Buying my first LCD...for photo and art

Technology and Gaming
#1

Am i doing this right?

A little part of me died inside the day they stopped manufacturing CRTs. Both of my Envision CRTs are dying and i need at least one replacement. i need at least one screen that puts out good confident color for photography and art without costing me a fortune. The other doesn’t matter as much and will be used for games and general use. in fact, i may just hook up my old 32 inch TV in here instead!

Most of what i’ve found is up in the $800+ range, but my budget it closer to $350. Honestly, i don’t know the first thing to look for in LCDs. This will be my first LCD purchase. it just so happened i found a magazine article praising this ugly thing, but found a lot of people shooting it down and directing me in this direction instead.

The Viewsonic has me more excited, especially since i can get it for $265 with my employee discount.

Any clues? ideas?

-Kawai Tei-

#2

Now I expect you to create another thread in the future asking us suggestions for your first optical mouse purchase.

[color=Gray](Sorry, couldn’t resist)[/SIZE]

#3

…also, if you can find something with mono VGA, that’d be awesome.

-Kawai Tei-

#4

That one looks awesome.

#5

Tempting, really. i’d rather not spend my entire bonus check on ONE thing.
i’ve been waiting for this check for 4 months and plan on buying a couch too.

-Kawai Tei-

#6

I’ve checked the specs of those displays… and they are pretty much the same. The contrast ratio on the asus is higher but since there is no real standard in contrast numbers, you can’t really decide just on that.

My opninion(based purely on the specs, i don’t have either of these screens): personally i’d go for the asus screen. But if you are on a budget, go with the one you can get cheapest. they really aren’t that different.

#7

Personally, I’d recommend this beast.

#8

Won’t go into the LCD vs. LED debate, you can decide yourself based on your budget. (I assume most LCD displays have LED backlights). The larger the contrast ratio the better. Screen size is subjective, and budget based. Just remember to get one with DVI, VGA, and HDMI inputs. (it can double as a TV monitor via HDMI, provided it has speakers or a sound bar option).

#9

I was not aware there was a debate over this. Which would be silly, since LED is clearly better than the previous method used to backlit LCD panels.

#10

The cheap ass edge LED backlighting isn’t really much of an improvement over CFL image uniformity wise. I’m sure there are some high end CFL backlit monitors that are actually better than some of the new OMG Super Thin LED ones. So much for not going into that debate, though.

#11

Hi Tei, I’m not sure if this is in line with what you’re looking for as it’s a little more gaming orientated than the others. I’m including a link to a small review as well (EDIT: I just realised that the monitor before the one I recommended is probably perfect for you.)

I’m buying one of these babies soon. Happy hunting dude, just remember to do a couple of hours research on each possibility - you’d be surprised how often there are these major deal breakers in products that everyone raves about. Sometimes it just comes down to preference.

#12

A few hours ago i stumbled lazily into BestBuy and found this for $260.

Bought it and using it now.

Gonna give it a try with some artsy stuff and see how it goes. i have 30 days to see how much i hate it. LOL i’m already getting used having to TURN MY HEAD to see the whole thing! Honestly, i have to say, it’s pretty trippy. Like stepping out of a long tunnel.

-Kawai Tei-

#13

And you bought a TN panel? :S

#14

At least that screen doesn’t always draw post processing crap over your HDMI. I would gladly use VGA but due to eyefinity and the limitations of DisplayPort, I have to use at least one HDMI output and the SANYO 22" piece of shit edition is the only one I got.

on the bright side, I never have to enable post-processing or deblocking in MPC or VLC :stuck_out_tongue:

#15

Like i said, i’m giving it a trial run. i just need(ed) something to use temporarily because my two CRTs burned out. The screen i initially wanted and posted up top in the OP is an ips panel, obviously. i’ll probably miss the 5 extra inches of screen, but after i paint on it or dink around with Photoshop, i may exchange it and go for my first choice.

-Kawai Tei-

#16

Well, i’ve been using the ViewSonic for a week or so now and i’m a teeny bit confused. Oddly enough, my Sanyo HD TV has a wider viewing range than the ViewSonic does. Also, the darker the image (like this very forum), the worse it gets. The contrast in Skyrim is ridiculous enough already, but now i can’t see shit. The quality isn’t lacking, but i would’ve expected something better than my TV. i think the Acer looked better. Reading black text on white backgrounds now gives me headaches and white on black is worse. Tell me, what did i do wrong in picking this over something else?

Honestly, i have no idea what i’m looking for.

-Kawai Tei-

#17

Mess with contrast/brightness settings?

#18

Typically speaking that just makes things worse. Manufactures really only put those on there to make the average consumer go “ooooh lots of settings”.

#19

Why would you still use fattys?

#20

i use(d) CRTs because they put out much better color quality. Viewing angle just isn’t something you have to worry about. Regardless of distance or angle, you still get the EXACT same color visible. They deliver superior contrast between blacks and whites. Your blacks don’t change purple/blue when you introduce large white sections and your whites don’t fade into grays when you introduce dark surrounding colors.

As for factory settings, i’ve already tweaked them up and down in an attempt to fix my contrast issue. Still no luck. The only way i seem to get black sections to look…well…BLACK, is to back waaaaaaaay up, away from the screen. My nose is about 2 feet away from the screen by default. The black shades immediately around this text window (above/below the gray bits) are obviously very dark. The left and right sides (above the mountain watermark) look more like a dark purple or dark red.

if i back the fuck up, however, about 5 feet or so, all the black bits on screen blend into the same color.

To see what i mean, go HERE, click on “import from CSS” in the bottom right corner and paste the following code

background: rgb(68,13,64); /* Old browsers */ background: -moz-linear-gradient(left, rgba(68,13,64,1) 10%, rgba(0,0,0,1) 50%, rgba(68,13,64,1) 90%); /* FF3.6+ */ background: -webkit-gradient(linear, left top, right top, color-stop(10%,rgba(68,13,64,1)), color-stop(50%,rgba(0,0,0,1)), color-stop(90%,rgba(68,13,64,1))); /* Chrome,Safari4+ */ background: -webkit-linear-gradient(left, rgba(68,13,64,1) 10%,rgba(0,0,0,1) 50%,rgba(68,13,64,1) 90%); /* Chrome10+,Safari5.1+ */ background: -o-linear-gradient(left, rgba(68,13,64,1) 10%,rgba(0,0,0,1) 50%,rgba(68,13,64,1) 90%); /* Opera 11.10+ */ background: -ms-linear-gradient(left, rgba(68,13,64,1) 10%,rgba(0,0,0,1) 50%,rgba(68,13,64,1) 90%); /* IE10+ */ background: linear-gradient(left, rgba(68,13,64,1) 10%,rgba(0,0,0,1) 50%,rgba(68,13,64,1) 90%); /* W3C */ filter: progid :D XImageTransform.Microsoft.gradient( startColorstr='#440d40', endColorstr='#440d40',GradientType=1 ); /* IE6-9 */
it’s a tiny exaggeration, but not by much.

-Kawai Tei-

Founded in 2004, Leakfree.org became one of the first online communities dedicated to Valve’s Source engine development. It is more famously known for the formation of Black Mesa: Source under the 'Leakfree Modification Team' handle in September 2004.