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04/11/2008 05:01:55 PM · #1 |
Hey guys.
Looking for help from people who 'know' stuff.
I have an NEC VERSA P8210 Laptop that I work on (and Love) and for Mother's Day there's a good chance I may get a larger Monitor as my gift.
I know NOTHING and I mean Zero, Zilch, Nada - about what I'm looking for.
The Budget won't be huge say $350 - $400 AUS - so about $325-$370 USD.
I work in a room that has two massive floor to ceiling windows, with white walls - so reflections are a HUGE issue for me.
What I need is really clear ideas about what I need to know when shopping for one - so please explain it to me like I'm less than clever - GRIN!
Thanking you in advance for passing your wisdom onto me. |
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04/11/2008 05:26:05 PM · #2 |
I just got a new monitor for my birthday. (BTW, the DPC birthday fairy overlooked me.) One with a wide contrast ratio would be best, but on a limited budget you may not get one of those. The nicer ones are a 3000:1 contrast ratio, though a 1000:1 should still look pretty good, and is what I got. I got an NEC 20" widescreen for $200 U.S., after my rebate comes in. The big thing for me was resolution. At 1050 vertical pixels and 1680 horizontal, it has around the same height as my 1280 x 1024 17" monitor (that has a dim backlight) that it is also on my computer with. That gives me plenty of screen resolution for editing, and some space on the side for floating palettes. A lot of the budget monitors only have a vertical resolution of 900 pixels. That's Fine for movie watching and general usage, but for editing photos, the bigger, the better.
The other thing you want to be sure of is that you do NOT get a glossy screen, because of your glare problem.
One more thing, Check your video card. there are two types of video connectors in wide use these days.
The older analog VGA connector:
And the newer DVI:
If you have both, get DVI, (you will need to buy the cable extra) but you need to be sure of what your computer has. Some budget monitors only have a VGA connector.
Message edited by author 2008-04-11 17:38:53. |
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04/11/2008 06:52:12 PM · #3 |
Thank You - valuable information - much appreciated.
Can anyone tell me if Dell are a good choice for photo processing monitors (lower budget ones of course!) |
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04/11/2008 07:35:35 PM · #4 |
I have a 17" Dell monitor on my computer at work. It seems as good as anything else.
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04/11/2008 08:00:28 PM · #5 |
Dell does not make LCD screens. They buy from Samsung, among other OEMs. At least some of the Apple screens are made with Samsung LCD panels, some with Philips.... But LCD panels are not all born equals when it comes to graphics editing requirements. Useful info:
AnandTech - The LCD Thread
Flatpanelsdk
DPreview thread
Might be of help. |
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04/11/2008 09:07:52 PM · #6 |
The following computer sites have lots of reviews, you might look there:
www.cnet.com
www.pcmag.com
www.pcworld.com |
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04/11/2008 09:52:52 PM · #7 |
You got some good advice. Yesterday I bought a NEC 2090Uxi (20") refurbished from PC Universe via Amazon.com for $271 US including shipping. It has the IPS type panel, less fast for gaming but higher color fidelity. Going to run it with my failing Apple Cinema Display 23" probably, just using the NEC for photo stuff.
With this one the SpectraView color calibration software can be added, probably the puck too but I'll initially use it with the existing Pantone huey. |
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04/11/2008 10:14:35 PM · #8 |
I'm in the same boat as you Lisa. My 12 year old Trinitron will no longer hold a stable image with color shifts every few seconds. Having to rely on AWB and "as shot" in RAW conversions is frustrating as I can't reliably edit photos by eye anymore.
I'd like to upgrade to a flatscreen panel in order to save desk space but it seems unless willing to spend a min of AUD $1K they just don't measure up to the good old CRT's.....especially in the blacks.
Image quality is more important than screen size for most of us. Wish there was a stand out choice to recommend.
Let us know what you end up with.
bazz. |
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