Buying a LCD monitor for photo editing
The big guys
- Buy an Eizo if you can.
- Buy a NEC / Lacie / Apple if you can’t do #1. [Lacie is rebranded NEC and $400 more expensive]
For the rest of us, continue reading.
Find the panel
Find out the model you are in interested in and go here.
For instance,
- Samsung 205BW (widescreen) has a 20 inch 6 ms TN panel.
- Dell 2007FPW (widescreen) has a 20 inch 8 ms (g2g) S-IPS (LG.Philips LM201W01) panel.
- Samsung 215TW (widescreen) has a 21 inch 8 ms (g2g) S-PVA (Samsung LTM210M2) panel.
Picking the panel
- TN panel - fast response, 6 bit colors, BAD for photo processing. It has only 226,000 odd colors and it simulates the other 16.7 m colors. Don’t touch it with a 10 feet pole for photo editing. Trust me on that. I bought a Samsung 204B and without running any tests, I could see banding in the color gradients. Opening up a standard test chart tells the truth.
- S-IPS - probably the best for photo editing, 8 bit per channel. True 16.7 m colors, great for photo editing, but slow response times. Usually the monitor is $150-$200 more than a comparative TN panel.
- S-PVA - opinion is split on how good S-PVA is. Some argue [quoting websites written in 2004 that S-IPS rules]. However, the rolls royce of LCD monitors, Eizo uses S-PVA.
Eizo CE210W (widescreen) has a 21 inch 8 ms (g2g) S-PVA (Samsung LTM210M2) panel.
Pick a S-PVA or S-IPS panel with true 8 bit / channel. In the same flatpanels.dk site, look at the tests link and see if your monitor is testing. PVA [not S-PVA, but an old variant] is supposed to be inferior.
You can learn danish to read the page or look for clues Wink. Look for 6 bit or 8 bit. If the colors say less than 16.7 million don’t touch it. If it says 16.7 million, then it is good.
About backlighting and other stuff
Not all panels are made the same. For instance, the Samsung 215tw and Eizo CE210W use the same panel, but they are like many hundred $ apart.
You are at the sole mercy of online reviews about this one.
For instance, the viewsonic WS monitors have S-IPS panels, but their backlight leak is bad compared to say Samsungs.
Find out about the manufacturer’s history
Some manufacturers change panels for the same monitor EACH production run. For instance, the Dell 2007FP has gone thru a S-IPS monitor and a S-PVA monitor, so what you buy may not be what you think you read.
http://aryarya.net/wassyoi/lcdmemo.html
Dell 2007FP = 20.1 inch 16 ms S-IPS (LG.Philips LM201U05) panel.
Dell 2007FP ver2 = 20.1 inch 16 ms S-PVA (Samsung LTM201U1) panel.
So, buy it in a store where you can return easily. [Costco rules]
Test your monitor
Once you get the monitor, run through some simple tests. I ran it through Ron Reznicks tools files from his ebook and run chkmon
http://www.ykwong.com/download.shtml
That hopefully will catch most of the problems.
So, what did I buy?
I bought a Samsung 215TW wide screen LCD monitor from Costco :). Wide screen monitors are a bliss for photo editing.
Apple LCDs
If you want to buy an apple laptop for photo editing, you must read this first.
An excellent read
This thread is outstanding to learn about various monitor types.
A good list of LCD types
A good list of the type of LCD panels in monitors can be found here:
http://axofiber.no-ip.org/inside/monitor.lcd.panels.en.htm
This entry was posted on Monday, April 23rd, 2007 at 5:53 pm and is filed under Photography, Reviews, Technology. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
on April 30, 2007 at 3:17 am Peter wrote:
Wish there was some clear info on how good S-PVA is these days for photo editing! Still, you seem very happy with it…
on April 30, 2007 at 7:11 am anand wrote:
Peter
Yes, I am happy with it. Actually I feel it is better than my previous Lacie CRT.
on June 1, 2007 at 9:26 am Cristian wrote:
Hi, I am looking for a monitor that works as a tv and a monitor for photo editing. I was looking between the 24 inch dell or the 27 inch dell. Wich one you recomend? I have read that the 27 inch it has a bigger dot pitch than the other.
