24" display for a specific application

D

dpfels

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Apr 15, 2008
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Hi,
I have read many of the posts here about 24" LCD displays. My application is a bit different, so I wanted to ask for some advice.

I need the display for reviewing microscope images that have been pseudo colored. That means the images are composed of a series of 8-bit frames that are each assigned a color (R, G or B) and stacked into a 24 bit image. The goal is to be able to see when the signal in two different channels is in the same place. Since the colors are completely artificial, I don't care if the accuracy is dead on. However, I do care about linearity and signal compression.

What I want:
The main concern is that the display be easy on the eyes for long periods of time, and have lots of detail. In particular, I would like a display that doesn't compress the signal at either the bright or dim end of the scale. Many important details get lost if the monitor lacks broad range, or posterizes at the extreme ends of the scale.

What I don't care about:
Speed or latency. This is not a system for gaming. I don't want bad trailing, but I also don't need it to have 2ms latency.
Absolute color accuracy. Although I would prefer the image not to be way off, the images are in pseudocolor. I am not likely to use this system for production of final figures.

Based on what I have read here, I am considering the following displays:
Samsung 245T
Dell 2408 WFP

I would also consider the NEC 2490, but it is considerably more expensive and I don't need that kind of accuracy. Also, I am buying two monitors, so it gets a bit pricy.

Feedback, anyone?
Thanks,
Dan
 
Things to be aware of.

Comfort:
The 2408 is a VERY bright panel. Unknown to most who don't have the experience, these very bright panels don't throttle down enough to be comfortable, but it might be fine in a very well lit environment (brightness is relative issue). I bought a 2405 for home use in a dimly lit computer room (two 60w equivalents) and it wasn't comfortable to use for 20 minutes, let alone hours, and I am a programmer who spends 10+ hours looking at a CRT everyday comfortably.

linearity:
These panels exhibit black crush when looked at straight on in standard setups . That is value 0,0,0 to 10,10,10 or higher may all appear the same uniform black color. You may be able to alter the gamma to differentiate those tones, but it will likely make the rest of the screen look washed out and the visibility will shift with viewing angle as the gamma of each tone will be differently affected by viewing angle, no matter how you calibrate it.

See short youtube vid to see phenomena (watch the shadows of the porch):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03gVDMG7AMg&feature=user

I sold the monitor within a week of buying because it was unusable for because of these issues. The shift you see from the Vid can be much more annoying in real life if you are sensitive to it. Because the shift changes gamma at such small angles that it actually presents slightly different images to each eye, it worked like a phony 3d "magic eye" picture on me and bothered me even when perfectly centered behind the screen. Mover your head just small normal amounts and details get brighter/darker all over the screen, non uniformly.

IMO if you have any serious graphical use for a monitor, an NEC 2490 is often worth the money for consistent display characteristics. You might consider the Apple 23" displays which are a bit older (but somewhat less expensive) and they also have IPS screens, they have slower reaction time, so gamers tend not to like them, but they should be quite stable for viewing images.
 
Thanks for the feedback.
I am right on the edge with respect to the NEC 2490.
As I said in my original post, I need the real estate, so I am hesitant to spring for two of them.

I know what you mean about the black crush and viewing angle. I think I could probably live with that. Mostly, I am dealing with enormous piles of image data (upwards of 40,000 images per set). Much of the image viewing is automated, but I am wondering how much my ability to spot detail will count when I set up the computer for feature recognition.

I will give it some more thought.
Thanks for your suggestions.
Best,
Dan
 
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