Forums > Photography Talk > CRT vs LCD?

Photographer

StephenEastwood

Posts: 19585

Great Neck, New York, US

This is from the Post ask your questions here.
https://www.modelmayhem.com/p.php?thread_id=252362

This is an open thread for all to voice answers in  the locked thread is listed



ok question:

I still use a CRT monitor.  And I still think they are the best.  But I am often wrong, so says my wife.  Are there good LCD monitors out there?  Not acceptable, I mean good.  I have gone through the $5,000. true RGB LCD route and have returned to the CRT screens.
I understand the business you are in vs the business I am in, and one is not the same as the other.You are churning out work for publication, where I am churning out work for galleries.  I need the best representation of what my work will look like when it spits out of the printer.  So far, CRT screens have shown me the best of the best, but DAMN they are getting harder to find.



To date the CRT is still king, I still have several new sony artisans, but sadly they have all been sitting in storage, and the one that is in use is not actually in use any longer, but at least out of the box in case I needed to plug it in.  That said almost all are no longer produced and soon will be nearly impossible if not impossible to find.  The best LCD screen available at the moment is an eizo in both Adobe and Srgb, but that is not by a large margin, and even the tiny margin is most likely not noticiable, and this is changing near immediately with new panels that have a greater bit depth.  The Eizo are interpolated up from 8 bit where as the new screens are 10, and 12bit.  I will research more on this to find out who has them currently available or who is soon to come to market and hopefully by that time many others with this information  (AND NOT HOPE, DREAMS AND WISHES THAT HAVE NO BASIS IN ANYTHING)   will come in and add to this discussion.

Short of the eizo I currently like lacie, and some of the NEC/Samsung panels available on the market currently.

Overall The MOST IMPORTANT ASPECT OF THIS SYSTEM IS A PROPER CALIBRATION OF MONITOR AND PRINTER !!

Without that the whole issue is moot.  So a good monitor calibration and a good printer calibration is key.  I like eye one Photo and also X rite  systems but that is also another preference open for debate.


Stephen Eastwood
http://www.StephenEastwood.com

Feb 20 08 12:00 am Link

Photographer

JM Dean

Posts: 8931

Cary, North Carolina, US

Still on a CRT myself for editing. Thanks Stephen, I was looking into buying a LCD but have not found one I like yet. Good discussion.

Feb 20 08 12:07 am Link

Photographer

StephenEastwood

Posts: 19585

Great Neck, New York, US

JM Dean wrote:
Still on a CRT myself for editing. Thanks Stephen, I was looking into buying a LCD but have not found one I like yet. Good discussion.

For the money I woudl say the eizo is not worth the price over the lacie or even the high end NEC/Samsung panels today.  I have used and do not like apple panels, dell has some that are OK some that are not, overall I find them higher in price than the samsung for no improvement really.  But so far thats my experience, this changes so fast its hard to say since I do not look more than once every 6 months or so.  wink


Stephen Eastwood
http://www.StephenEastwood.com

Feb 20 08 12:19 am Link

Photographer

Bil Brown

Posts: 2170

Los Angeles, California, US

I still prefer a CRT. However, a good 30" Apple studio monitor (or two) would rock.

Not sure why Apple calibration doesn't work for you when it can work fine for, say, 70% of the industry at the high end... including advertising and gallery work.

Your work doesn't seem THAT precise. I think you are just talking about preference. Which is cool... again, I prefer the yellow-warmth of a CRT to the cold blue-green precision of most LCDs.

Feb 20 08 12:36 am Link

Photographer

Kevin Connery

Posts: 17824

El Segundo, California, US

StephenEastwood wrote:
But so far thats my experience, this changes so fast its hard to say since I do not look more than once every 6 months or so.

If not faster...

Something to mention is that there's only a handful of panel manufacturers who make the raw TFT panels for many different companies. And the technology used has a big impact as well--and is virtually never mentioned by the vendors.

TN film displays are all (currently) 6-bit/channel devices. They're fast, and great for games, general presentation, and the like, but don't have a full 8-bits (or more) of output; they use dithering to give the impression of 8-bit/channel. These are NOT recommended for photographic use.

Theoretically, of the current technologies, S-IPS is the best, but IPS, PVA, MVA, and S-PVA can equal the results in the Real World. All of those are currently 8-bits/channel at the panel level.

