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07/29/2002 08:54:27 PM · #1
I am considering purchasing a new monitor and I would like your advise in selecting one. I lean to a liquid crystal model. Any ideas?
07/29/2002 09:09:10 PM · #2
Not to hijack your thread, David. But I'm also in the market for a monitor to go with my new laptop. I'm thinking about a 19" CRT though, cause I'm cheap and I've always wanted a really huge monitor (the biggest I've ever had is 15"). So anyone have any recommendations for something around the $200-$350 range?
07/29/2002 09:12:47 PM · #3
Originally posted by Kimbly:
Not to hijack your thread, David. But I'm also in the market for a monitor to go with my new laptop. I'm thinking about a 19" CRT though, cause I'm cheap and I've always wanted a really huge monitor (the biggest I've ever had is 15"). So anyone have any recommendations for something around the $200-$350 range?

I've never bought a CRT from any company but ViewSonic. They have the best history and some very quality monitors. I recommend the PF775 17" or whatever their 19" equivelent is. I use the PF775 at work and it's very nice.

I also recommend ViewSonic for consumer grade LCDs. They get good reviews and their prices are pretty nice. If you want to spend a lot of money on an LCD, though, check out SGI panels. I run an SGI 1600SW widescreen flat panel here at home and it's the best monitor I've ever used. They don't make it anymore, but they have two new panels out (and 18" and a 23") which look very nice.

- Mike

07/29/2002 09:19:59 PM · #4
Keep in mind that for color fidelity you still can''t beat a CRT. Sure, they are bulky, hot, and use a bunch of electricity, but LCDs still can not match the color gamut of a good CRT.

FYI, LaCie makes some of the best monitors on the market. Their electron19blue III 19" CRT is especially good. MSRP is $399, but you can find it much cheaper.



* This message has been edited by the author on 7/29/2002 9:29:30 PM.
07/29/2002 09:51:38 PM · #5
the more I learn, the less I know
I have two viewMATE 19" flatscreen monitors with .25 pitch. bought at Fry''s at 4-500 each about two years ago but I thought the color and sharpness would be better with LCD.
Maybe that is the problem, they are not ViewSonic. I thought the lcd would have more true color too

* This message has been edited by the author on 7/29/2002 9:58:47 PM.

* This message has been edited by the author on 7/29/2002 9:59:50 PM.
07/29/2002 10:10:28 PM · #6
I used to have a Viewsonic 19" PS790. A short model.

It was a good CRT I bought about 5 years ago and I liked it well enough that when my daughter needed a new monitor I bought her a 17" af Viewsonic.

But, my viewsonic bit the dust about 3 weeks ago and I was looking at the latest offerings from viewsonic and was not too happy with what I saw.

Read a couple good things about the new Sony E540 21" .24 dot pitch for about $500. Bought mine from Best Buy online for $549 ( I wanted the security of being able to return it to the local Best Buy if it sucked).

Well, it kicks a$$!

Incredibly bright without needing the gamma configuring the Viewsonic needed, flat and very true in color to what I see printed. Why so cheap for a 21" trinitron?

It is limited to 1920 x 1440 at 85hz although 1600 x 1200 is great for me. And it doesnt have all the fancy dual connectors and stuff the more expensive models have. Its just a down and dirty 21" with a great tube..all I need.
07/29/2002 10:12:35 PM · #7
David, the color''s theoretically better on a CRT, but I find the flat panel I have to be excellent. The main drawback with them is that they look best at the native resolution, wheras CRT''s usually have many more choices. I was using a Mitsubishi 19" flat screen CRT for a while, but when I bought my flat screen iMac it ended up sitting in a corner until I sold it. LCD''s are great for saving space an use much less power. I also find mine was as easy to profile as the old Mitsu. Go for it!

