monitor recommendations for digital painting?

[RockinAkin]

Just as long as it isn't a TN panel... you should be ok.
Aim for an IPS panel if you want the best color representation.

Info about LCD Panel Types: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TFT_LCD#Types
Search Monitors/Panel Types: http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/

[romolus]

I've also been looking for reviews of TFTs lately and I found that the guys from PRAD (http://www.prad.de/en/index.html) do some pretty in-depth ones concerning color space and calibration.

[robcat2075]

If you're really into painting, I'd think a cintiq would be on the must-consider list.

I suspect good used ones are going to be getting plentiful on ebay as the economy tanks.

[walrus]

Well, if I had money coming out of my ears, sure! But the smallest Cintiq is twice as much as an average 24 inch monitor, and the 20" Cintiq is four times as much! I think I'll stick with an "old fashioned" monitor for now, thanks! :)

RockinAkin, thanks for the advice about panel types.

Anyone else have any specific brand or monitor model recommendations?

[azozel]

Get a Mac monitor and get a mac to go with it. You wont regret it.
Ive got the 24 inch Imac That I bought as a refurb from the apple store. I use it for all my matte paintings and it works great I payed 1300 for it. worth every penny.

[ralphmanning]

I'm a big fan of Samsung monitors. I know they used to, and I assume the still do, have a 0 dead (or hot) pixel policy, so treat a screen with any defective pixels as faulty. Which isn't the case with some brands attitude of "tough luck, dead pixels happen".

I have a Samsung 22inch 226BW and am very pleased with it. Great spec. In the future, when I have the money I'll buy a 30" Samsung in the same or similar range and use this as a secondary, spanning the desktop.

You a PC or Mac guy Michael?

[walrus]

I love Macs but my years in game development have forced me over to the PC side. (and let's drop that line of conversation - I'm not here to argue platforms.) I looked at the Samsungs in the store and just wasn't all that impressed with them, despite decent reviews. In the end I went with the 24" Dell UltraSharp 2408WFP, which was very highly rated, arrived with no dead pixels, and seems to be working quite well for me.

[ralphmanning]

haha yeah good idea to drop it - considering how easy it is for one of those debates to start. I was just curious of what you personally used, so thanks.

I looked at some dells before I got mine, but that was a while ago now.

One thing I find odd about my monitor is has no adjustable height and it's low as it is. So I raise it to the right height with a stack of books. Very hi-tech heh well it does the job.

Glad you're happy with the dell. Was the price was similar to Samsungs of the same size?

[bentllama]

WACOM CINTIQ 21UX

best. purchase. evar.

[walrus]

Well, like I said, if money were no object... :rolleyes:

I think the Dell runs for a bit more than the Samsung - not a lot - but Dell was having a special on their site for 25% off plus free shipping so I got it for $570 total, which was a pretty good deal! (For price-shopping comparison, the Cintiq 21UX runs about $2000 before tax and shipping... but I'm glad you like yours, Llama!)

[ralphmanning]

25% off! Yeah nice deal.

haha it will be a while before I could afford a Cintiq. :hmm:

[Cyberone]

i run duel samsungs....no complaints from me :)

[Lone Deranger]

If you care about colour accuracy, deep reliable blacks and viewing angle consistancy, you'll need to spend some money and look at something like the HP DreamColor LP2480zx (http://www.hp.com/united-states/campaigns/showroom/alt/dreamcolorlp2480zx.html).
We have a bunch of them here and they are the best LCD's bar none. Anything less is a compromise. But yeah.... $$$$. :sad:

edit: whoops... just read your last post.. you already bought one :D

[walrus]

It's okay to keep the conversation going: It doesn't have to be all about my purchase, maybe someone else will find this useful at some point.

Anyhow, at that price, I would hope those HP DreamColors are the best! I do care about those things... but apparently not as much as Weta. Go figure! :)

[ThE_JacO]

It's okay to keep the conversation going: It doesn't have to be all about my purchase, maybe someone else will find this useful at some point.

Anyhow, at that price, I would hope those HP DreamColors are the best! I do care about those things... but apparently not as much as Weta. Go figure! :)
It depends from the work you do really.
Film shops were shattered when Sony announced discontinuation of the old CRT WS 24", and LCD has a terrible response and lacks some controls that make colour calibration for film neigh impossible.

Some led monitors are getting there though, and while they still suck for calibration (mostly because luminance can't be controlled per gun), the dreamcolor gets pretty close to where CRTs left things... 9 years ago :)

For print work though you can easily go down a couple notches in colour calibration availability and just pick something that has good response curves, range and signal fidelity. In general that means avoiding samsung like the plague. Cintiqs also have a pretty ****ed up response actually.
In the low-mid price ranges LG and BenQ have decent products actually. I know the names are synonimous of cheap, low quality in most people's imaginary, but I'd suggest giving it at least a shot if you can find somewhere to test one, you might be surprised.

In the higher tier you can also have a look at eizo, but the only stuff they have that really shows something better than shopping mall consumer stuff is the color edge line, and while ok, it's nowhere as easy to calibrate as the dreamcolor (which is still highly artificial anyway, but at least sports better response), and they have an applingly bad viewing angle, which makes over the shoulder reviews a game of moving your client's head until he finds shade he likes, or giving up your chair. For the price I don't really find them such good value.

