and rely exclusively on reflective or transflective light sources.
LED matrix is a grid of light emitting diodes (aka LEDs) organized in rows and columns directly behind the panel.
Edge lighting is using LEDs only around the sides or edges of the panel, and typically not as good as the matrix solution.
Before LEDs became the light source, most LCD displays were illuminated by CCFL technology, and still many today use that technology. CCFL = cold cathode flouresent light. These are very much like thin flouresent light tubes and one or more are mounted behind the panel. The advantage of LEDs over CCFL is usually lower power, and a better life expectency, and much less of an issue when you lose an LED Vs burning out a CCFL. However, today there is a bit of a price premium you have to pay for LED lighting over the more mature CCFL panels. Hope this explains it a bit

Vince

[JeffSmith]

Thanks Vince, that's very helpful.

I've decided against the CRT because of the depth, I don't have space for a large CRT. That leaves TFT. LCD is the preferred route, but is there an advantage to having a LED matrix backlit panel, does it influence the image quality or is it just a gimmick?

[autofocus]

Originally Posted by JeffSmith

Thanks Vince, that's very helpful.

I've decided against the CRT because of the depth, I don't have space for a large CRT. That leaves TFT. LCD is the preferred route, but is there an advantage to having a LED matrix backlit panel, does it influence the image quality or is it just a gimmick?

Not a gimmick Jeff...better, and more even light distribution. Short of doing some serious research, the problem might really be knowing what your getting, and whether any manufacturer offers the better matrix LED solution for consumer grade displays. I don't think I'd get too caught up with the backlight technology, regardless of what it is. I'd be more concerned with getting one that works well with calibration tools. That said, I would have a little extra money in the budget to buy that also...as in Spyder Express, or other. Being that I do not own a flat screen nor have I had the occaision to calibrate one I'm just going on what I've read concerning flat screens Vs CRT's for photo editing and calibrating. This article may shed a little light (no pun intended) on calibration
Monitor Calibration for Photography

Cheers

Vince