* This message has been edited by the author on 7/29/2002 10:13:11 PM.
07/29/2002 10:32:16 PM · #8
Thanks, The ones I have 'work' just fine. I have the gama up a little to see the shadowey features better but I have found I should just leave the photos alone and not tweek them in photoshop cause I just ruin them for others. They never print like I see them on screen either.
I am really looking for a fix for this, so I can be just like the rest of you and tune my pictures. Could it be my video card?
07/29/2002 10:40:01 PM · #9
David, I don't think it is your video card. I tend to think it is probably your monitor. If you are looking to get the best color out of what you have you may want to invest in a software/hardware color matching system such as the ColorCal Spyder with PhotoCal. It is a colorimeter that works with LCDs and CRTs and is $229 through dpreview.com. This would probably help you get the best from the monitor you already have.
07/29/2002 10:55:08 PM · #10
Thanks, I will research.
07/30/2002 01:05:11 AM · #11
try looking at the sony trinitron series. I know the older mac monitors are amazing... (Greenish G3 ones)
08/21/2002 11:06:45 AM · #12
Not seriously shopping yet... just 'kicking tires' (oh! 'tyres' for my international friends... [my husband is Jamaican, and always teasing me about that!]).
Looked up this thread, and glad this conversation was already held. Looked up some of the monitors suggested here, and then found this one as well.
Since I don't really understand the spec. details on any of them, my question is: What do I look for in a monitor? Obviously I want to have true calibration from monitor to print out, but when the time comes to purchase my cash flow will still be under $400 (if it's possible to find a decent prosumer one in that range).
Thanks.
08/21/2002 11:15:58 AM · #13
It's really hard to beat a Sony monitor.

I have owned NEC, 2 viewsonics and now a Sony E540 21". The sony is by far the nicest I have had. The only thing I dont get with my sony is a lot of fancy dual screen modes and other electronic extras.

It's just a straight forward, .24 dot pitch crt..all I need. I run mine at 1024 x 768 and 85 hz( I like the bigger print) but you can go to 1600 x 1200 and it looks great ( I just can't read stuff as well leaning back in my recliner..hehe).

I am sure the 19" Sony will be excellent but make sure you have a liberal return policy just in case. I bought mine through BestBuy online so I could return it locally if I didn't like it. I have had it now for 3 months and love it :-)

Mine was reviewed in last months shutterbug and they loved it too..but shutterbug is kinda lenient on reviews.

* This message has been edited by the author on 8/21/2002 11:15:47 AM.
08/21/2002 11:26:09 AM · #14
Okay... but what does that .24 dot pitch number mean to me - how does that translate to real life? and high density gun blah blah?
I have no idea what the specs are on my current 15" monitor. I don't even know what kind it is... some run of the mill multiscan somethin' or other...
Or needn't I be concerned with all that. (?)

08/21/2002 11:40:03 AM · #15
Well..dot pitch is the same as dots per inch or pixel resolution in photos..smaller numbers are usually better.

But just about all the big boys like Sony, Viewsonic and NEC, etc, etc have equal dot pitch numbers.

Large LCD's have much larger (like .27) dot pitch which really starts to make a difference in visible resolution. Thats the main advantage CRT's have over LCD's right now..plus a little better color correction.

I would say that 19" monitor from Sony you are looking at for $350 is a good deal. Some of my cohorts in the magazine/design field swear by very expensive monitors from Sony and others ($1,200 and up for a 21") but I have not found the need for this kind of quality unless you are a big time engineer/architect or do work for Time magazine and make $100,000 a year as an art director and fear that little dust spec only visible with a loop will get by you:-)

Most web stuff is so low in resolution any monitor we are discussing here in the $350 - $500 range is more than enough and even overkill at times. And very good for semi-pro editing.

Heck..my lowly Sony has numerous color temperature controls and lots of tweaky stuff I will never use.

Originally posted by Karen Bryan:
Okay... but what does that .24 dot pitch number mean to me - how does that translate to real life? and high density gun blah blah?
I have no idea what the specs are on my current 15" monitor. I don't even know what kind it is... some run of the mill multiscan somethin' or other...
Or needn't I be concerned with all that. (?)



08/21/2002 11:40:42 AM · #16
Hi Karen,

Another monitor to consider is the ViewSonic P95F+ monitor. This is normally a $423 monitor but Insight has it on sale (special buy) for $311.99 plus shipping. I've been dealing with Insight for years at work and they're very reliable. You can reach them at www.insight.com or at 1-(800)-INSIGHT ext. 2046.

