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New to LCD Monitors....

B

bozman

n00b
Joined
Oct 10, 2005
Messages
41
Ladies & Gents:

I need some help here. I have read through all of the major threads, have looked at all of the specs and read all of the reviews, but I am still confused. I have not owned a LCD monitor in the past. I use one at work, but then again I don’t do the things at work that I would be doing at home.

I am in desperate need of a new monitor. My trusting Iiyama 22” CRT is dying. When the monitor recovers from sleep mode, all I get is a line down the center of the screen. I have to physically unplug the monitor if/when it enters sleep mode to rectify this issue. I have been nursing the thing along, but I have noticed increase flickering and this morning I got shocked when I unplugged the thing to fix this issue (yes the power was off to the unit). The thing is now sitting on the floor with a 15” CRT (ViewSonic) in it’s place (this is a monitor I keep around for when friends have issues with their PC’s and ask me to “fix” them).

Like I said, after all of the research I have done, I am still confused as to which would best suit my needs. I would be using the monitor to do photo editing of family photo’s, editing home movies and using office productivity apps. The majority of the time though, I use the computer to play games (Oblivion, Flight Simulator, HL2, etc.).

I will only occasionally use the monitor for watching movies (DVD’s) and TV (TV Tuner Card).

I will never use the monitor for console gaming (hard-core PC gamer here).

I think the sweet spot in terms of size would be 20”-24” in a widescreen format. I recently bought a 19” Dell monitor for my wife. I played a little Oblivion on the thing, but I noticed ghosting and lag. I expected this because the monitor was one of the lower-end models (1904 I think) and expect this to be present to some extent in whichever monitor I get.

My current computer is a Athlon 55 FX with 2 gig of RAM and using a nVidia 7900 GT to drive the monitor.

Money is not really an issue (within reason that is…. I am not dropping $2,500 for a 24” monitor).

What are my options and what are their weaknesses?

I appreciate any feedback any of you can lend….

Thanks,
 
Photo editing needs an 8 bit panel.

If I lived in the US, I would buy the Dell 2007fwp or what ever the name is. It is probably a S-IPS panel that is best suited for photo editing and is dirt cheap (around $300)

However, If you live in the EU, the NEC 20WGX2 is probably the best value wide screen out there.

Good luck!
 
6-bit panels "usually" say 16.2 million colors
8-bit panels "usually" say 16.7 million colors

6-bit's "usually" have faster response (good for games)
8-bit's "usually" have slower response but getting closer to 6-bit panels (cost more thou)

Most people cannot tell the difference between 6-bit and 8-bit but for photo editing you would want an 8-bit panel.

If you are a hard core PC gamer I would recommend you see the monitor in action before you buy. Speed ratings are not an exact science and one company may measure different from another. Almost all "affordable" 5ms panels are of the 6-bit variety and the best I have seen the 8-bit panels are 8ms... 8ms is still pretty good.

If you will be photo editing then make sure you get an 8-bit panel with at least 8ms. If you are only going to look at some pictures of attractive women but do not care if the skin color is misrepresented by 2% then see if a 6-bit looks good enough LOL.

-JB

P.S. The difference between 6-bit dithered to 16.2m and 8-bit at 16.7 is not as critical as some people make it out to be... do yourself a favor and see the monitor in person which is always a good thing.


Stolen from: http://compreviews.about.com/od/multimedia/a/LCDColor.htm



8-Bit vs. 6-Bit

Now color depth was previous referred to by the total number of colors that the screen can render, but when referring to LCD panels the number of levels that each color can render is used instead. This can make things difficult to understand, but to demonstrate, we will look at the mathematics of it. For example, 24-bit or true color is comprised of three colors each with 8-bits of color. Mathematically, this is represented as:

2^8 x 2^8 x 2^8 = 256 x 256 x 256 = 16,777,216
High-speed LCD monitors typically reduce the number of bits for each color to 6 instead of the standard 8. This 6-bit color will generate far fewer colors than 8-bit as we see when we do the math:

2^6 x 2^6 x 2^6 = 64 x 64 x 64 = 262,144
This is far fewer than the true color display such that it would be noticeable to the human eye. To get around this problem, the manufacturers employ a technique referred to as dithering. This is an effect where nearby pixels use slightly varying shades or color that trick the human eye into perceiving the desired color even though it isn't truly that color. A color newspaper photo is a good way to see this effect in practice. (In print the effect is called half-tones.) By using this technique, the manufacturers claim to achieve a color depth close to that of the true color displays.

How to Tell if an LCD is 8-Bit or 6-Bit

This is the biggest problem for individuals who are looking at purchasing an LCD monitor. Most manufacturers do not list the color depth of their display. Even fewer will list the actual per-color depth. If the manufacturer lists the color as 16.7 million colors, it should be assumed that the display is 8-bit per-color. If the colors are listed as being 16.2 million or 16 million, consumers should assume that it uses a 6-bit per-color depth. If no color depths is listed, it should be assumed that monitors of 12ms or faster will be 6-bit and the 20ms and slower panels are 8-bit.

Does it Really Matter?

This is very subjective to the actual user and what the computer is used for. The amount of color really matters to those that do professional work on graphics. For these people, the amount of color that is displayed on the screen is very important. The average consumer is not going to really need this level of color representation by their monitor. As a result, it probably doesn't matter. People using their displays for video games or watching video will likely not care about the number of colors rendered by the LCD but by the speed at which it can be displayed. As a result, it is best to determine your needs and base your purchase on those criteria.
 
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