Buying a monitor: Any suggestions?

[Senira]

I'm getting a new LCD monitor to use whilst working on my senior animation project, and various other graphic-related things. I've been looking around at different ones and checking out reviews for them, but I've yet to see any reviews that are useful for digital artists. Does anyone have any suggestions for good ones?

My desired specs are:

20-22 inches.

300 bucks or less.

Dual monitor support.

USB ports would be nice, but are in no way mandatory.

Easy to calibrate (on that note, are those calibration gadgets they sell really worth it?)

Those are my only requirements, really. I'm sure the folks here know a lot more about fancy monitors than me.

[JL.Alfaro]

..any suggestions?

Yes, and I got a couple of tips for you as well.

Suggestions:
1 Buy online. They are cheaper online than if you were to get them at a department store or specialty store. Mainly because the stores have to add their fees and such. Stores like Circuit City and Best Buy, GoodGuys and Radioshack are very well known to do this, hiking up the price beyond its actual worth.
With online shopping, you still have to pay for shipping fees, but in some cases such as discount and promotional sales you get free shipping. Which has been the case for me on a couple of occasions when I bought from Tigerdirect.com and Overstock.com

2. Get well informed on your graphics card and your computers resolution capabilities. More Resolution than what you are currently supporting is always good (just in case you upgrade).

Tips:
1. Dont go cheap. That old saying of "you get what you pay for" is more true than we would like to acknowledge. Get a good monitor, buy one which offers customer support both online and off.
2. Read the return policy before you buy it. Im telling you this cause I learned it the hard way. Some electronics you have to send back to the manufacturer, not the retailer. which means you have to wait for at least a few months to get it back or a replacement...not good if you like to have what you already paid for.
3. Name brand vs generic. Generic brands arent always the lower end products they are said to be. Some products you are paying at least $100 more for the name on it. Compare components, accesories options, resolution capabilities etc.
4. Get the package- if you are planning on using two monitors look for the dual monitor set ups. They save a lot of space, assembly, and setup time. and they look cool as hell too! even if you have to save up a bit more, its worth it.

There are a few brands I have had bad results with, but I don't want to bash anyones brand or product so..:/

in conclusion:
resolution, resolution, resolution...
Dont buy the 29 dollar 22" Thermotronic monitor, or the 99 dollar 22" Sony monitor cause its the same piece of crap(just a dramatization).
buy your two monitors on the same setup- all the cool kids are doing it.

hope that helps.

[Baron Impossible]

That's a fairly restrictive budget for a 20"+ but you may want to check out the NEC 2070 http://www.wopple.com/Spec___60001554___M011094.html

I've had my NEC 2080UX+ for two years now and I lurve it

[Senira]

The budget's slim because it's a Christmas present to me from my parents. I could pony up another hundred for a better monitor, if it came down to it, but since I'm saving up for my last quarter of school, I'd like to see what's the best I can squeeze from my parent's charity.

Great tips, Jf.Alfaro. I didn't even think about my graphics card. It's a mobility radeon X600, which was decent when I bought my laptop, but it's probably ancient by market standards. I'll have to see what it can handle as far as the newer LCD's go.

Oh, right. I'm working on a laptop, which was something I forgot to mention in the initial post. I'll probably ask for a desktop for my graduation present, however, so I want this monitor to be nice in anticipation of that.

Baron Impossible: That monitor is quite nice, but I'm afraid it's out of my budget. 300 pounds comes out to about 500 dollars, which makes my wallet cringe a little.

[Baron Impossible]

Baron Impossible: That monitor is quite nice, but I'm afraid it's out of my budget. 300 pounds comes out to about 500 dollars, which makes my wallet cringe a little.

Ah, that's if us Brits didn't always have to pay double what the rest of the world pays You can get the 2070 for $333 ~
http://www.nextag.com/NEC-MultiSync-...13/prices-html

[Kek]

Take a look at this one, I just got it with my new computer and it's great.

20"
1680 x 1050 native resolution
2 millisecond response time (typical)
2000:1 dynamic contrast ratio (grey-to-grey) typical
High Definition (HD)
Integrated 2.0 megapixel Webcam
4 USB ports
Looks sexy

$280

http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/p...9&sku=320-6140

[Burtzum]

Is it typical for LCDs to display colors differently depending on what area of the screen its on? For example I paint a black stroke from top left to bottom right of my sister's LCD and in the bottom corner its lighter and bluer than the top. I was thinking about finally upgrading from my 10 year old CRT but after seeing what stuff looks like on my sisters LCD... bleh no thanks! Or is hers just really crappy? The thing cost like $300.

[Sturnus]

Burtzum I have the same problem with my LCD monitor, I have a Samsung SyncMaster740n and colors display differently depending of the angle you are looking at It , so i was wondering does Dell monitors have the same problems, I am thinking of getting one next year, I was thinking about The Dell UltraSharp 2007WFP 20.1

[Artworkguy]

For graphic work, you want to avoid LCD screens with TN panels, which are good enough for casual gaming and movie watching, and are cheap, but not up to par for professional image processing.

A non TN LCD screen that that performs really well and isn't too expensive is the Philips 200Wp7, that's the one I settled for after som extensive research. Very happy with it.

