selenium Posted August 17, 2005 Share Posted August 17, 2005 Ok, after much sweat, tears, and eye strain I have my choices down to 4 monitors... The finalists are! 1+Samsung 213T 2+Lacie Photon20Vision II (the hood and mounting clamp would be awesome for using it on location in studio) 3+Apple Cinema 20" Flat-Panel Display 4+Dell 2005FPW My budget is under $1000, and this monitor will be used w/my DELL PC desktop as well as an external monitor with my 12" Powerbook. Image quality is tantamount, and I need something that will look awesome w/my Desktop computer (up to 1600x1200) AND still look great when coupled to the lower resolution (1024x768) of my Apple 12" Powerbook. I'm really having a difficult time deciding, I definitely want something to accurately view photographs, but I'd also like a decent refresh rate to play the occasional FPS game ;) This will be my main monitor at home. Thanks SO much for any help and advice :) Alex Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andrew robertson Posted August 18, 2005 Share Posted August 18, 2005 The other panels are made from the units Apple rejects. Seriously. Apple's Cinema Display is an amazing piece of technology, and is real easy on the eyes. It also comes 99% calibrated from the factory, especially when using its Colorsync profile. There was literally no change in response when I had mine calibrated, when compared with the built-in cinema display calibration. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doris_chan Posted August 18, 2005 Share Posted August 18, 2005 "The other panels are made from the units Apple rejects. Seriously." Err, seriously not. Does the LaCie even have the same proportions/resolution as the Apple? I don't think so. I've no experience of Samsung or Dell, but my experience of Apple and LaCie branded monitors gives me more confidence in the latter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cnhoff Posted August 18, 2005 Share Posted August 18, 2005 :-) Yeah, we all buy the stuff the Apple guys don't want... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andrew robertson Posted August 18, 2005 Share Posted August 18, 2005 Samsung and Toshiba both manufacture panels used in Cinema Displays. Apple chooses the ones that are within a strict range of tolerances, and Samsung and Toshiba give other manufacturers their second choice. I'm not sure about LaCie - I haven't heard anything about them since the early 90s, but I would bet that the LCD in the Dell is a Samsung or a Toshiba. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doris_chan Posted August 18, 2005 Share Posted August 18, 2005 "I'm not sure about LaCie - I haven't heard anything about them since the early 90s" So why pronounce with such misplaced certainty? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roamingstudio Posted August 18, 2005 Share Posted August 18, 2005 The decisions between CRT and LCD are always tough - but are there any new / updated FAQ's about which technology is actually the best? (I read a lot of articles on FN but there is no consistent line). Most of my processing will be for simple colour correcting (whitespace etc); cropping and occasionally sharpening / rotating an image. Eventually I will be scanning (Coolscann 5000 my backlog of photos (from last 7 years of film) and would like something which is suitable for this. The Apple monitor sounds nice - but does it work on PC's? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frank_oddsocks Posted August 18, 2005 Share Posted August 18, 2005 LCD's have only one native resolution�, so if your Powerbook will only do the lower resolution, you will see a little window in the middle of the monitor - not, perhaps what you had in mind. Can your Powerbook even drive a DVI screen? I am no longer recommending Samsung monitors, following a problem with the power supply on mine. I do not think it should have failed after 4 1/2 years, and I do not think they should be charging A$110 for a replacement. Of course I got a cheaper one from the mall (still $64). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skipio Posted August 18, 2005 Share Posted August 18, 2005 "<i>Samsung and Toshiba both manufacture panels used in Cinema Displays. Apple chooses the ones that are within a strict range of tolerances, and Samsung and Toshiba give other manufacturers their second choice. I'm not sure about LaCie - I haven't heard anything about them since the early 90s, but I would bet that the LCD in the Dell is a Samsung or a Toshiba.</i>" <p> Apple, Dell, etc. buy their 20" S-IPS LCD panels from LG-Philips. Or to be precise, LM201W01 is the <a href="http://www.lgphilips-lcd.com/homeContain/jsp/eng/prd/prd200_j_e.jsp">panel</a href> used by Apple and Dell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uhooru Posted August 18, 2005 Share Posted August 18, 2005 I'd get the Apple. SWOP certifiable, really accurate. A little priceier but its a great screen. Don't know bout the others,they may be great as well, but I know the ACD is a great monitor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jt Posted August 18, 2005 Share Posted August 18, 2005 Good review of Apple vs. Dell widescreen 20" panels on http://www.anandtech.com/displays/ I'm also fairly confident Powerbooks can use the full 1600x1050 (or whatever it is) resolution of the external monitor even though their own screen is much smaller. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
