Photography Equipment Revue, LCD Monitors, 1, f8 Pro Photo

So maybe it’s time to upgrade which involves decisions not just about the cost but more importantly the specification. Fortunately choosing a new monitor is not too difficult as there are not too many to choose from at the top end of the spec scale.

    The old argument of Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) v Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) is no longer valid as the technology in LCD’s has now solved all it’s earlier problems to the point where CRT’s are no longer made and the price of LCD’s has dropped drastically. They also take up less space, use less power and really do look more elegant so, how to choose?

   First, think big! Seeing your work on a large screen monitor is like going to the Cinema after watching TV. With a few editing palettes open you’ll still retain a large image to work on, furthermore you can work the screen from a greater distance-easier on the eyes. Try to get the largest screen your budget will allow. Minimum industry standard being 21 inch, 24 inch better.

The main criteria in tech spec are:-
Image Resolution: Measured in pixels. Width & Height. More is better
Brightness: Measured as Candela per square metre ( CDM). More is better
Contrast: Measured as a Ratio. Higher is better.
Dot Pitch: Measured as the size of the LCD pixel. Smaller is better
Colour Gamut: Measured as total amount of colours. More are better
                      16.7 million colours and 100% Adobe RGB coverage is ideal
Response time: Measured in Millisecond. Fewer are better
Viewing Angle: Measured in Degrees of view-ability. Greater is better
Connectivity: Ensure the monitor receives all the info from the computer, DVI & DVID current standard.

   The actual numbers would be meaningless without a comparison so lets first look at the spec of the Samsung SM940 T. a typical 15” LCD monitor, currently in the high street for less than £150, the type bundled into a home computer package.

    It has a Resolution of      1280x1024 pixels
                Brightness         250 cd/m2
                Contrast ratio     1000:1
                Dot Pitch            0.294mm.
                Colour Gamut     16.7 million colours
                Response time    20 ms
                Viewing angle     178 degrees
                Connectivity       Analogue RGB/DVI Digital Link

Perfectly adequate for the home computer, the kind we’re all familiar with, the kind we can make a comparison with, but not a professionals choice. One obvious requirement of a larger screen is more pixels. If the image on the Samsung above consists of 1,310,720 pixels (1280x1024), you may think that enlarging the screen to 25.5 inch still has 1,310,720 larger so poor quality pixels-not so. Perhaps a more informative measure would be Pixels per Square Inch (or cm) but, and I don’t know why, manufacturers do not specify this so I made some quick calc’s.

                          Resolution                 Pixels              Image Size      Sq. Ins”         ppsi
                   15” 1280x1024          = 1,310,720           =12.0x9.0          =108          = 7303
                   21” 1600x1200          = 1,920,000           =16.7x12.7        =212         = 9056
                   22” 1680x1050 WS    = 1,764,000           =18,6x11,6        =216         = 8166
                   23” 1920x1200          = 2,304,000           =18.8x11.8        =222         =10378
                   30” 2560x1600 WS    = 4,096,000           = 25.4x15.9       =404         =10138

This is the La Cie 526. 25.5 inch.
LCD monitor with 2,304,000 pixels

Resolution           1920x1200
Brightness           400cd/m2
Contrast Ratio      800:1
Dot Pitch             0.287
Colour Gamut      16.7 m colours
                           95% Adobe RGB
Response            16 ms
View Angle          178 deg.
Conn.                  VGA/DV1-1/DV1-D
Price                   About £ 1600