Monitor Thoughts

The new PC is complete and running Windows 8. I would like to use the HDMI output from the video card. I was larking around with the lounge telly and the difference between VGA and HDMI was amazing. Obviously not suitable because at a decent resolution the operating bits are off screen. Plus interfering with family viewing might not go down too well. Any thoughts and advice would be welcome. I don`t want anything larger than 23."

I've a LG 23"HD screen that I have calibrated with a Spyder 2. Cheap brand at lowish price that came with the PC but I am very pleased. Colour calibration can make a big differnce

Asus monitors are my personal favourite. You can pick up the IPS screen PB238Q at Amazon for under £200. Or if you are pushing the boat out. The Asus PA248Q. Individually factory calibrated. So no need for a spyder 3 £400.

Just a point. No one in there right mind should use a vga cable to connect their monitor up, for photo editing. The quality they deliver is so poor compared to Dvi Dsub or hdmi.

We use Dell IPS monitors, priced at a similar level to stub's Asus.

IPS is the way to go, whichever make you choose.

I have an ancient monitor with only a vga hook up. It`s how it was 10 years ago. So now it`s all new territory. What is IPS? I didn`t realise the difference until, as I said I was larking around with the telly. It`s that old story I suppose. If you are happy with what you have you often don`t realise what else is out there. It wasn`t till I posted about PC needs that I realised 4Gb of RAM was old hat!!!!

I think we are generally advised 'for critical work' to re-profile displays every few weeks to compensate for drift in performance so I wonder if initial factory calibration is truly a substitute for having a colorimeter. That said I'm obviously not quite so critical myself as I find recalibrating my own relatively humble device annually quite sufficient.

And the devices aren't so expensive - the ColourHug is just £60 and does a fine job by all accounts (I don't have one myself to confirm that as I'd already purchased a Huey before the Hug came out).

Just went through a similar selection I went for the Dell route at a knats do-da over £200 it was 24" admittedly but got the extra pixels at 1920x1200, and the 23" Dell for £170. There are loads of IPS panels on Amazon from the £130 region for a LG and having had LG previously have no qualms with them, in the end there are plenty to chose depending on the budget.

IPS (In Plane Switching) panels are generally considered the best overall LCD technology for image quality, color accuracy and viewing angles. They are well suited for graphics design and other applications which require accurate and consistent color reproduction. IPS panels offer the best viewing angles of any current LCD technology, with wide viewing angles up to 178 degress.

I still use two VGA connected calibrated 19" CRT NEC FE2111SB monitors. I've edited many thousands of images on them and never once have I viewed those images on digitally connected flat screen monitors and saw any reason why my editing would be improved if I changed to digitally connected flat screen monitors. As long as these CRTs continue to work I'll use them.

A crt monitor is a different animal to a Led monitor. The op was looking at purchasing a new monitor. He would have great difficulty in this day and age finding a 23" crt monitor. Plus a desk big enough to house it.

CRT monitors are matched in terms of quality by the IPS type screens. Other types of screen I find too harsh.

However, be aware that a CRT will, over time, defocus and lose its acuity. Be prepared to be astonished at how far they do degrade after a few years and how much more definition can be seen with a new good quality flat screen.

Our Siemens moniotrs were excellent, but blurred compared to the new Dells. You can't compare unless it's a direct replacement or you see them side by side.

Not to disagree with the general advice on getting some form of digitally connected IPS monitor but I should perhaps point out that output on a TV can be sorted - in fact that's the setup I'm using to type this. What I do is run the PC in two screen mode with screen 1 attached to the VGA (which is low res but always works) and the second o/s screen connected to the TV's hdmi input (which is much higher resolution but needed quite a lot of playing with TV overscan and is therefore a bit fragile when o/s upgrades come along or video drivers are changed etc). This is a bit odd as only having one TV I can only display one screen at a time, but I can switch between them with the TV controls and use VGA for general 'puter stuff and the hdmi just for video/photography display - for which it is surprisingly good.

I did try just using hdmi and nothing else, but that was a bit painful when it broke and I was left with just 1/3 of a screen accessible and not able to get to the controls, so I don't do it like that any more

I ended up with an AOC 23" IPS screen. Only just hooked it up tonight and straight out of the box with HDMI input the difference is quite stunning. I will have a session with setup over the weekend I hope to have a Photoshop session.

I have bought two AOC 23" IPS screens - they are simply brilliant for the money. I work in a software company - we have a variety of Phillips, Samsung and HP screens, all more expensive than the AOC's, but the AOC's are miles better for sharpness, contrast and colour rendition.

Regards
David

The AOC was only about £150 so stacks less than the big brand names. PC World don`t do themselves any favours as all of their screens were showing a very poor quality image. I thought that as all of them were awful and the AOC seemed to have a reasonable set of reviews it couldn`t be too bad. OK the stand and casing are pretty poor and i didn`t buy it for the sound quality either. Sounds like a wasp on speed in a thin tin can. It`s the quality of the image which is serious.