Monitors... - DPChallenge Forums

Nikon AF Zoom-Nikkor 18-135mm f/3.5- 5.6G ED DX

12/06/2007 12:36:58 PM · #1

I'm researching monitors and I'm a little confused...

I was checking out the mac cinema displays (I've heard only great things about them!) but I thought that contrast ratio was supposed to be very important to us as photographers. The mac's are only 700:1 (yes, even the 30" which I can't afford anyhow!) :0P

I read that 1000:1 is the minimum we should get for proper editing.

Another- Dell I'm checking out is 1000:1 and I've heard that dell has good ratings but from other photographers I've heard the screen can vary as much as a stop from one side of the screen to the other. I also know one photographer got a refurbished monitor when she thought she had bought new! (not cool!)

Do you use a monitor that you love? What makes it great? I want the mac but at 700:1 is it good enough??

JeffryZ

Nikon D80

12/06/2007 12:50:59 PM · #2

I was surprised at just how confusing it is when I decided I wanted a bigger monitor (I have a five year old 17" LCD) to edit my photos on. The more I researched, the more confused I became. There are three types of LCD monitors- each with good and not as good points. I found this thread on another forum to have very useful information on the different types of panels and even suggestions of what they think are the better ones.
//forums.anandtech.com/messageview.aspx?catid=31&threadid=2049206&enterthread=y

For myself, I settled on a Planar PX2611W- the more affordable of the S-IPS panels. The same panel that NEC uses. Dell and NewEgg.com have a good price on it. It can sometimes be hard to know what you are getting with Dell- they may release a model with one type of panel and later replace it with another (cheaper) type of panel with the same model number. My new monitor is in the process of being shipped to me right now so I cannot offer any personal comments on it yet.

Nikon AF Zoom-Nikkor 18-135mm f/3.5- 5.6G ED DX

12/06/2007 01:52:57 PM · #3

wow! thanks so much for the link- what a great resource!!! Mind boggling but great :0)

I think I'm going the same route as you, I'll probably buy this one by the end of the day. I just want to make sure I'm doing the right thing- it's a pretty big purchase for me!

JeffryZ

Nikon D80

12/06/2007 03:26:11 PM · #4

What was it that attracted you to that monitor? The high contrast ratio (which can mean less able to distinguish shades of grey- the higher rated photo monitors are around 800:1 contrast ratio) or the built in TV tuner? One review says that this one is not that great for image quality which is important for editing photos. Not trying to pick on your choice, just helping inform the decision.
//www.maximumpc.com/article/nec_multisync_20wmgx2
To quote:
Sadly, despite its gamut of goodies, the 20WMGX2â��s performance is seriously lacking. Several shades of dark gray were indistinguishable from black, even with the brightness at 100 percent (and mind you, this screen is already uncommonly bright!). Grayscale ramps, which should progress in a smooth, gradual manner, were riddled with bumps, kinks, and banding. And color-tracking discrepancies were visible in scales of 32 or more steps. These issues plagued the screenâ��s performance in our real-world tests. In high-res digital photos and illustrations, banding, contouring, and the presence of different hues disrupted what should have been subtle shade changes.

JeffryZ

Nikon D80

Nikon AF Zoom-Nikkor 18-135mm f/3.5- 5.6G ED DX

12/06/2007 03:38:14 PM · #5

For basically the same amount of money you can get a larger (24") HP HP LP2465 monitor which the article I linked to before rates as very good for multi media and photo work. Another review: //www.pcworld.com/article/id,127277-page,1-c,monitors/article.html
//www.newegg.com has it for $614.
No TV tuner, but is that necessary?
I did not spend a lot of time looking through monitors- there may be better ones out there. Just to get you started. In general, try to avoid TN panels (yes- it can be hard to find out what sort of panel an LCD is). They are the lowest priced and most common and the poorest for photo editing. PVAs are better, IPS the best but most expensive. I spent a long time trying to decide.

Message edited by author 2007-12-06 15:56:43.

12/06/2007 04:51:23 PM · #6

no I definetly don't need a TV tuner.

