hdtv plasma screen for photo editing?

recently my monitor went crazy... and I have been looking into the

warranty info. but in the mean time I have been looking into getting a

flatscreen hdtv.. for home (no room for a normal tv is a great reason

to say you 'need' a flatscreen). so what I am wondering for anybody

who might know, is can you use the tv as a computer monitor for

digital editing? (save money on a computer monitor).

 

the model tv I was looking at is a 42" hitachi (model number 42hds52).

I am eating ramen noodles and not spending extra money to save up to

get this pretty thing.. hopefully I will love it. and I probalby

should get lenses instead. :)

Why wait? You can get an Acer 19", 1024x1280 LCD monitor for $250 from CDW. You can edit pictures while you save up for an entertainment center. I've not heard of anyone using a 42" Plasma screen for editing, but it may be possible. On the other hand, many LCD screens are well suited for this task.

I don't know the exact specs on that tv, but if it displays 720p, then you'll have 1280x720 resolution. It's not bad, but you'll be doing an awful lot of scrolling around if you're editing at 100%, maybe even at 50%, depending on your camera's filesize. If you want to go even higher, to 1080i or 1080p, then you'll have 1920x1080. Only a few flagship tv's can display 1080p right now though. I'm not sure how satisfying staring at an interlaced picture for hours while photo editing would be. If it'll display 1080p though, that's close enough to 1600x1200 which is what I run my computer monitor at, except it would be a much bigger display.

 

So, if you get a cordless keyboard and mouse, since you still need to be sitting some feet away from a screen that size, I guess it could work. Of course, there's also the question of how to calibrate it if you have a colour managed workflow.

I will probably get something for the computer in the mean time. but it just crossed my mind that it was a possibility one day if things work out.

 

it is 1080i. what is the difference between 1080i and 1080p? these are things I am trying to learn elsewhere, but as long as it has been brought up I guess I could ask.

Thats funny because i was just thniking about that myself! I just bought a Panasonic Viera 42

inch plasma TV, and i was wondering if i could hookup my G5 to it (i mean i know i canvia

dvi) and what will be the result? compare to a 30 inch Apple cinema display....rigth now i

have a 23 inch Apple cinema display, I am a photoretoucher so you understand that

quality,color and detail are important to me. i let you know about my result, i will try that

after in the weekend.

The bigger the screen the farther back you're gonna have to sit. I

haven't seen any recent plasma TV's except the ones at Walmart

and I wouldn't even think of photo editing professionally on those

things. You have to sit too far back before the vertical lines

disappear and by then you loose detail.

 

I believe the difference between 1080i as apposed to 1080p is

i-interlaced and p=progressive scan.

 

I'ld go with a 20"or higher LCD that's meant for computer use

with VGA, DVI, s-video and video composite. They look a whole

lot better viewed with a computer.

Byron,

 

As Tim mentioned, the 1080i is an interlaced pattern (the display is alternated so that every other line is displayed). The 1080p is a progressive scan (all lines are displayed sequentially). There are very few, if any, stations that broadcast in 1080p at the moment.

This is a total guess, but I would imagine that color is much more stable on a LCD than on a

plasma display. I know very little about this, but it would seem to me that a matrix of tiny

little lights that are either red green or blue and either on or off would be easier to profile

and more consistent than a process involving phosphors and plasma. It seems like tiny

voltage problems could change color balance in a way that would not be noticeable watching

a tv or movie, but could make a difference in photo editing. That and they have lower

resolution and greater size than LCD's, so they are probably not the best computer monitors.

I mean, they are great, but for TV and movies...probably not so much for photo editing.

Hi...Do yourself a favor and forget the 42" plasma screen (and for that matter a similar sized LCD screen) for image editing. Plasma displays are subject to VERY rapid image burn (even with a scan orbiter) and the contrast ratios/artifacts in black of current LCD's leave a lot to be desired. Stop eating ramen noodles and get some proper food and a nice Samsung Multisync glass tube monitor for a couple hundred bucks.

I will be getting my monitor (a nec 19 inch crt) serviced via warranty and will probably have it back long before I get a plasma screen but I wnated to know so if I one day got the inkling to try, if it would be an ok idea or if it was like the stuff you flush.