EDIT: Correction. Almost all are 8-bit. Some few PVA panels are 6-bit. sad

Be aware that the same model of a display may change panel manufacturers without changing the model number. (Dell has done this in the past.) With that caveat, you can get a fairly current listing of what technology is used for a given display using the  tftcentral panel search.

Beyond the panel limitations, there's also the way information is fed to the panel. Some units are now touting 10-bit and 12-bit DACs, for example. That doesn't make the panel show any more data; it simply lets the data be tweaked/tuned before it's sent on to the panel itself.

Feb 20 08 02:21 am Link

Photographer

Mark Susan

Posts: 95

Phoenix, Arizona, US

Kevin Connery wrote:
...what Kevin said...

That was a very, very informative response.  Thank you so much for your time to post it.  A good answer to a good question.

-Mark

Feb 20 08 02:26 am Link

Photographer

StephenEastwood

Posts: 19585

Great Neck, New York, US

Kevin Connery wrote:

If not faster...

Something to mention is that there's only a handful of panel manufacturers who make the raw TFT panels for many different companies. And the technology used has a big impact as well--and is virtually never mentioned by the vendors.

TN film displays are all (currently) 6-bit/channel devices. They're fast, and great for games, general presentation, and the like, but don't have a full 8-bits (or more) of output; they use dithering to give the impression of 8-bit/channel. These are NOT recommended for photographic use.

Theoretically, of the current technologies, S-IPS is the best, but IPS, PVA, MVA, and S-PVA can equal the results in the Real World. All of those are currently 8-bits/channel at the panel level.

Be aware that the same model of a display may change panel manufacturers without changing the model number. (Dell has done this in the past.) With that caveat, you can get a fairly current listing of what technology is used for a given display using the  tftcentral panel search.

Beyond the panel limitations, there's also the way information is fed to the panel. Some units are now touting 10-bit and 12-bit DACs, for example. That doesn't make the panel show any more data; it simply lets the data be tweaked/tuned before it's sent on to the panel itself.

You rock!!!   Great info!   you know you can field some of those questions coming in you have a lock unlock button thingy if needed  wink 

big_smile



Stephen Eastwood
http://www.StephenEastwood.com

Feb 20 08 02:27 am Link

Photographer

StephenEastwood

Posts: 19585

Great Neck, New York, US

Bil Brown wrote:
I still prefer a CRT. However, a good 30" Apple studio monitor (or two) would rock.

Not sure why Apple calibration doesn't work for you when it can work fine for, say, 70% of the industry at the high end... including advertising and gallery work.

Your work doesn't seem THAT precise. I think you are just talking about preference. Which is cool... again, I prefer the yellow-warmth of a CRT to the cold blue-green precision of most LCDs.

No all the prepress and retouchers I deal with in NY, LA, Italy, France and China houses have left the apple displays for others, many went Eizo, many Lacie, and various others India still has many apple cinema displays, but while I am not a Mac fanatic I used to use their screens and switched when many showed me shadow limitations and gradation issues on fast falloff in skintones transitions in quarter tones.    So for the money spent on one I find many options available that are preferable.

Oh and we do in house color separations, as well as a catalog division in a studio I own and while I no longer do the still life (easier to hire others since I prefer to be lazy and if I get up I shoot people)  So we have some extremely particular color clients that need precise color matching.  Me?  I do what I want that sells and makes a lot of money for the client so they can afford to pay me  hmm


Stephen Eastwood
http://www.StephenEastwood.com

Feb 20 08 02:31 am Link

Photographer

M Pandolfo Photography

Posts: 12117

Tampa, Florida, US

This is taken from another forum and I found it extremely helpful in making a monitor decision. I apologize to the person who provided the info because I had cut & pasted it into a Word doc.

Here's a list of LCD monitors and their respective OEM panels used:

Just a quick note:  TN film is junk for color (great for speed), do NOT buy "TN" type LCDs for your color critical use.