[workbench]

Just because it's IPS doesn't mean it automaticaly has better color, my Eizo Flexscan PVA has much better color reproduction than the HP L2035, every monitor these days is case to case basis. I wouldn't trust specs or panel types without reading some user opinions.

Some of the more color orientated monitors may suffer from input lag because the monitor has to do extra calculations, so if you want the best you're limited to the top of the line range, stuff like the ColorEdge.

[Sam0s]

Thanks for the reply Walrus!

I'll let the other post dry dead, your thread has a better compilation of answers.

I do like the Dell you purchased, bookmarked it after reading the specs&reviews. Whenever I do read reviews though, I usually go after the worst ones. And I have to say it seems pretty damn stable, except for one thing that worries me, I read about the red tint in the lower borders (same on yours?), also that the overall greens and reds tend to be slightly saturated even after calibration, have you had any problem with that Walrus?

As a fellow digital painter I assume you work with Painter and Photoshop as well, so you'd be my personal best reviewer :)

Thanks again for the post!

[ralphmanning]

It depends from the work you do really.
Film shops were shattered when Sony announced discontinuation of the old CRT WS 24", and LCD has a terrible response and lacks some controls that make colour calibration for film neigh impossible.

Some led monitors are getting there though, and while they still suck for calibration (mostly because luminance can't be controlled per gun), the dreamcolor gets pretty close to where CRTs left things... 9 years ago :)

For print work though you can easily go down a couple notches in colour calibration availability and just pick something that has good response curves, range and signal fidelity. In general that means avoiding samsung like the plague. Cintiqs also have a pretty ****ed up response actually.
In the low-mid price ranges LG and BenQ have decent products actually. I know the names are synonimous of cheap, low quality in most people's imaginary, but I'd suggest giving it at least a shot if you can find somewhere to test one, you might be surprised.

In the higher tier you can also have a look at eizo, but the only stuff they have that really shows something better than shopping mall consumer stuff is the color edge line, and while ok, it's nowhere as easy to calibrate as the dreamcolor (which is still highly artificial anyway, but at least sports better response), and they have an applingly bad viewing angle, which makes over the shoulder reviews a game of moving your client's head until he finds shade he likes, or giving up your chair. For the price I don't really find them such good value.
What do you reckon to the Apple Cinema displays?

[ThE_JacO]

What do you reckon to the Apple Cinema displays?
They were a big let down a few years ago when I last saw a batch tested, but haven't seen any first hand in a colour sensitive environment in at least two or three years.
Take it as a sign that they might not be very highly regarded, or just chance. Either way I'd come off rather uninformed on their latest offerings, sorry :)

[biliousfrog]

Thanks for the reply Walrus!

I'll let the other post dry dead, your thread has a better compilation of answers.

I do like the Dell you purchased, bookmarked it after reading the specs&reviews. Whenever I do read reviews though, I usually go after the worst ones. And I have to say it seems pretty damn stable, except for one thing that worries me, I read about the red tint in the lower borders (same on yours?), also that the overall greens and reds tend to be slightly saturated even after calibration, have you had any problem with that Walrus?

As a fellow digital painter I assume you work with Painter and Photoshop as well, so you'd be my personal best reviewer :)

Thanks again for the post!

I also have that monitor and have no hesitation in recomending it. The red's can be a bit overpowering to start with but it's possible to town them down a bit without compramising calibration too much. I think the issue is due to the huge gamut which makes colour's, mostly red, 'pop' much more than you'd notice on a regular monitor. I don't think that it's a problem just that you're not used to seeing things so vibrantly.

In day to day use the monitor is great, fully adjustable, USB hub, card reader and multiple, switchable connections. I've got a second dvi cable perminently attached for quickly connecting other computers when installing OS's or configuring.

[Lone Deranger]

I'm not impressed with the quality of my 30" ACD. Great screen for everything but colour reliability. It has a lot of backlight bleed... and not just in the corners. It messes with my colour perception too much.

I hear the new 24" models are quite a bit better though....

What do you reckon to the Apple Cinema displays?

[tfortier]

Imacs are TN panels and Cinema Display are glossy... probably TN too... avoid. Before the ultrasharps from Dell were really good. Now not all Ultrasharp are real 8bit panel, you have to be careful. Ive got myself a 30inches Dell 3007 and its the best big badass screen I ever had. Really its just amazing. I would choose a 8bits dell before other companies now cause I worked on them since long time in 3 post-prod companies and they are really reliable. Highly reccomended. If its 279$ with super fast speed, its obviously a 6bit TN.

edit: wouf im happy I choose Dell, I just tested my screen for any bleeding and there is absolutly zero!!! great!

[workbench]

Apple M9177 (Widescreen) has a 20 inch 16 ms S-IPS (LG.Philips LM201W01) panel.

Apple M9178 (Widescreen) has a 23 inch 16 ms S-IPS (LG.Philips LM230W02) panel.

Apple M9179 (Widescreen) has a 30 inch 16 ms S-IPS (LG.Philips LM300W01) panel.


The Cinema Display's are S-IPS.

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