Computer Monitor Recomendations?

Jen · Apr 3, 2006

I am in need of a new monitor. The one I am using now is showing sure signs of dieing soon.

It was purchased soley on the basis of screen size and price anyway. Time for something better. I am pretty sure I want a CRT Monitor since I haven't heard anything too great about editing photos on an LCD. I have about $500 to spend. I could go higher, but it will hurt. Any recomendations?

kemplefan · Apr 3, 2006

not specific but get one from some one who makes good moniters, dell, hp, sony somthing like that

Jen · Apr 3, 2006

These are the monitors I am currently looking at... Any thoughts?

Viewsonic G220FB 21" CRT Monitor
[ame="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000071W9A/ref=sr_11_1/102-6321399-6454527?%5Fencoding=UTF8"]http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000071W9A/ref=sr_11_1/102-6321399-6454527?%5Fencoding=UTF8[/ame]

Samsung SyncMaster 1100DF 21" CRT Monitor (Black)
[ame="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0000B0SNW/102-6321399-6454527?v=glance&n=172282"]http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0000B0SNW/102-6321399-6454527?v=glance&n=172282[/ame]

NEC Accusync 120 (Black Cabinet) 21" Flat Screen Monitor
[ame="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0000665VO/102-6321399-6454527?v=glance&n=172282"]http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0000665VO/102-6321399-6454527?v=glance&n=172282[/ame]

bballmanmf13 · Apr 3, 2006

I'm curious to why editing photos isn't as good on a LCD? I was looking into getting a monitor for my laptop for editing/running design software.

kemplefan · Apr 3, 2006

lcd's have burn in, and needs to be calibrated often

woodsac · Apr 3, 2006

Actually, the new breed of LCD's are just as reliable and accurate as a CRT. There are a couple of discussions in the archives about them.

Jen · Apr 3, 2006

The two biggest reasons I want a CRT is price and color.

woodsac · Apr 3, 2006

Sorry I can't help more. Maybe someone else with some experience with new CRT's will chime in. If I had $500 to spend on a new monitor right now, this is what I would buy.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16824001226

Soocom1 · Apr 4, 2006

Personally I would take the Viewsonic.

The NEC runs a very close second. The big point here would be to have a image off of the same computer, with the two moniters hooked up at differant times, and put to the same settings to get an idea. The displays at the big box store dont do the color any favors given that they are mostly lit by HEI lights and give off a funky blue hue. You'll just have to do the hard comparison.

Sorry, I mean H.I.D. lighiting... I always seem to get the HEI and HID confused.. sorry about that.

Coralguy · Apr 12, 2006

I would go for the ViewSonic. I have one, the Optiquest version and really like it. The one your looking at is very good. 2,048 x 1,536 maximum resolution at 68 Hz, 0.25 mm diagonal pitch. Will be a good monitor. You wont be dissapointed.

magicmonkey · Apr 12, 2006

I bought a Samsung Syncmaster 913N 19" LCD recently from Ebuyer.com and it works fine, no burn in problems and better colour than my old CRT, it was also pretty cheap at just over £200 inc VAT and delivery, well worth looking into...

usayit · Apr 12, 2006

Prior to my Mac Display, I was using a Samsung 955DF. I was never really happy with it. I've heard really good things about Viewsonic.

Jen · Apr 12, 2006

Thanks everyone. I am thinking the viewsonic as well. I am trying to decide if I will really notice the difference if I just got an LCD instead of a CRT. They are just SO big and my office is SO small. My photo printer does all of my color corrections for me when they print anyway. But then any printing I do still has to be correct. I don't know.

Soocom1 · Apr 12, 2006

My photo printer does all of my color corrections for me when they print anyway. But then any printing I do still has to be correct. I don't know.

AHA!!! This opens up a whole new can of worms for you. This is where the 'Spyder' Device comes in. It is a device that creates a 'profile' of your monitor and then can reset the color so that you have a uniform set of colors that will always look 'right'.
What I mean by that is the colors should remain consistent after each time you 're-calibrate' your monitor.
The monitor adjuster sets up the monitor so you can do color corrections. It doesn't actually calibrate the monitor, but instead keeps the colors consistent. Then you set up your printer to match what you see on screen, and whala, you should be well on your way to color correction of your photos.

joyride · Apr 12, 2006

first off, I used to have a syncmaster. it was an excellent monitor for 4 years, then it got rather dim on me. However, I let it sit for a few months and it is fine now. The color was great, and it was crisp and detailed.

As stated before, never trust an image on an in-store display. They are usually tuned to be untra bright with a lot of contrast.

The one thing that you will notice is the black level. This is the seperating factor between television sets. CRT gives the deepest color definition out of LCD, plasma, and frontal projection. You will notice the that in comparison, the LCD will be a little pastel-ish. You can tune the hue/saturation in to be just as good as the CRT, but it will take some fiddling with.

Im am not sayign that you shouldnt go with the LCD. They are exceptional monitors and with the way the cost is coming down, its hard to beat. You most likely wont notice the difference unless the two monitors are next to each other. I am just giving you something to look out for.