Model/Panel Index
* = identical Samsung panel

Dell
Dell 1905FP - 19" Samsung PVA (LTM190E4-L02) or AU Optronics P-MVA (M190EN03 V0)  ** Note, you are lucky if you have the Samsung panel **
Dell 1907FP - 19" TN Film
Dell 2001FP - 20" LG.Philips S-IPS (LM201U04)
Dell 2005FPW - 20" WS LG.Philips S-IPS (LM201W01)
Dell 2007WFP - 20" WS LG.Philips S-IPS (LM201W01)
Dell 2007FP - 20" LG.Philips S-IPS (LM201U04)
Dell 2405FPW - 24" WS Samsung PVA (LTM240M1-L01)
Dell 2407WFP - 24" WS Samsung S-PVA (LM201W01)
Dell 3007WFP - 30" WS LG.Philips S-IPS (LM300W01)

Gateway
Gateway FPD2185W - 21" WS Samsung S-PVA (LTM210M2)*

HP
HP F2105 - 21" WS Samsung S-PVA (LTM210M2)*

NEC
NEC LCD20WGX2 - 20" LG.Philips AS-IPS (LM201W01)

Sceptre X20G Naga II 16ms 20" P-MVA
Sceptre X20G Naga II - 20" WS P-MVA

Samsung
Samsung 930B - 19" Samsung TN Film
Samsung 940B - 19" Samsung TN Film
Samsung 940T - 19" Samsung PVA (LTM190E4)
Samsung 940MW - 19"WS Samsung TN Film (LTM190M2)
Samsung 204B - 20" Samsung TN Film (LTM201UX)
Samsung 215TW - 21" WS Samsung S-PVA (LTM210M2)*
Samsung 244T - 24" WS Samsung S-PVA (LTM240M2)

ViewSonic
ViewSonic VA1912W - 19" WS Chi Mei Optoelectronics TN Film (M190A1)
ViewSonic VP912B - 19" AU Optronics TN Film (M190EN04 V1)
Viewsonic VX922 - 19" AU Optronics TN Film (M190EN04)
Viewsonic VX924 - 19" AU Optronics TN Film (M190EN04 V5)
ViewSonic VP920 - 19" TN Film
ViewSonic VP930 - 19" AU Optronics P-MVA (M190EG01 V0)
ViewSonic VA1912W - 19" WS Chi Mei Optoelectronics TN Film (M190A1)
ViewSonic VA2012WB - 20" WS Chunghwa Picture Tubes TN Film
ViewSonic VX2025WM - 20" WS AU Optronics P-MVA (M201EW01 V0)

I'd love to give credit where credit is due if anyone know who had compiled this info. And, yes, TN Film won't do the job.

Feb 20 08 02:33 am Link

Photographer

Kevin Connery

Posts: 17824

El Segundo, California, US

Michael Pandolfo wrote:
This is taken from another forum and I found it extremely helpful in making a monitor decision. I apologize to the person who provided the info because I had cut & pasted it into a Word doc.

[snip]

I'd love to give credit where credit is due if anyone know who had compiled this info. And, yes, TN Film won't do the job.

Leo Lam posted that in this thread. That thread also has some useful info about panels and the A/D converters.

Stephen: if you can get Leo to write something about this, it'll help a lot; this is his area of expertise. (Well, one of them...)

Feb 20 08 02:38 am Link

Photographer

StephenEastwood

Posts: 19585

Great Neck, New York, US

Kevin Connery wrote:
Leo Lam posted that in this thread. That thread also has some useful info about panels and the A/D converters.

Have I mentioned recently, that you should be installed in the software as the official search engine,  because you rock with the thread info!  and the search really sucks!!!! 




Stephen Eastwood
http://www.StephenEastwood.com

Feb 20 08 02:44 am Link

Photographer

Amedeus

Posts: 1873

Stockton, California, US

One of the limitations of the large LCD displays is the uneven lighting with the CFL tubes as mentioned before.  Another one is the limited color gamut these CFL lamps produce.

Keep an eye open for the next generation LCD displays that are backlit with an array of RGB led's.  (not white LED's, not much better tan CFL backlight)

Advantages are a higher contrast ratio as the RGB LED"s are modulated with a low res image to aid the LCD panel in conveying a higher contrast image.

The color mixing scheme with the RGB LED's allows for a 50% wider color gamut compared to the best CFL tubes out there.

Don't expect these panels to be cheap when they come out but the prototypes I've seen (under NDA) are more than convincing. 

The real driver for this industry are the high end LCD televisions.  In that sector the modulated RGB LED backlights adds about $1200-$1600 to the cost of the set ... this will go down and is already down as we speak

Rudi A.