[Jason Manley]

i use an hp-227h the screen is gorgeous for it being an affordable monitor.... is widescreen. Yumiko uses the same but in dual format. Richest color and contrast on the market from what I have seen. Crisp and clean too.


J

[Senira]

The Dell and the HP are both very tempting; I've seen glowing reviews of both on every website I've checked. I think I'll try and choose between the two.

Artworkguy: I didn't even know what a TN screen was until I googled it. That's what I hate about buying hardware; there are so many extra parameters to consider!

Thanks for the tip.

[Stahr]

a pity that all 22' got only 6bit colors though and bad viewing angles due to the TN panel.
I would choose a montior with s-pva(or mva) or s-ips if you can get one.
i just know prices here in sweden so i can't really give you any tip on any particular screen. but look for a good 20' with 24 bit colors(it can also be stated as 8bit, 8*3=24), otherwise it would be hard to calibrate it.
You can use adobe gamma for calibration if you don't get a calibrator you can get decent results with adobe gamma.

[skidu]

Burtzum I have the same problem with my LCD monitor, I have a Samsung SyncMaster740n and colors display differently depending of the angle you are looking at It , so i was wondering does Dell monitors have the same problems, I am thinking of getting one next year, I was thinking about The Dell UltraSharp 2007WFP 20.1

Hey, i've also got a 740n but just recently brought a dell 2007wfp.

The difference in colour quality is just amazing. Since the dell is a s-ips panel , it has very wide viewing angles, similar to a crt. So there is no vertical/horizontal colour shift unlike the samsung. Also due it being a true 8bit panel the colours are a lot more natural ( like skin tones for example) and colour gradients are completely smooth ( you can see banding on shades on grey on the samsung)

I would highly recommend the 2007wfp, and never buy another TN panel again.

Check out this thread for more information about panel technology

http://www.hardforum.com/showthread....hlight=ips+mva

[digital_zombie]

I have a 21" widescreen dell monitor (I think it's the 2007WFP but I can't remember the model # cause I am at work) however it's a thing of beauty. It has DVI and AVG inputs so I can use either (although I recommend the DVI).

Dual monitor display is based on your video card, if it doesn't have dual inputs, your not going to be able to have dual monitors. So either get one with two or get another video card. I love it b/c I can have it vertical or horizontal orientation, colors are brilliant. It's a 1650 x 1080 display, adjustable stand...It was $480 on special (originally $700+) 2 1/2 years ago when I got it. I am very pleased!

[Sepulverture]

I have a 22" westinghouse lcd whose model number I can't remember right now
(don't wanna go look) and I have an hp w2007. The westinghouse doesn't have the most amazing colors in the world, and it's not too bright, but it's a good general purpose/multi function monitor since it has inputs for so many different video sources (i use it for my gamecube and computer at the same time), and the hpw2007 has beautiful crisp color, 20.1", night and bright, and cheap for the quality.

[Jason Ross]

I honestly would avoid a 22 inch monitor especially at your budget. 22 inch monitors have the same native resolution as 19-20 inches. so the picture isn't any clearer its just stretched to fit. I had a dell ultrasharp 2007wfp 20 inch which I loved but see this thread...
http://conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=110254
I now have a hplp2465 which I really like, but I still need a different graphics card to fix my slight but still noticable banding issues. Dell has a new 20 inch monitor out now that might fit your budget.
http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/p...9&sku=320-6140
One thing about dell is there customer service. They really want you happy.

[Burtzum]

wow very helpful thread. I had no idea about TN, S-IPS, etc...
Having trouble with some of the monitors suggested in here though.

Barron Impossible that NEC Multisync LCD2070WNX-BK is apparently a TN panel. Seems it doesn't give you any trouble judging by your work though. You don't notice any change in hue or value from top to bottom of screen?

Jason I can't seem to turn up any results in google or tftcentral for a hp-227h.

Sepulverture, your hp w2007 is apparently a TN panel according to http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/

Artworkguy it appears your Philips 200Wp7 isn't available to us yanks.

And it seems dell no longer sells higher quality monitors? All the monitors on their site are cheap TN panels. Theres no way to buy a 2007wfp anymore unless its bundled with a desktop computer.

A friend of mine owns an apple cinema and is pleased with it. He does video editing stuff. Its $600 for a 20 inch though. Sounds like the apple tax to me. Or are S-IPS panels typically double the cost of a TN?

[Mr-Joe]

How bout this one right here, it has a S-PVA panel, http://www.overstock.com/Electronics...7/product.html
There out of stock right now though.

[Jason Ross]

the 20" apple cinema dispaly uses the same panel as the dell ultrasharp 20".

[Fipse]

First at all for a halfway professional work I think 300$ is pretty tight, but I see monitors mostly from the prepress point of view. I´d personally would go for a smaller one (19") and have a better display. Widescreen doesn´t do anything worthwhile for the graphic work so I wouldn´t consider it as a necessary option.

I´m not sure if anyone here considers the Formac monitors. They have a pretty display considering their relatively cheap price http://www.formac.com/. The 19" ones are really solid and I´m using them as the standard monitors for my apprentices at the moment and the 20" one for the graphic artists in the studio. The small ones cost here at the moment about 300 Euro but I can imagine them cheaper in the US. They have Pantone standards and are basically calibratable - not really hardware calibratable but you won´t get this in this price-class.

Hope this could help.

Fipse