The contrast ratio is something I'm thourally confused by! I really thought the higher the contrast ratio the better!!!

I would like the low ms tho, as I do a little bit of gaming (nerd alert!!) :0P

but I did choose this monitor from the photo editing monitor list...

PHOTO EDITING/WEB DESIGN (classic sRGB/web-target photo editing, or web design)

* High contrast at medium brightness
* Accurate color/gamma curve
* sRGB (72% NTSC) gamut for better screen matching

So is higher contrast ratio better or lower?? I would think the higher, the more able to see various shades of black...

12/06/2007 05:12:57 PM · #7

Don't pay a lot of mind to contrast ratio specs. Higher is not always better, and the figures given are often very unreliable; in fact, monitor specs in general are really unreliable.
I agree that monitors that use s-IPS panels are the ones you want to consider first for photo work. They are typically slower in response times though, and so are not the top of the heap for gaming.

Prof_Fate

12/06/2007 05:23:09 PM · #8

I too was told as to contrast, the higher the better. Reason is blacks are blacker.
I have 2000:1 units and they were not expensive (19 wide).

A long and unresolved discussion on another forum brought up lots of points - type of panels, bit depth (most are 6 bit) and of course, contrast ratio. Seems the higher end panels are lower contrast. The point was also made that higher quality panels are generally made of better components to tighter tolerances, so they will hold calibration better.

No amount of googling by anyone there turned up any thing substantive on the subject. One person claims a physical print only has a contrast ration of 300:1, but the better TVs and LCD projectors have higher contrast ratios, and they can get pricey - 10,000:1 can be bought. And as kirbic stated, how they measure the contrast is open to debate as well.

My latest question is how do you find out what a specific model is made of? I have a samsung 931BW, not common. The 906BW is common and they are not the same. I suspect the panels are what is different as the response times are different. Last week I got 2 Acer LCDs - even Acer's website has no info on them, doesn't even list the model. Frustrating.

12/06/2007 05:34:46 PM · #9

Originally posted by Prof_Fate:

My latest question is how do you find out what a specific model is made of? I have a samsung 931BW, not common. The 906BW is common and they are not the same. I suspect the panels are what is different as the response times are different. Last week I got 2 Acer LCDs - even Acer's website has no info on them, doesn't even list the model. Frustrating.

So a search at this site. The linked page is in english, but it's a Danish site.

Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM

12/06/2007 06:10:15 PM · #10

So if I get a mac display do you think it would drive up the response time seeing that I'm on a PC?

Kaveran

Canon EOS-50D

12/06/2007 06:28:33 PM · #11

One thing you will notice from the danish site is that a lot of manufacturers use the same panel. I chose a samsung 225BW LCD. No bells and whistles like media ports (smart, cf etc) which I didnt want or need and since samsung provides panels for many other manufacturers I figured I would goto the source.

12/06/2007 06:51:26 PM · #12

Originally posted by oOWonderBreadOo:

So if I get a mac display do you think it would drive up the response time seeing that I'm on a PC?

These days, there's really no difference between Mac and PC hardware. The only difference between an Intel mac and a PC is a little chip that tells reassures the Mac OS "Yes, you're running on genuine Mac hardware."

Prof_Fate

12/06/2007 08:04:48 PM · #13

Originally posted by kirbic:

So a search at this site. The linked page is in english, but it's a Danish site.

cool. all have TN panels. Now what does that mean? LOL

12/06/2007 08:07:37 PM · #14

Originally posted by Prof_Fate:

Originally posted by kirbic:

So a search at this site. The linked page is in english, but it's a Danish site.

cool. all have TN panels. Now what does that mean? LOL

TN panels typically have fast response rates, but the gamma varies greatly with viewing angle, and so they are a batch to use for editing unless the viewing angel is very well controlled.
A lot of older laptops have TN panels, and even some of the newer ones. When you see a screen that you can tilt up/down and still see a relatively accurate image, it's not a TN panel.

Edit for typo

Message edited by author 2007-12-06 20:07:49.