mangiaphoto

If you are photo editor or photographer, you probably know how hard is to find a good LCD monitor. Actually, it is not hard if you have enough money in your wallet but if you are a student or your payment cannot reach up to $1000, it could be a serious problem. We are all agree that CRT monitors are almost history and if you have CRT monitor on your desk you can use it but only in case you can ignore some problems you may have (size, energy requirements, flickering).

LCD vs CRT (some differences)

Angle of view
The viewing angle on LCD monitors is usually much smaller then angle on CRT monitors. Now it is getting wider and wider and current models offer over 160 degrees. For all practical purposes that are more than sufficient for any user but keep in mind that published specifications is not 100% true.

Colors
This is where the CRT monitors take a clear advantage and this is the main reason why photo editors and photographers still have old CRT monitor on their desk. For an average user the difference is hardly noticeable in side-by-side comparison but editing photos can be “mission impossible” on cheap LCD monitor.

Aesthetics
LCD monitors are slim and stylish so you will have more space on your desk.

Contrast
The CRT monitors always had better contrast and LCD monitors were lagging behind until now. Some of the best LCD monitors have come very close. A high contrast monitor is likely to produce black as black rather than dark grey.

Dead Pixels
Dead Pixels are pixels on the LCD panel that do not function. You cannot repair them and sometimes warranty does not cover dead pixels. Best cure is to open your eyes before you buy. They are usually spotted as a dark or light dot always on the same place.

Energy Requirements
When it comes to power consumption, LCD monitors are very good. Their consumption is up to 50% smaller then equivalent CRT monitor.

Refresh rates
CRT monitors are liable to low refresh rates, which are seen as screen flickering. This aspect was also responsible for lower productivity (imagine 10hrs per day in front of this monitor). Refresh rate is measured in Hz (Hertz) and the VESA standard states that the minimum refresh rate to avoid eyestrain is 72 Hz. Ideally a refresh rate of 85 Hz should be OK for most people using 17 inch monitors. Due to difference in technology, the LCD Monitors are clear winners as refresh rate is not an issue with them.

The main part of modern LCD monitor is its panel. There are many different panel technologies used in the production of LCD monitors and they range from budget TN panels to expensive IPS and PVA panels. The average consumer usually has no idea what panel technology is used in their LCD because the manufacturer in the monitor specifications rarely lists the panel type.
Price should be a factor, but you should still know the advantages and disadvantages of the different LCD panels and be able to identify them before you decide which LCD to purchase.

Types of LCD panels

TN
”Twisted Nematic” display is the most common consumer display type. They are cheap and they have very good response time (4ms and 2ms models). Bad side is their color reproduction and linearity. Also, they suffers from limited viewing angles, especially in the vertical direction, and most are unable to display the full 16.7 million colors (24-bit true color). They use 6 bits per color channel so it means they combine adjacent pixels to simulate the desired shade, which is very bad for photography or any kind of photo manipulation.

IPS
“In-Plane Switching” models were developed to improve the poor viewing angles and color reproduction of TN panels. They support true 8-bit color and all this improvements produced a loss of response time, which was initially about 50ms (which is huge for games and movies) and weak contrast ratio. IPS panels were also extremely expensive.
S-IPS (Super-IPS) has all the benefits of IPS technology with the addition of improved pixel refresh timing. However, color reproduction approaches that of CRT monitors but the contrast ratio remains relatively weak.

MVA
MVA (multi-domain vertical alignment) was developed as a compromise between TN and IPS panels. They have fast response time with wide viewing angles and high contrast but the brightness and color reproduction suffers compared to IPS panels.

PVA
“Patterned vertical alignment” and S-PVA (super patterned vertical alignment) are similar to MVA, but they have very high contrast ratios (up to 3000:1). S-PVA panels uses true 8-bit color electronics and do not use any color simulation methods which guaranties a very nice colors. They can offer good black depth, wide viewing angles and fast response times.

Conclusion
Which monitor should you buy? It is hard to tell but best option is to visit local store and see what they can offer. Forget on TN panels and choose S-IPS or S-PVA models. Both of them have their advantages and disadvantages.

In my case, I’m thinking between HP LP2475W and Dell 2410W. Please visit next link to see the list of IPS based LCD monitors (LINK)

Please post your comments and thoughts.