Thanks
Cristian
on June 10, 2007 at 12:06 pm Void Pointer » Blog Archive » Apple LCDs for photo editing wrote:
[...] For some preliminary reading on how to choose a LCD monitor for photo editing, read this previous post. [...]
on July 10, 2007 at 11:11 am Bob I. wrote:
I currently have the samsung 215tw but I’ve never been happy with the result post calibration (spyder 2). It feels dark and sometimes not as sharp as it should be. So I’m surprised to hear how happy you are.
on July 10, 2007 at 11:40 am anand wrote:
Bob
I am surprised to hear that. If anything, the monitor is a bit too sharp.
Colors seem accurate enough for me. It is comparable to my old Lacie 19″ CRT monitor as well.
on July 16, 2007 at 5:01 pm sam wrote:
hey Bob … what kind of Graphics Card you using ??? i need a good monitor but the ones i want are over a $1,000 … any good affordable ones out there ??
on August 10, 2007 at 11:05 am Hendrik wrote:
I just ordered the 215TW, but still are a bit nervous about it. Currently I use a 17 inch CRT, calibrated with my Monaco Optix XR Pro DTP-94 colorimeter. The use will be primary photo editing. The Eizo screens are great, but triple the price.
I really hope this screen will be good enough for professional photo editing.
The graphics card is not relevant for your output, any current card is good enough.
on August 10, 2007 at 11:10 am anand wrote:
Hendrik
Good luck. Let me know what you think of it.
These days I use a 20″ iMac for photo editing and I personally think the 215tW is much better for photo editing than the 20″ iMac.
anand
on August 12, 2007 at 10:53 am Bob wrote:
Well, I’ve recalibrated and printed many prints since my last post. I still have a bit of an issue with my Epson R1800 printing a bit darker than what I see on the screen but overall, things seem to good. I’ve looked at other monitors but I think the Samsung is doing well. It’s hard getting used to having the brightness setting so low (34%) but calibration is spot on . . .
on August 12, 2007 at 12:06 pm anand wrote:
@Bob
Yes. The brightness is really low on this monitor when you calibrate it.
anand
on August 16, 2007 at 12:12 am Growing wrote:
[...] 新添了台Samsung的LCD。21寸，作图舒服点。这些日子LCD价掉得哗啦哗啦的，但出银子勿草率。FS和BB屯的几乎全部用的TN panel。廉价量产。推一网页，上边有不少信息和有用的链儿。 [...]
on August 28, 2007 at 10:36 am joe wrote:
Hendrik, I’m pretty much in the same boat as you and would love to hear your opinion of the 215TW.
Joe
on August 30, 2007 at 8:31 am Andy V wrote:
Hey there.
Just ordered a 215TW via Staples for $489 (CAD)
I plan on using it for photo editing myself. Should I look into getting a calibrator?
on September 12, 2007 at 5:52 am Juha K wrote:
Hi!
I can’t decide which one to order:
Apple Cinema HD 30″ - S-IPS panel
Samsung SyncMaster 305T 30″ - S-PVA panel
I believe that both screens are very good when it comes to overall picture quality and colors, but i have understood that Apple’s display has better color balance that Samsung right out of the box. I don’t have tools to calibrate screens so…
I understood that both have true 16,7M colors but Samsung has faster response time.
The screen comes to general use, and at this moment i’m leaning towards Samsung.
So.. Which one would you pick ?
on September 15, 2007 at 12:02 pm Hendrik wrote:
First impression,
Well I finally got the 215TW in front of me. I think I have the last one available in the Netherlands, they told me it’s discontinued.
First impression is WOW, I came from a 17-inch CRT screen, so this is a BIG improvement considering the space available. I downloaded some Full-HD trailers and they looked fantastic.
