New monitor shopping

<p>I'm a serious amateur photographer. I've been using an older ViewSonic 21" CRT monitor til now, which I'm pretty happy with except for it's slight lack of contrast. I run a screen resolution of roughly 1800 (W) x 1350 (H), which I make full use of. I'd be content to continue using it, but I've found myself suddenly needing to relocate my main desktop computer to a location where this monstrous CRT simply won't fit, depth-wise.</p>

<p>So now I'm in the market for a new wide-screen LCD monitor in the 24-27" neighborhood. I want to maximize the screen resolution, with 1200 lines tall being a bare minimum. I also want reasonably accurately color. I'm not a pro, but I try to keep my current monitor calibrated & I'd like to do the same with this one. I also run Linux, not Mac or Windows,so I probably can't make use of vendor-supplied software that's required to fully utilize a particular monitor. I'm a computer guy by trade, but monitor shopping isn't my area.</p>

<p>Because I haven't shopped for monitors in many years (before LCD's were available), I don't know what sort of metrics a photographer should look for in a monitor. What specs should I be looking at? Are there particular brands that tend to be more photographer-friendly than others? Because I don't make money at this, I can't be spending $1000 on a monitor, but I don't necessarily have a hard budget limit yet.</p>

<p>Thanks for any advice you can provide.</p>

<p>I wonder if HannsG 28" monitor (27.5" usable) would satisfy you. It has 1920 x 1200 native pixels resolution, HDMI and VGA inputs, and built in speakers. It costs around $300 at Costco.com or less when is on sale. Also plays HD video via the HDMI directly from a Blu-Ray player, or from a high definition AVCHD camcodrer. Workd great with media players like WD HDTV Live playing HD video from an attachable USB external drive, or media server.</p>

<p>There is also a HDTV HannsG 28" that has built in TV tuner, and may possibly have wider angle of view.</p>

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<p>So now I'm in the market for a new wide-screen LCD monitor in the 24-27" neighborhood. I want to maximize the screen resolution, with 1200 lines tall being a bare minimum. I also want reasonably accurately color.</p>

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<p>Well depending on budget, I’d look into an NEC SpectraView II with their software and supported colorimeter meaning entry level, the P221W or going up, a 2690. </p>

<p>And in terms of contrast, for effective soft proofing (making the display match a print), lower is most certainly better. We see spec’s of contrast ratio’s of 800:1+. Bad news is the best you’ll get off a print is maybe 300:1. This is one reason we get a visual disconnect between print and display and why when you soft proof in Photoshop using the Simulate paper white and ink black (which alters the contrast ratio), everything appears so muddy if you watch it update before your eyes. With the NECs, you can actually calibrate a desired contrast ratio which helps tremendously in this regard to soft proofing. </p>

<p>Thanks for the input. I have a really nice set of speakers, so speakers in the monitor are just wasted bezel width. I have a separate entertainment system, so I don't ever *expect* to use this monitor with anything other than computer inputs. You never know what'll happen years down the road, though.</p>

<p>That's good to know about the contrast. It makes perfect sense, but it never occurred to me. As I said, I'd be content keeping my current CRT if it wasn't physically too large for the new location.</p>

<p>Unless NEC's software will run on Linux, it won't do me any good. OSD color control is important to me. I'll look into those models, though. Thanks for the suggestion.</p>

<p>I neglected to mention that consistent color across a wide angle of view is important to me. I can't stand even viewing, let alone editing, photos on my laptop because even a five degree movement makes such a wild change in brightness.</p>

<p>Any other suggestions?</p>

<p>May I suggest some reading at this site:<br>

<a href="http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/reviews.htm">http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/reviews.htm</a><br>

<br>

I was monitor shopping earlier this year when I built my new computer. I decided upon a Dell 2410. So far, I am very satisfied. The price of the Dell seems to fluctuate every few weeks. Waiting a few weeks can save you about $100.</p>