Hey guys =)

I just picked up a new LCD, it's the Acer AL2216 22" Widescreen. I loaded up some pics and some old photoshop images I have done but there appears to be maybe a little too much red in some and other pics their skin looks blotchy! No where near as smooth as it was on my 19" CRT.

I have played with the settings on the monitor, and even tried to calibrate using Adobe Gamma but its not helping. I am also running in digital mode. Any help would be appreciated!!! Thanks

Adobe Gamma is an OK starting point, but it's still based on human perception. If you must use that instead of proper hardware calibration, do a sanity check afterwards: draw a pure black to white linear gradient in a Photoshop document the size of the screen and look for color casts--is any section of the gradient not neutral? If so, there's a problem. (View at 100% to avoid video card and/or Photoshop dithering.)


Worse, the Acer AL2216 panel is based on TN-film technology, and only has 6 bits/channel. That makes it inherently poorly suited to photographic color work.

Kevin...what monitor would you buy for under $500

Some LCD's are not suitable for photo editing. They can not be calibrated. They have restricted view angles and not a broad color range. I am not sure if your Acer falls into that category but would expect so based on my experience with them. You might want to look at Viewsonic VP series or some of the Dell displays which are suitable for Photo work and also affordable.
Regards, Murray

Kevin...what monitor would you buy for under $500
Hard to say, as I haven't looked at what's available today. :)

The LCD market changes almost hourly, and most manufacturers sell a variety of displays, both 6-bit and 8-bit (and some 8-bit panels with 10 to 14-bit LUTs).

Essentially, you do NOT want TN technology--that's 6-bit/channel, and not suitable for photographic use. IPS or S-IPS technology are theoretically best, but the PVA and S-PVA are apparently just as good in the Real World. (Samsung's T-series of displays use PVA or S-PVA, for example, and are quite good.)

You can get a fairly current listing of what technology is used for a given display using the TFTCentral panel search (http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/panelsearch_content.htm)--or just enter IPS and see which models use that IPS or S-IPS technology in their panels.

Relying on brand alone is very risky. Some Dells LCDs are TN, while others are PVA, MVA, IPS, or S-IPS. You need to check the specific model.

I generally suggest finding a few displays you might like, then go to the TFTCentral site and check what the panels are based on.

I changed the driver and allowed the monitor to set to room temperature and it appears much better now. Maybe it was a combintation of the two? That would be very bad if this monitor isn't ok for photo editing lol.