The monitor is a 19" flat CRT (not LCD) from ViewSonic's Pro series their top-of-the-line monitors. The monitor will run at a 2048 x 1536 maximum resolution with a 0.25mm aperture grille. The monitor also has a "super-brightness" toggle button which will toggle the brightness to or from about 2.5 times that if a normal CRT. Super-bright mode is noticeably less sharp than standard mode (which is quite sharp) but is very userful to check out the detail in the very dark areas of a photograph.

-Terry


* This message has been edited by the author on 8/21/2002 11:40:36 AM.


* This message has been edited by the author on 8/21/2002 11:45:29 AM.
08/21/2002 11:43:18 AM · #17
Originally posted by hokie:
It's really hard to beat a Sony monitor.


I think the best thing to look for is a Sony tube - anything with a
Trinitron tube is going to be from Sony afaik. The only thing that
bothers me about trinitrons is the two horizontal lines from the
wrapping on the tube gate. They really irritate me - I wish the
tech could be improved to get rid of those and keep good image
quality.


I've got a viewsonic pf790 19" and it is great. I've half considered
buying an 18" LCD (which is the same screen area) but haven't for two
main reasons : 1/ refresh rate (slow for games) and 2/ colour matching
for printing.

Things to look for : you want something that supports a high
refresh rate, along with your graphics card at the resolution you want
to run it at. Anything under 85Hz is _painful_ even though most
people seem to run at the defauly 60hz a lot of the time.

Buying locally probably makes sense, especially for an LCD screen.
Also realise that LCDs are likely to have one or two hot spots/ dead
pixels and still be considered 'good condition'





08/21/2002 11:45:46 AM · #18
Originally posted by David Ey:
the more I learn, the less I know
I have two viewMATE 19" flatscreen monitors with .25 pitch. bought at Fry''s at 4-500 each about two years ago but I thought the color and sharpness would be better with LCD.
Maybe that is the problem, they are not ViewSonic. I thought the lcd would have more true color to


If you have photoshop it might be worth running the gamma utility that
comes with it if you haven't yet. It has settings to define the
screen basic red/green/blue colours that are supported, along with
gamma correction per channel for your graphics card. You need to have all
these things matched to get good print output. Also is worth considering
the lighting set up where the computer is, as that'll influence how things
look in a big way too.

Start-Control Panel->Adobe Gamma if you have photoshop installed. Not
as good as a spyder apparantly, but a whole lot cheaper(if you have photoshop)
08/21/2002 11:56:07 AM · #19
Originally posted by GordonMcGregor:
Originally posted by hokie:
[i]It's really hard to beat a Sony monitor.


I think the best thing to look for is a Sony tube - anything with a
Trinitron tube is going to be from Sony afaik. The only thing that
bothers me about trinitrons is the two horizontal lines from the
wrapping on the tube gate. They really irritate me - I wish the
tech could be improved to get rid of those and keep good image
quality.
[/i]

Yep..those lines are there. I bought my daughter a Viewsonic 17" flat monitor with the trinitron and it has the lines. As does my new Sony. But you don't really notice them after a week or even less (if you noticed them at all).

Trinitron monitors are hard to beat for the quality /money issue. Plus they color balance real well.

Heck..buying monitors nowadays is pretty easy and fun. You get alot more for your money and its harder to make a mistake.

Gordon..what games do you play? I was a big first person shooter freak..learned all my tweaking from the freaks on mIRC to get quake and cs running best...

08/21/2002 11:58:39 AM · #20
Originally posted by hokie:

Gordon..what games do you play? I was a big first person shooter freak..
learned all my tweaking from the freaks on mIRC to get quake and cs running best...


Mainly the same sort of stuff - was mad for CS for a while and liked
UT. Spent the last few months building a MAME cab and doing lots of retro-gaming.

Played medal of honor for a bit, until I upgraded to winXP and it
refuses to run correctly. Looking for a good new game to stretch my
GeForce 3
08/21/2002 12:04:07 PM · #21
I went with Windows xp about 2 months ago and noticed a significant change in the CS game. Mouse sensitivity all messed up and jerky.

Highschool baseball season was over about 2 months ago and highschool football hasn't cranked up yet so I've been able to play more lately :-) (I'm with the Highschool Sports boosters).
08/21/2002 12:19:27 PM · #22
Thanks everyone! Now I can shop intelligently about it.
:-)

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