Feb 20 08 03:06 am Link

Photographer

Rp-photo

Posts: 42711

Houston, Texas, US

Michael Pandolfo wrote:
Samsung
Samsung 940T - 19" Samsung PVA (LTM190E4)
Samsung 215TW - 21" WS Samsung S-PVA (LTM210M2)*
Samsung 244T - 24" WS Samsung S-PVA (LTM240M2)

Prices on these non-TN models seem reasonable.

Would any of these be sufficient for photo editing?

Feb 20 08 08:46 am Link

Photographer

Jim Sharp

Posts: 360

Paxton, Illinois, US

rp_photo wrote:

Prices on these non-TN models seem reasonable.

Would any of these be sufficient for photo editing?

I can't comment directly on those exact models but... I have a Samsung 910T I use on a CAD machine. I believe it has a similar panel to what's used on the 940T. For photo editing use the answer is NO. It's NOT usable...

Feb 20 08 09:03 am Link

Photographer

Reistroffer

Posts: 1679

Sioux Falls, South Dakota, US

I use DELL CRT's for my editing. - My station has 3 of them. - They are SPOT on with colors.

Feb 20 08 09:20 am Link

Photographer

Rp-photo

Posts: 42711

Houston, Texas, US

I find LCD monitors to be more confusing and misrepresented than just about any other photographic equipment such as lenses, bodies, flashes, wireless slaves, etc.

I also sense some pickiness as to what makes an LCD "good enough".

Buying a new PC was simple by comparison.

Feb 20 08 09:48 am Link

Photographer

ride5000

Posts: 112

Lincoln, Rhode Island, US

certainly for performance per dollar CRT has it all over any thin screens... at least so far.

Feb 20 08 09:58 am Link

Photographer

byReno

Posts: 1034

Arlington Heights, Illinois, US

rp_photo wrote:
Prices on these non-TN models seem reasonable.

Would any of these be sufficient for photo editing?

Jim Sharp wrote:
I can't comment directly on those exact models but... I have a Samsung 910T I use on a CAD machine. I believe it has a similar panel to what's used on the 940T. For photo editing use the answer is NO. It's NOT usable...

Every time I read a thread on LCDs the more confused I get.  Life was so much simpler with CRTs.  I get it TN = bad.

First, I never seem to be able find the LCD type in the specifications. (thanks for the lcd search link) but where is the information listed when consumer shopping?

What specifications are required to make a panel good for photo editing?

Feb 20 08 12:00 pm Link

Photographer

WIP

Posts: 15973

Cheltenham, England, United Kingdom

Eizo LCD, perfect coverage no fall of of light. Shows 96% Adobe RGB.
You also have the benefit of running them as analogue.

Feb 20 08 12:01 pm Link

Photographer

Michael R Kihn Studios

Posts: 2559

Erie, Pennsylvania, US

Still using my laCie CRT and have no plans if going LCD unless my older monitor I'm using for my extended desktop dies. LCD are tempting just to save space though.
2 x 21" CRTs sure take up a lot of space

Feb 20 08 12:12 pm Link

Photographer

Bil Brown

Posts: 2170

Los Angeles, California, US

StephenEastwood wrote:
Oh and we do in house color separations, as well as a catalog division in a studio I own and while I no longer do the still life (easier to hire others since I prefer to be lazy and if I get up I shoot people)  So we have some extremely particular color clients that need precise color matching.  Me?  I do what I want that sells and makes a lot of money for the client so they can afford to pay me  hmm


Stephen Eastwood
http://www.StephenEastwood.com

Interesting. Well, printing is behind the rest of the industry about 10 years... so this makes sense to me.

I didn't realize that the Apple displays were so bad on the gradient eccentricities. This would make sense.

And OF COURSE you do what you want and make your clients lots of money. That is what business is all about.

Cheers,

bb

Feb 20 08 12:16 pm Link

Photographer

lll

Posts: 12295

Seattle, Washington, US

rp_photo wrote:

Prices on these non-TN models seem reasonable.

Would any of these be sufficient for photo editing?

Yes.  If calibrated.  New models are out.

If I have more time I'll post in this thread more.

