Looking for a 24" LCD...do I realy need to spend $600+

[mitchel]

I am looking for a 24" LCD because my Sony 21" CRT died.

It seems like you can get a decent one for about $350 or so, and then you go up a level and hit the $600+ range.

I am not a pro, but I do like Photoshop my photos before I send them off to print...but is this enough justification to double the cost of the monitor?

What do you guys use as far as LCD's...especially if you have a 24" one.

Thanks!

Mitch

[grahamnp]

The big jump in price is due to the change in panel technology. Most budget-midrange LCDs use TN panels while the better ones use VA and the best ones use IPS panels. TN panels can only truly display 6-bit colour which is not really enough for proper photo editing.

The cheapest IPS or VA panel you can get is a 22" Dell. It costs AUD 459 (can't find it on the US or any other website).

[Kenneth Skou]

Hi grahamnp

6 bit color? That's 720 nuances..are you sure? (or is my math off here..lol).

Cheers

[tobywuk]

I bought a dell E248WFP (about £250) about a month or two ago and its fantastic.

I dont think you really need to spend £500+ on a monitor, I cant fault the one i bought.

[DD_nVidia]

$600 for a 24inch is reasonable

I paid around $500 at the time for my 22's EACH.


I plan on paying around $600 in £ (whatever that is this week haha!) for a PVA panel.

the IPS is great, but i do like play the odd game every now and again and the price for decent responce times (for gaming anyway) is pretty heafty on IPS.


PS. tell me what screen you buy! I've not quite got the money together yet to buy a screen since I'm just gonna use one of my current 22's at my studio and the other at home until I get enough money to go buy a good 24" for the studio.

First on my list is a colour calibrater

[grahamnp]

Hi grahamnp

6 bit color? That's 720 nuances..are you sure? (or is my math off here..lol).

Cheers

Lol I always get that confused, sorry! You know how JPEGs have "something" in 8-bits? That's what I meant but with 6.....I think it might be 6 bits per channel. Whatever it is, TN panels don't display the full 16.7 million colours without dithering.

[pgtips]

I've heard that laptop LCDs do not display the full colour gamut (i.e. not the true 16 million colours) and this could be a very likely explanation.

That said, it really annoys me when editing photos on my laptop because it doesn't easily differentiate between real white and slightly yellowish white. Of course the difference appears in print which then serves to spoil my photos ...

[DD_nVidia]

You can always swap out the LCD in your laptop for a better quality one. I'm sure certain laptops do have PVA or IPS panels.

IBM's latest workstation laptop has a IPS screen im sure. Also it has more (or better? im sure its more) CCFL's lighting it to give it a much wider colour gamut.

[Kenneth Skou]

Hi grahamnp

6 bit color? That's 720 nuances..are you sure? (or is my math off here..lol).

Cheers

Lol I always get that confused, sorry! You know how JPEGs have "something" in 8-bits? That's what I meant but with 6.....I think it might be 6 bits per channel. Whatever it is, TN panels don't display the full 16.7 million colours without dithering.

I hear ya grahamnp..and yeah, dithering is certainly involved. A monitor can give you a good impression, but you really have to cough over the dough if you want high fidelity rendering of an image.

Cheers