Help: I'm thinking of buying my first LCD monitor
 

With the run on freelance editing jobs I've received recently, it has given me the cash flow and the desire to replace my giant of a CRT monitor with an LCD monitor. Two reasons: 1) The current monitor is getting old and the picture is fading, 2) An LCD will look nicer and will free up some work space on my fairly small desk. I'm also concerned about doing more electronic (on-screen) editing.

What should I look for?

Do the pixels per square inch (psi) matter that much?

I've read that it's good to be sure to have at least 100 psi. This is the reason why I'm leaning toward a 20" (or maybe 21") monitor: they tend to have 1680 X 1050 resolution. This is compared to a 19", which tend to have 1280 X 1024. This is in my price range, which is around $300 or so. I know you can get nicer 19" monitors with better resolution, but I think they cost more. So why not go 20" right?

And does response time matter that much? Is 5ms too high? Should I shoot for 2ms? I'm concerned about eye strain, and only a bit about gaming. I'm not a serious gamer, but I like to play role-playing and strategy games. Right now I'm mainly playing World of Warcraft.

Feel free to give specific recommendations, but remember I'm in the Canadian market. (I'm not far from a Tiger Direct. The Toronto area has many options.)

Thanks in advance.

I look for several things, personally. First, I look for a fast refresh rate. Monitors above maybe 12ms can have ghosting on more graphic-intensive work. I like to be between 4-7. Remember that when a ms rating is gtg, it's "gray to gray", so it may not be as fair as other tests. You also want to look at contrast, for a better picture quality. I don't go for less than 800:1, usually going at least 1000:1.

I like this one: HP W2007 LCD Monitor reviews - CNET Reviews

HP makes really solid monitors, and this one not only performs quite well but it's aesthetically more pleasing than many other higher quality monitors.

I saw that one at Costco last month. It's very pretty.

Dell also makes really quality monitors, though I don't know much about their current offerings; I've had mine since 2002 and it's still going strong. My SO is now using it, as I have a laptop.

I've been using Samsung SyncMaster 930BF and 931BF. Both are great monitors with good colors/contrast and a low response time. IMHO anything with a response time under 8 ms should work fine for both movies and gaming without causing any noticeable blurring. Of course, the lower the better I suppose.

Great, guys, good to know. I was concerned that maybe 5ms was too slow, as many monitors I've been looking at are either 5ms and 2ms on the response time.

And the contrast recommendation helps too. I didn't actually consider that. (I don't know all that much about these things.)

Dell or HP? I know they're solid brands in general, though I don't have any personal experience with HP. My current monitor that I'm replacing is a Dell Trinitron.

I'm not opposed to a Samsung, considering there's one on clearance at Staples right now. It's what started this whole thing.

Dell, HP, and Samsung each make quality monitors.

You might check Consumer Reports, too.

All I can really say is that I'm happy with my Dell. I have the 1901FP (discontinued; supplanted probably by the 1908FP). The extra USB ports on the side of it are a great bonus. I have had no problems pwning in TF2 with a response time of at least 5ms (I couldn't find the stats for mine but I know it's the same or higher).

Wait a second.

What kind of editing are you doing? Most lower-end LCDs are TN (twisted nematic) plus film designs. These offer the best response time but color reproduction is not particularly good for graphics because it's only 6-bit color around 226000 instead of 16.7M colors.) IPS (In-Plane Switching) offers full 24 bit color and is almost comparable to a CRT in that respect, and you can get response time down to a respectable level if you throw down more for super-IPS. You need the full 8 bits per channel of IPS if you're doing anything with photo editing at a pro or semi-pro level. Dell offers the 2007FPW and 3007FPW, both of which are S-IPS panels made by LG.Philips. The 20" model runs between 350 and 500 while the 30" is between double and triple that.

Thanks for the consideration, MSD, but I'm editing text, not photo or film. Although I wouldn't mind half-decent colour reproduction, as I have been getting into some personal design with the Web, and I do have an eye for quality. I have experience with photography. Yet, I just can't see myself forking out that much extra money just to get me some super-IPS.

I haven't seen anything on TN vs. IPS, are they really that different? Why aren't these details listed in the specs normally?

I just recently replaced my old 19 inch lcd with a 21.6 lcd from samsung

Samsung 2253LW 21.6" Widescreen Glossy LCD Monitor - 2ms, 1000:1, 1680x1050 (WSXGA+), Black at TigerDirect.com

Picked that up from tigerdirect and im very happy with it. I do suggest whatever you decide to get make sure you go look at it in person. I read a ton of good reviews on a few different monitors just to go look at them in person and see that i could see the lines between each pixal. would have drove me nuts if i ordered it online without seeing them in person first.

I suggest going with a samsung if you want a really nice looking picture but some of the dells i saw in person were nice too. Stay away from acers they all seemed to look kinda lousy. HPs also looked nice but.... i have seen HP stick there logo on some real cheap low quality garbage so might want to look out for that.

what are the recommendations about using a 37inch lcd tv as a monitor? any suggestions there?

/threadjack. sorry

Seems fine to me. Just get a VGA to HDMI adapter/converter.

I wouldnt use a big tv for a monitor unless you plan to sit a little ways back from it. If you plan to sit at least 4 feet away then maybe it would be ok. Wont have anywhere near the same pixels per inch as a smaller monitor though. so you just cant sit up close to it like you would with a monitor. I have heard of people doing it and they did seem to like it though. Not sure if there are any real disadvantage using a hdtv as a monitor though. Doubt it would be as good for fps type games but i could be wrong. dont think they worry about response times when it comes to tvs. but if you already have the tv might as well try it and just see how it is.

I have a Dell 19" wide-screen LCD and I love it. 5ms, great for everything. Samsung has great LCD's too. Once you go LCD you will wonder why it took you so long. Games, Photoshop, etc, all look so much better now. I have a CRT as a second monitor now but will be replacing it soon with another LCD. A much Bigger one!

I haven't mentioned this until now, but I will be using the new LCD monitor quite a bit as a second screen to my Macbook. I imagine going from an old 17" CRT to a 19" (or, more likely, 20") LCD as a second screen will blow my mind. Too bad I won't have it at work. I have another CRT there. Maybe one day. :)
-----Added 23/8/2008 at 02 : 57 : 17-----
So I went with a Samsung SyncMaster 2063UW: a 20", just like I was after. It was on sale. I saved $60, and it came to $316 after taxes. And although I've just hooked it up, it's looking pretty good so far! World of Warcraft will be my next test!

:thumbsup:

I have a Samsung 2253 LCD and I really like it. Plus its onsale at newegg for like 259. I paid 300 for mine a couple months ago. Nice, bright monitor.

TN has about 266000 colors and simulates the rest. S-IPS gives you the full 16.7M. The details aren't listed because the average user is the same person who downloads music from limewire at 64 bitrate and doesn't notice anything wrong. The people who care enough to know the difference will do the research on their own.
The TV probably has DVI in anyway.

Some do, yeah. Still, if it does have DVI I'm not sure why he was asking. :confused:

Bingo. And unfortunately, Dell has started to capitalize on this, and has mixed S-IPS and S-PVA (which aren't as bad as TN panels, but they're not S-IPS, either) on the same models, with no way to determine ahead of time which you're going to get.

They have definitely been doing this with the 2007WFP (that's a 20" widescreen, model '07), and perhaps others in their lineup. To be sure that you get a S-IPS panel, you either have to pay big bucks, or go back to an older model like the 2005WFP, before they started pulling this shenanigans.

LCD monitors are definitely 'buyer beware' territory if you're trying to get something good.

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