Hi guys,

what kind of monitor are you guys using and is anyone using any highend EIZO or NEC or other with wide gamut display? like AdobeRGB!

If so, where can you see the difference and are you happy with your choice

shadow details
color stability across the screen
size
brand and model
pros /cons
pc or mac or both

thanks for taking your time

Henrik

Hi guys,

what kind of monitor are you guys using and is anyone using any highend EIZO or NEC or other with wide gamut display? like AdobeRGB!

If so, where can you see the difference and are you happy with your choice

shadow details
color stability across the screen
size
brand and model
pros /cons
pc or mac or both

thanks for taking your time

Henrik

Pick any decent flat screen monitor with S-IPS panel type and 8-bit per channel processing. 10-bit processing panels and Matrox cards are a waist of money IMO as all the computer processing is done in 8-bit prior to sending it to the graphical card. It is done on a system level and cannot be changed.

I use Dell 2407FPW (it has an S-IPS panel developed by LG & Phillips). This panel is used in Apple Cinema screens, in Viewsonic "professional" screens, used by NEC and a bunch of others, like LaCie. They all just package the same panel with their brand labels and "addons" and a different price tag. There are two main players in this arena: Samsung and LG+Philips who actually develop state-of-the-art panels. So, essentially, you have to select a panel, then the brand :-)

Stear away from TN and PVA panels, as well as panels that state 8-bits, but in reality use 6bit+dithering. S-PVA panels are good.

EIZO's are pretty good, knowing that they do not develop panels themself :-) They just assemble them like all others. They use Samsung S-PVA panels in quite a number of their products. For example Eizo S2410W and Samsung 244T use Samsung's LTM240M2 S-PVA panel. You can get this Samsung for a half price of Eizo on Amazon right now :-)

Just my $0.02

I will go with eizo model .. just for the reason that KonicaMinolta use them in all their digital minilab, ....

Thanks KVK,

I appreciate your reply but...This is a bit like if have haven't been driving a F1 car, then you don;t know how to appreciate it, let along advise someone against driving it :blush: .

this link will give you the proper combination of panels and brands
http://www.flatpanels.dk/panels.php it is partly in english but a Danish website. :bawling:
it is interesting, that NEC, who with mitsubishi developes some of the best panels, uses other panel maker's panels in their own monitors. its a real jungle :pirate:

I have concluded that the best compromise would be a NEC 2190UXi SV which comes with their spectraview software 21" it is just short of the EIZO but 1/3 of the cost. :o:

regarding KM and their labs, if they do use the upper-end model of EIZO then it is a bit of a waste, cos they are out putting to a sRGB colorspace in their printers. :wink:

it is all much confusing, i sure would like a EIZO CG-221 but the pricetag is scary, though it may very well be worth it in the long run :bow:

Henrik

Hey there,

I'm still using a CRT, the LaCie Electron Blue IV, 19". It's perhaps a little old, but honestly, still works great.

I was considering some flat screens, the ones I was looking at were:

Samsung 244T
Dell 2407
Cinema Display 23"

They all had mixed reviews. Each has their own set of issues depending on who and where you read them. They roughly in the same ballpark price/size. Eizo is much more expensive, but haven't had the experience with them.

In the end, I'll stick with my CRT for the time being, until I really can't stand it. If I do upgrade, I really liked the 30" Cinema Display. Honestly, so much screen real-estate.

What's extremely important is your calibration device. Be it Spyder, Greta M., etc... you need to make sure what you see, is what you get.

I only use the Eizo monitors. Currently the CG21. Far beter than any other monitor I have used so far. I have been using Eizo's for nearly 3 years.
Their color management software that comes with it is very good and easy to use. You still need to get the hardware to do theh calibration.
It is 10bit and if you are on a Mac its not a problem. The monitors are built for color manipulators and others dealing with color precision. And the ability to adjust individual cmy as well as rgb is exceptional within the software.

Chris

I have heard a lot of debate recently with the Apple warranty in regard to the "Dead Pixel" issue that is a potential problem with all of the LCD screens. I am about to buy a new system (not decided Apple or PC this time yet) and I was going to grab a Lacie CRT as I have used them in the past. Well they no longer make them along with several other manufacturers they are Flat Panel only now. Still it seems to get the resolution and quality and reliability the price is crazy. Like others on the thread I concluded that the Eizo CG221 would be a good way to go but wow talk about sticker shock (price)

I guess the real value in LCD is the size increase available so unless I go 30" I think for today I would still grab one of the last few good CRT's. Great life, resolution up to 2048 x 1536, excellent dot pitch and we know CRT is easier on the eyes. All that and a price tag of maybe $450. In a few years the price of LCD will fall dramatically. I was talking with someone who mentioned an article they read recently that stated next year they are expected to drop 40% or so and up to 68 percent in the time to follow.

On the large screen that leaves you at Apple or Dell, it sounds likely that they both use the same panel. Who ever offers a better Dead Pixel warranty then that would be the wise way to go.

Another consideration is the Toshiba direction they are releasing SED Monitors late this year. (SED = Surface-conduction electron-emitter display). They have reported contrast ratio's of 100,000:1 contrast ratio, 1ms response time, and they go up to 55".


Addition: It seems HP have also released a 30" LCD (http://www.webwire.com/ViewPressRel.asp?aId=19745)

We use in our studio LaCie 19" CRTs. There gettin on in age but work just fine. We just splurged on a the new Apple Quad 3Ghz Xeon W/ 8GB ram / 1 Terabyte storage / ATI X1900 card and a new 30" Cinema display :D . We use X-Rite Pulse Color Elite management system so we shouldn't have any problems Between the LCD and the CRTs, I hope!

Greetings!

I just ordered a samsung 244t and will let you guys know what I think.

I'm new to the forums here and have only worked as a pro retoucher for about a year inbetween a couple of art directing gigs in video games.

Currently going the fine art route (finally), but am still enjoying the occassional freelance job involving both graphic design and retouching. I needed new hardware so I purchased a quad G5 after doing lots of research, watching photoshop crawl on the new intel macs, and reading this review...
http://www.barefeats.com/quad11.html

I ordered the 244t based on lots of research, reading posts on this forum and the review posted here
http://shutterbug.com/equipmentreviews/software_computers/0506samsung/index1.html

I considered waiting for reviews of the new benq 24", but their 'eyesense' tech seems like it would give you a false impression of how the actual image looked before sending it to print and their reviews are often mixed.

If the 244t doesnt work out I'll probably send it back in favor of an Eizo. Feedback and critique on this line of reasoning are welcome.

Definitely interested in how both of you get along with the new screens, especially that 30" :D

http://www.engadget.com/2006/03/09/toshiba-sed-rollout-planned-for-late-2007/

Looks like SED not until possibly 2008.