camilla Posted August 18, 2005 Share Posted August 18, 2005 Have a look at www.tomshardware.com. They recently reviewed four large LCD's, and I think one LaCie was the one recommended for photographers. Also, I'd not buy the Samsung for photo editing. I have had two Samsungs and they were OK for office and games, but not for photos. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frank_oddsocks Posted August 19, 2005 Share Posted August 19, 2005 I too think current PowerBooks can drive higher-res screens - that's their biggest advantage over the iBooks. But IIRC early PowerBooks, like iBooks, lacked the hardware to drive two different screens (internal and external) at different resolutiions. Not sure when they got it, and you would be wise to ask Apple. Don't overlook the inconvenience of having to switch plugs. You will find KVM switches generally don't support either USB keyboards or DVI monitors. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
selenium Posted August 19, 2005 Author Share Posted August 19, 2005 Definitely helpful answers... I think I'm leaning towards the Apple Cinema (but LaCie is still in contention). My biggest concerns w/the Apple display are how it's going to work w/my Dell PC and that it's refresh rate won't be too troubling when watching movies or playing the occasional FPS. Any more advice? thanks again Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uhooru Posted August 19, 2005 Share Posted August 19, 2005 Also from the Annandtech artical, the Dell is better in some ways and the ACD has a little advantage in others. The Dell is a bit cheaper. I'm using an iMac w/20" screen, I'm not sure its the same as the ACD, but its SWOP certifiable and an amazing screen for photo shop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patricklavoie Posted August 19, 2005 Share Posted August 19, 2005 Hi, i am a professional photo retoucher and i alson train professional photographer for color management. Im on a MAC platform, i was using a CRT monitor until last year....ive seen a Aplle Cinema Display 20 inch.....its close to perfection! but i am not agree with someone here saying that the factory calibration its almost perfect and after i calibrated i didnt see much difference.....man, change your calibration method because i have seen MAJOR difference, out of factory setting are way to cold. I think the final choice have to be if you are on a Mac or PC platform, and your budget... (i dont know about the other one, but i know that the apple cinema display lack of hardware control could be a problem on a PC world) . My second choice would have been the Lacie, maybe the samsung after..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ralph_jensen Posted August 19, 2005 Share Posted August 19, 2005 Thanks, whoever it was, for posting the link to that anandtech review; it was excellent. I was leaning toward the Apple, but after reading the review the Dell seems at least the ACD's equal in quality and certainly better-priced (the pivot feature is nice too). http://www.anandtech.com/displays/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b_kosoff Posted September 1, 2005 Share Posted September 1, 2005 I've been awaiting set up of my Eizo Color Edge CG210 monitor before I thought I would wade in here. I own an Apple 20" Cinema display which I use on a non critical computer. I owned a 23" apple Cinema Display which I returned because it was pink, even after calibration and was very inconsistent across the screen. I own a 22" Lacie Electron Blue and I have found it to be an excellent CRT monitor, I have also heard nothing but good things about their LCDs. The Apple cinema displays besides being uneven, have a very apparent twinkle effect. That is you can see the screen pixels very easily, and they can be very distracting. The difference in image quality between the Apple displays and the Eizo are very apparent. The Eizo which is 14 bit, has much smoother gradations, no uneveness, has no twinkle and is sharp as can be. I know the budget was $1000. but the criteria was that image quality is "tantamount". You may want to consider looking at the Eizo Color edge CG19 which sells for around $1600. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doris_chan Posted September 4, 2005 Share Posted September 4, 2005 "I owned a 23" apple Cinema Display which I returned because it was pink, even after calibration and was very inconsistent across the screen. I own a 22" Lacie Electron Blue and I have found it to be an excellent CRT monitor" B, you're not alone in having a pink (magenta?) 23" Cinema Display. I've tried everything to get reasonable quality from these monitors, but they just don't deliver. They're actually a great deal worse than the previous (plastic surround) model. I'll also echo your positive experience of the 22" LaCie CRT - they're bulky but just about the best bang for your buck you can get. The real mystery is why Sony have apparently stopped production of the Artisan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now