Monitor recommendations?

[jagdpanther]

Im toying with the idea of buying a new monitor as mine is cack, old and slowly killing itself.

Now I do a lot of photography and obviously need a monitor that can give me sharp, accurate detail when processing pics, but I dont want to be bent over on a price.

Im looking for 19"+ possibly widescreen depending on the details and price, but what kind of inner details should I be looking for?

What kind of max resolution and refresh rate?????

Any help would be appreciated

[KJR]

jagdpanther said:

What kind of max resolution and refresh rate?????

For resolution you need to check what the video card in your PC is capable of first.

KJR

[jagdpanther]

Forgive me for being a bit thick, but how do you do that?

[miles_stylus]

iiyama are pretty good

[fullbeem]

Deal on Asus 19" monitors today at Aria £90 exc VAT

[agent006]

We've got a load of HP 1945 monitors in at work recently. They are really good. 19" non widescreen but still very nice. 1280x1024.

[LordGrover]

Widescreen is the only way to go these days - that's probably why 17" & 19" panels are so cheap today. I'd recommend one that rotates too, as above though, make sure your graphics card/driver supports this function.

[Mattt]

I wanted a 17", but then noticed I could get a 19" for not much more, then noticed 20" widescreens weren't that much more.

I ended up with a Samsung 206BW, I can recommend it. I know several PHers have it and the bigger brother, the 226BW.

[njsolutionsuk]

These are particularly nice...

http://direct.tesco.com/q/R.200-1554.aspx

Nice glossy screen too.

[ginettag27]

jagdpanther said:

Forgive me for being a bit thick, but how do you do that?

What graphics card have you got?

Make, model/number...

+ How old is the PC itself?

[TonyToniTone]

If its a TFT you want to look for decent response times and Contrast ratio.

Find one you are interested in a check the reviews,

I have a dell 2405FPW and its pretty good, also use the smaller Dells at work..

Also helps if you have a decent graphics card.

[jagdpanther]

ginettag27 said:

jagdpanther said:

Forgive me for being a bit thick, but how do you do that?

What graphics card have you got?

Make, model/number...

+ How old is the PC itself?

Erm, less than a year old

Running AMD Dualcore 5200 processor

1gb SataII memory

I think I have an Asus motherboard with 256mb onboard gfx, but cannae be sure

[xiphias]

Most importantly, whats the budget?

[jimmyjimjim]

njsolutionsuk said:

These are particularly nice...

http://direct.tesco.com/q/R.200-1554.aspx

Nice glossy screen too.

These are nicer...

http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/products/Monito...

[jagdpanther]

xiphias said:

Most importantly, whats the budget?

I will be aiming for about £90-150

[xiphias]

Is colour reproduction essential? That tends to affect the price somewhat...

[jagdpanther]

xiphias said:

Is colour reproduction essential? That tends to affect the price somewhat...

I do a shedload of photography so take what you need from that I suppose

[TonyToniTone]

jimmyjimjim said:

These are nicer...

http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/products/Monito...

Very nice, needs dual DVI to drive it..

[KJR]

jagdpanther said:

Forgive me for being a bit thick, but how do you do that?

Assuming you are running Windows XP/Vista...

Go to START - usually bottom left.

Select Control Panel - usually right column.

In the Control Panel window which pops up find "System" and double click to open.

Select the "Hardware" tab.

Select "Device Manager".

Double click the "Display Adaptors" option from the list.

This should show the name of the display adaptor fitted.

KJR

[cyberface]

jagdpanther said:

xiphias said:

Is colour reproduction essential? That tends to affect the price somewhat...

I do a shedload of photography so take what you need from that I suppose

Then forget the 'glossy' screen types hyped up by various manufacturers and look for quality, not quantity.

Unfortunately getting photog-standard colour range, ease of calibration, high resolution *and* zero dead pixels costs quite a lot of money. Hardly any manufacturers will guarantee zero dead pixels (especially on a big screen) but the better brands tend to use the top-end 'bins' (like CPUs, LCD display panels are graded, and the same panel with a few dead/stuck pixels will be sold for less than a perfect one).

For example, Apple use the same 30" panel as Dell (as in the same manufacturer and model, I think it's Samsung, but not sure so don't quote me), and the Dell is cheaper. However I rarely hear of Apple HD display users complaining of duff pixels. My two are both perfect.

Apple's screens are pricey though, Eizo's top end panels are arguably better, so I'd consider them... also NEC do proper calibrated screens. LaCie have a dedicated photographer's range of individually factory-calibrated screens, and also sell a hardware calibration device.

If you're doing photography seriously, then a good screen is vital... I'd be looking for colour space reproduction well before considering widescreen or not (which is irrelevant for anything but widescreen video).