TFT display recomendations

Sadly my lovely old IIyama vision master pro 450 is starting to die.
So I will have to get something new shortly because colour rendition has become worse the past few weeks.

What I am looking for is a 19" TFT display. My budget is about Euro. 400 (about GBP 260). (+10% allowed)
My first interest went out to the Eizo S1931 but I have seen some inconsistent reviews.
I have a Eye-One display 2 which will be used to profile the screen.

I hope that someone can help me choose the right one within my budget...

My personal preference is for the AG Neovo glass fronted displays. I can also recommend the Xerox ones which are almost as good and a bit easier on the wallet.

Kim

Not sure I buy into the idea of 19" TFT's - it's a bit of a no-mans-land in terms of size since you typically stick with the 1280x1024 resolution of the 17". I have both sizes on my desk at work and I really don't find any significant advantage from the 19".

I replaced my 19" Iiyama Visionmaster CRT (can't recall the model number) with a 17" Philips TFT a few years back. The TFT won hands down in terms of ease on the eyes and picture quality. Don't forget that 19" CRTs have ~17" visible area..

Things to look out for are DVI sockets and the number of dead/stuck pixels for which you can return the TFT as each manufacturer has their own policy on this.

Robin

hmm it is getting more and more difficult to select a TFT display.
I know I have to get one with either a S-PVA or a S-IPS panel but if you read different reviews of different monitors it's allmost impossible to make a conclusion...
Another issue I am thinking about is wether or not to get a widescreen display.

I have been to a couple of stores to look at different displays but they all have them hooked up to one source so the display quality is very poor allready. Most of the stores only have mainstream models on display which emphasize on performance for gaming and video which is not really the thing you are looking for with a TFT which is going to be used for photography purposes.

So can we make some kind of a list of what displays people are using and wether or not they use a colorimeter (eye-one, spyder, etc.) and if the results are good?

I use a Philips 190CW which is a "bit-better-than-budget-but-not-exactly-high-end" 19" widescreen. I love it to be honest! All my TV's over the years have been from Philips and I like the look (just like I like the look of Pentax glass). There are undoubtably better models on the market but for £125 (February 07) I really couldn't be happier.

I wasn't going to get a widescreen initially but the 4:3 I originally wanted wasn't in stock anywhere. Now I've used the widescreen I don't think I'd ever go back - nice to have space at the side of the screen for floating toolbars, etc.

Just my $0.02

I use a HP w19e 19" wide screen and i love it. I got it for 150quid and as Hefty says the extra width is great for the floating tool bars.

Widescreens look very nice, but I don't want to lose on size in the vertical plane so I would probably need a 21" or 22" display. The downside is that just about all the 22" displays use TN panels which are terrible at colour reproduction (6 bit with dithering).
For some reason more and more manufactures are switching back to TN panels probably because they are cheaper and they have faster response times (only needed for games and video).
For colour reproduction you need a PVA or IPS panel.

The choice is getting more difficult every day... There are good TFT's out there but a price tag of 1000 to 3000 Euro's is way out of my budget. I extended my budget to 500 Euro's and even then it is difficult to get a screen which has good colour reproduction.

Hmm I will see if I can get my hands on a spare IIyama Vision Master pro 450/451 and see if I can make them last for the next two years while the prices of the LED backlight TFT's will drop down (or when I start dreaming SED or Laser displays...)

A friend produces broadcast-quality video, makes DVDs etc. in a purpose-built studio. Until recently he was running CRT monitors (four of them), but now has switched to the NEC MultiSync 90GX2. The only word that I could think of when I saw them running was "Wow!" They also have the added advantage of a built-in USB hub.

Ray.

FWIW I use an LG1900R - crystal clear with good tonal range - excellent VFM

I too have an LG1900R, which I am very impressed with.

I think that photographs look sharper on it than on my Dell Ultrasharp 24" Widescreen that I use at work.

Another vote for LG. I have a Flatron L2000CE with which I am quite pleased.

G

Hi Golfdiesel

It was fascinating to read what 'Robin' had to say about comparing the 'supposed' benefits of 19" vs 17" LCD monitors......

"Not sure I buy into the idea of 19" TFT's - it's a bit of a no-mans-land in terms of size since you typically stick with the 1280x1024 resolution of the 17". I have both sizes on my desk at work and I really don't find any significant advantage from the 19".

This is precisely what concerned me when considering the larger variety. I have a 3-4 yr old laptop whose diagonal display measures just 15.7", but believe me when I say that the resolution is 'razor-sharp' as it has an amazing 1600 x 1200 dpi resolution. I don't know that I could say the same about some of the 20/22/24" monitors out there, many of which actually sacrifice a given percentage of vertical display area i.e: 1050 dpi (widescreen-aspect-ratio) vs 1200 (4:3), primarily for the ability to play 16:10 DVD's correctly, which is not something that interests me ! This is borne out by what 'golfdiesel' had to say:

"Most of the stores only have mainstream models on display which emphasize on performance for gaming and video, which is not really the thing you are looking for with a TFT which is going to be used for photography purposes"......EXACTLY !!

'Hyram's' observation also made intriguing reading:

"I think that photographs look sharper on it (19" LG1900R) than on my Dell Ultrasharp 24" Widescreen that I use at work".

Given an identical 1280 x 1024 dot-pitch resolution, I reckon the chances are that the best 17" monitor should appear sharper than the best 19" one. The same probably applies when comparing a 20" (1600 x 1200) with a 22" or 24" (1900/1600 x 1200) one ?

Others may be beg to disagree, but I'd like to hear more on the subject from those who have purchased larger LCD monitors ?

Best regards
Richard

I have finally ordered a TFT...
In the end it was between the NEC LCD1990SXi (19" S-IPS panel, 1280x1024) and the NEC 20WGX²Pro (20" widescreen S-IPS panel, 1680x1050).

My final choice was made based on excellent reviews on http://prad.de

I went for the widescreen model. The only thing is that it is a glare panel, but since we have a 7 day cooling-off period here in the Netherlands I can return it withing those 7 days for a refund or replacement. The colour uniformity of the widescreen and the brightness uniformity were better then that of the 1990SXi which has a 12 bit lut which supposedly gives better results.

Images will probably look a little sharper on the widescreen panel because the pixelsize is a little smaller. When I measure the visible size of my IIyama CRT then the 20" TFT will have the same visible height and a much larger width.

I will post another message here when I have received the screen.

I've not been looking forward to having to go TFT so this thread is very useful. The day will come....

I have exactly the same feeling, but my CRT is showing it's age and the image in the top 4 cm of the screen is getting fuzzier by the week. It is now about 8 years old. I was hoping for it to keep working until the LED backlight TFT's or the newer technologies to become affordable. Until then I hope that my new TFT will last...