Paul
Wed Apr 09 18:23:06 PDT 2008
Mr. Bro wrote:
> Have finished building a newer system as follows:
> Asus P5K Deluxe
> Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Fsb 1066
> Asus EN8600GT 512 MB DDR3
> 2 GB Crucial memory
> 650W PSU
> One item left the monitor
> I'm not a gamer but do a lot of photography work. Old system used
> a CRT. What, in the opinion of this NG, is a good 19 to 22 inch LCD
> for Photography work. I'm retired so have limited funds, $300, for a
> monitor. Right now have the CRT hooked up but, like is getting old.
> Any help would be appreciated. TIA
>
> Mr. Bro
If the CRT is working, then use it.
LCDs have a number of technologies incorporated now, and
not all of them make photography work easy. For example,
"dynamic contrast" makes the monitor impossible to calibrate,
so should be disabled in the OSD. That feature would be a problem
if it could not be disabled.
On some LCDs, there is insufficient adjustment range on
brightness and contrast. My current LCD suffers from that
issue, which I'm not too pleased about. The screen is still
too bright.
The color gamut of LCDs is different than a CRT. Some expensive
LCDs, with light emitting diode light sources inside, have better
gamuts than ones with CCFL backlights (and at $300, you'll be
getting a monitor with cold cathode fluorescent lamps inside).
An LCD may not last as long as a CRT. While the CCFL lamp itself
may be rated for 25000 to 35000 hours, on some LCD monitors,
the inverter that powers the lamp breaks first. The lamp may
run at 700 to 1000 volts, and it is the job of the inverter
to create a source of power to deliver up to 1000V at about
3 watts. The larger the LCD gets, the more lamps are involved.
Potentially, more than one inverter is used inside the unit.
I think the best way to learn about them, is go to your local
big box electronics store, and look at some. The last time I
visited, I was shocked by the poor visual qualities of about
half the stuff for sale. You really have to look hard, to find
something you can live with.
I expect one visit to the store, may make you think twice about
your purchase. Maybe you'll end up reading a lot more reviews and
examining a lot more monitors in person, before buying.
To review a monitor, it helps if the information on the screen
includes text. Any screen can display video or pictures well,
because the human eye is not very discerning for that kind of
content. But if you cannot read text on the screen, you'll have
a hard time reading news groups and the like.
There are a couple kinds of finishes on the front of the LCD
screen. I use a monitor with a glossy finish on the front.
My monitor has reduced parallax problems, and the glossy
finish improves text legibility. But the glossy LCD finish,
can also be a problem in a high ambient light situation. If
you have a lot of fluorescent lamps sitting behind you when
you work, then you'll hate the glossy finish. If you have
some degree of control of the ambient lighting, then a monitor
with a glossy finish can be superior for text.
For some reading material, there are a couple articles here.
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/other/print/professional-monitors.html
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/other/display/lcd-parameters.html
Paul