Kevin, thanks for linking to the other thread, so I don't have to type again.  smile

Feb 20 08 12:30 pm Link

Photographer

Rp-photo

Posts: 42711

Houston, Texas, US

byReno wrote:

rp_photo wrote:
Prices on these non-TN models seem reasonable.

Would any of these be sufficient for photo editing?

Every time I read a thread on LCDs the more confused I get.  Life was so much simpler with CRTs.  I get it TN = bad.

First, I never seem to be able find the LCD type in the specifications. (thanks for the lcd search link) but where is the information listed when consumer shopping?

What specifications are required to make a panel good for photo editing?

LCD monitors are the most confusing type of hardware I have yet researched.

Feb 20 08 12:34 pm Link

Photographer

lll

Posts: 12295

Seattle, Washington, US

byReno wrote:
First, I never seem to be able find the LCD type in the specifications. (thanks for the lcd search link) but where is the information listed when consumer shopping?

What specifications are required to make a panel good for photo editing?

Nothing in the consumer specs will help; there is no standardized way to make those contrast and brightness measurements.  Every one sets their own standard, which means, well, nothing.

You will have to dig deeper to figure out if the LCD panels, at least, qualify for being "not-a-TN-panel".  There are other things that can change the look of an LCD panel (DSP algorithm used, dithering etc.).  These are tricks to "cheat" the eyes into believing that there are colors that the panels actually can't produce.  With static images, though, some of these tricks don't work very well.

The rest...look for test reviews with measurements (not just subjective "oh, this is good!").

But again: calibration.  Like Stephen said.  And for those who just talks about specific brands, it's meaningless.  Each brand has multiple models, and it depends on which one you are talking about exactly, there is little relevance between them.

Apple monitors...see the other thread.  According to their PM, their monitors are not susceptible to ET magnetism.  They must be cool.  *rolling on the floor*

Feb 20 08 12:38 pm Link

Photographer

lll

Posts: 12295

Seattle, Washington, US

rp_photo wrote:
LCD monitors are the most confusing type of hardware I have yet researched.

Cameras are worse.  And unfortunately there is little to be said about either one of these without talking in maths and technical terms.  The technology involved with any of these products are way over 90%+ of the consumer knowledge in science, unfortunately.

Feb 20 08 12:39 pm Link

Photographer

Rp-photo

Posts: 42711

Houston, Texas, US

lll wrote:

Cameras are worse.  And unfortunately there is little to be said about either one of these without talking in maths and technical terms.  The technology involved with any of these products are way over 90%+ of the consumer knowledge in science, unfortunately.

At least DSLR cameras are made for photographers, and not trying to appeal to a broad base as the affordable LCD monitors are.

Even worse, what's good for gamers and video viewers is bad for photographers.

Feb 20 08 12:47 pm Link

Photographer

HOPELESSDREAMERFILMS

Posts: 82

Geneva, Illinois, US

THE MOST IMPORTANT STEP NO MATTER WHAT MONITOR PRINTER COMBINATION YOU HAVE IS PROPER CALIBRATION!!!  If you print through a print house check out what settings they calibrate to, ie what gamma are they set at 2.2?  1.8?  ETC?

Calibration is just about setting your equipment to a widely used standard.  If you can match that standard as well as the other guy then what you see is what they will see.  I recommend the EIZO screens above all others.  They have technology built into the screens that makes them a step above the rest. 

For example most video cards are only capable of a certain bit depth, the EIZO has image processors inside of the screen that have for example a 12 bit look up table and 14 bit processing, this creates much smoother gradiation in images especially when using the AdobeRGB colorspace.

One of the other great features that the higher end Eizo has the CG models, CE is close, but doesn't necessarily have this feature.  It is called Digital Uniformity Equalizer....what this technology does is evenly lights the entire panel from corner to corner and center to corner, a large problem with lcds. 

http://www.eizo.com
http://www.superwarehouse.com/EIZO_LCD_ … 304/c/1876
http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/prod … lid=625158
http://www.rpimaging.com/store/CID150


here are some links to do some more research. 


just my .02

Feb 20 08 03:10 pm Link

Photographer

Jim Sharp

Posts: 360

Paxton, Illinois, US

Michael Pandolfo wrote:
This is taken from another forum and I found it extremely helpful in making a monitor decision. I apologize to the person who provided the info because I had cut & pasted it into a Word doc.