After a few hours the WOW effect declined and I had a better look. I tried to calibrate the LCD with my Monaco Optix XR Pro software and DTP-94 colorimeter. Determining the correct contrast/brightness settings is a bit difficult. At this moment I have Brightness: 22; Contrast 67 and this gives me a whitepoint of 130cd/m^2 and blackpoint of 0,16cd/m^2. My guide was a printer-ramp file and choose a setting I just could see all gray values from RGB 1,1,1 up to RGB 254, 254, 254, this means no clipping at the black and white end. For the rest native color temp and gamma 2.2. Later I tried ColorEyes Pro with L* as a setting, and here also a well behaving screen.
Problem is, you don’t have a real tool to validate your profiling, because you test with the same tool. To the eyes, the grays look neutral and no significant banding. The black-to-white gradient showed me steps from black to white, but no clipping.
I don’t like the uneven illumination across the screen. With a mid-gray background I measure a luminance difference of 2 cd/m^2 between the left and right side of the screen. It doesn’t sound much, but I can see it clearly. I don’t know if this is normal for LCD screens. This is my first and have no experience with other screens. Besides this there is some backlight leaking in all corners, but not very much.
At this moment, I’m still indecisive if I keep the screen or not. In my opinion it’s a step back compared to my ‘old’ CRT screen considering pure picture quality, but other aspects favor the LCD (especially screen space).
Alternatives are much more expensive (I paid 425 euro). Twice or triple the price, and I don’t believe they’re that much better. LCD technology still has it’s limitations, each year better screens are available. The really high-end screens $1500 maybe are better, but not an investment many want to make, and besides that they have their own limitations, like no HDCP input. For the money, I’m afraid there are no alternatives.
on December 25, 2007 at 8:08 pm Aaron wrote:
I am in the same boat, needing to replace an NEC CRT (DiamondPro 930SB) that I use for photo editing. I have decided it is time to move to LCD. I was considering the Samsung 215TW, but am having trouble locating any. From this review, they seem to be a good buy.
If I can manage the extra money, I am considering moving up in quality to either the NEC 2190uxi or the Eizo Flexscan S2111. Does anyone have experience with either of these monitors?
Thanks for any input.
on December 25, 2007 at 9:05 pm anand wrote:
I have a pro friend who uses the Eizo Flexscan S2111 and LOVES it. The blacks on that monitor are unbelievable. Particularly with B&W images it is insane, you see tones and shadow detail that you didn’t think existed. If you can afford it, that is the Rolls Royce of monitors.
Yes, the Samsung 215TW is tough to find now. Pity that even Samsung is headed the TN panel route.
on January 2, 2008 at 11:44 pm Clare wrote:
The original article in this thread is MOST useful! Thanks.
Is there any connection between the TN/S-IPS/S-PVA characteristic and the “anti-glare” vs “glossy” screens? I find that published specs don’t indicate whether a monitor is anti-glare or glossy and yet it seems to me that is a BIG distinguishing factor. The only way I can figure that out is to find a monitor in a store and look, which is considerably less than convenient since stores only carry a few models.
on January 3, 2008 at 8:32 am anand wrote:
Clare
Unfortunately, no :(.
Take iMac for instance. The monitor used is a S-PVA monitor. However, the current iMacs are all glossy. The previous generation iMacs, you can choose Matte - I picked matte of course.
This is something you need to figure out on a case by case basis, unfortunately.
on March 5, 2008 at 9:33 pm Samsung 215TW with MacbookPro fonts not clear | Void Pointer wrote:
[...] recently bought an apple MacbookPro. I hooked it to the Samsung 215TW monitor and the fonts looked [...]
on April 8, 2008 at 6:29 pm tristan wrote:
Hello, I’m looking for a 22-24″ monitor for photo editing. I’m on a budget, (what doesn’t go towards a monitor goes towards a trip to Africa). I also need to get a calibration setup. Can any of you recommend a good combination that is cost effective, and good quality. I know great quality is out of my price range, but I definitely don’t want a tn monitor. I’m not a techy, so I would need specific models rather than product lines.
Thanks!
on April 14, 2008 at 12:33 am » Buying a LCD monitor for photo editing Hana Art Studios Blog - Vancouver BC Canada Art Galleries, Services & Fine Art Prints » Blog Archive wrote:
[...] read more… [...]