Here's a list of LCD monitors and their respective OEM panels used:

Just a quick note:  TN film is junk for color (great for speed), do NOT buy "TN" type LCDs for your color critical use.

Model/Panel Index
* = identical Samsung panel

Dell
Dell 1905FP - 19" Samsung PVA (LTM190E4-L02) or AU Optronics P-MVA (M190EN03 V0)  ** Note, you are lucky if you have the Samsung panel **
Dell 1907FP - 19" TN Film
Dell 2001FP - 20" LG.Philips S-IPS (LM201U04)
Dell 2005FPW - 20" WS LG.Philips S-IPS (LM201W01)
Dell 2007WFP - 20" WS LG.Philips S-IPS (LM201W01)
Dell 2007FP - 20" LG.Philips S-IPS (LM201U04)
Dell 2405FPW - 24" WS Samsung PVA (LTM240M1-L01)
Dell 2407WFP - 24" WS Samsung S-PVA (LM201W01)
Dell 3007WFP - 30" WS LG.Philips S-IPS (LM300W01)

Gateway
Gateway FPD2185W - 21" WS Samsung S-PVA (LTM210M2)*

HP
HP F2105 - 21" WS Samsung S-PVA (LTM210M2)*

NEC
NEC LCD20WGX2 - 20" LG.Philips AS-IPS (LM201W01)

Sceptre X20G Naga II 16ms 20" P-MVA
Sceptre X20G Naga II - 20" WS P-MVA

Samsung
Samsung 930B - 19" Samsung TN Film
Samsung 940B - 19" Samsung TN Film
Samsung 940T - 19" Samsung PVA (LTM190E4)
Samsung 940MW - 19"WS Samsung TN Film (LTM190M2)
Samsung 204B - 20" Samsung TN Film (LTM201UX)
Samsung 215TW - 21" WS Samsung S-PVA (LTM210M2)*
Samsung 244T - 24" WS Samsung S-PVA (LTM240M2)

ViewSonic
ViewSonic VA1912W - 19" WS Chi Mei Optoelectronics TN Film (M190A1)
ViewSonic VP912B - 19" AU Optronics TN Film (M190EN04 V1)
Viewsonic VX922 - 19" AU Optronics TN Film (M190EN04)
Viewsonic VX924 - 19" AU Optronics TN Film (M190EN04 V5)
ViewSonic VP920 - 19" TN Film
ViewSonic VP930 - 19" AU Optronics P-MVA (M190EG01 V0)
ViewSonic VA1912W - 19" WS Chi Mei Optoelectronics TN Film (M190A1)
ViewSonic VA2012WB - 20" WS Chunghwa Picture Tubes TN Film
ViewSonic VX2025WM - 20" WS AU Optronics P-MVA (M201EW01 V0)

I'd love to give credit where credit is due if anyone know who had compiled this info. And, yes, TN Film won't do the job.

To add to this list, here's what I got from Nec today. It's just their lower end monitors, but it should be current and accurate.

TN Panels
1970VX-BK
1970VX-BK-2
2070VX-BK
2070VX-BK-2

VA Panels
1970NX-BK-2
2170NX-BK
2170NX-BK-2

IPS Panels
1970NX-BK
2070NX-BK
2070NX-BK-2

Talk about no joy to research. It only took about 5 calls and 10 emails. I did tell everyone I talked to that to make it easier and better for photographers, they should start once again making high quality glass tubes... big_smile

Feb 21 08 04:50 pm Link

Photographer

Stephen T Photography

Posts: 1120

Santa Barbara, California, US

Unfortunately I find myself doing my post work on my LCD monitor, however, Chris Broughton the biggest color nerd I know does ALL his work on CRT monitors for the reasons mentioned above. He said he has yet to see a system with a true black, and they are too bright etc. He said that upper end Eizo monitors and the like have come closer and closer, but still nothing beats the CRT monitors. So I guess LCD still has a ways to go, and yet cost so much more.

- Stephen

Oct 28 08 03:15 pm Link

Photographer

StephenEastwood

Posts: 19585

Great Neck, New York, US

Stephen T Photography wrote:
Unfortunately I find myself doing my post work on my LCD monitor, however, Chris Broughton the biggest color nerd I know does ALL his work on CRT monitors for the reasons mentioned above. He said he has yet to see a system with a true black, and they are too bright etc. He said that upper end Eizo monitors and the like have come closer and closer, but still nothing beats the CRT monitors. So I guess LCD still has a ways to go, and yet cost so much more.

- Stephen

can you point out a source of a few good crt's?

I know I cannot....

-- Stephen Eastwood --
http://www.PhotographersPortfolio.com

Oct 28 08 06:32 pm Link

Photographer

MisterC

Posts: 15162

Portland, Oregon, US

My CRT is spot on. It's adjusted almost perfectly to what the print looks like.
But for the life of me, I cannot get the edits right if I use my LCD screen. I like it for everything except editing photo's.

Oct 28 08 06:38 pm Link

Photographer

Herman van Gestel

Posts: 2266

Amsterdam, Noord-Holland, Netherlands

Still use a LacIE Blue IV CRT, and one more for spare....just to stay as long as possible on CRT!

Herman

Oct 28 08 07:14 pm Link

Photographer

B R U N E S C I

Posts: 25319

Bath, England, United Kingdom

StephenEastwood wrote:
can you point out a source of a few good crt's?

eBay - lol big_smile

I'm still using a 19" Dell CRT I bought for £120 a couple of years ago....

Just my $0.02

Ciao
Stefano

Oct 28 08 08:52 pm Link

Photographer

Gil Riego Photography

Posts: 130

Los Angeles, California, US

I've been using LCD and CRTs for about an equal amount of time.

In the end, it doesn't matter.

What matters IS the calibration between monitor, printer and most importantly the paper you use.

I've had hassels with LCD's trying to display the tonal range that I envisioned in my head. The fallout sucks.

CRTs have always been way too dark and had way too much contrast for my flavor.

Eventually I had an associate come in and calibrate both of them to my printers. And I also have paper specific profiles depending on what I'm printing (Usually illford smooth pearl, or fine art paper)

Paper profiles make an amazing difference once you get your screens working.

Oct 28 08 09:11 pm Link

Photographer

Bay Photo

Posts: 734

Marseille, Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur, France

the reality is that most people do not need to be as accurate as the high end systems offer and even with those systems, it takes an experienced eye and artist to go by the numbers in critical color adjustments or conversions.
the barco monitor used to be the king, but now they do not make them anymore.

unless you are doing prepress for some serious high res printing and demand super accurate color., you can get very close for pretty inexpensive.

all this being said, it still takes a person to translate all your efforts to make the press output what you want it to, so there is another art. unless how many people are really able to go to the printer for press checks?

it's definitely an art getting great cmyk from rgb. i leave that to the people who do it best.

for me...delivering to editorial and advertising clients, they have their own people who take care of it all.  you can deliver what you think is best, but then you need to know the workflow after you hand it off.  i very rarely will deliver cmyk files. i just do not know enough about the nuances and finesse involved to make it great.

Oct 28 08 09:23 pm Link

Photographer

Michael R Kihn Studios

Posts: 2559

Erie, Pennsylvania, US

Herman van Gestel wrote:
Still use a LacIE Blue IV CRT, and one more for spare....just to stay as long as possible on CRT!

Herman

I'm still using mine too and have no problem with it.
Yes it tempting to go LCD but with things slowing way down for me I
can't see spending the $$

Oct 29 08 01:41 am Link

Photographer

B R E E D L O V E

Posts: 8022

Forks, Washington, US

Does anyone know of a particular model number for a LCD that is around $500 or less that would meet our standards for photo work?

Jan 23 09 11:36 am Link

Photographer

lll

Posts: 12295

Seattle, Washington, US

Samsung 245T
Lenovo L220x
Dell 2007FP
HP LP2275w - may have some glitches, but the panel is good.

Jan 23 09 11:42 am Link

Photographer

B R E E D L O V E

Posts: 8022

Forks, Washington, US

Thanks Leo I tried to bu the last Lenevo you recommended but they were not selling them anymore.

Jan 23 09 11:58 am Link

Photographer

Isaiah Brink

Posts: 2328

Charlotte, North Carolina, US

System calibration is definately the one thing that does make the biggest difference.  I know exactly what you're talking about when it comes to CRT's representing the colors more accurately than an LCD, but unfortunately, I have had to go with an LCD due to the point you brought up that CRT's are so hard to find, and I don't buy things online, just my personal decision.

Jan 23 09 12:17 pm Link