I need some monitor advice... going from CRT to LCD, and feeling lost!

[InfernalDarkness]

Go cheap at first.

Cheapest 24" monitor ever (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824009215&cm_re=acer_24-_-24-009-215-_-Product)

Then you can ditch it later for a more expensive monitor. I've had GREAT experience with three of this line's monitors, only in the 22" size. They convert to print very well, and work fine for 3D, 2D, photo editing, etc.

Two of my 22" Acers live in my Homeshow booth a few weeks a year, and they get tossed around, beaten, have construction materials dropped on them, hammers hit them, etc. They hold up very well, and all three are still working identically.

[andytw]

Ideally you need a IPS panel for the best colour accuracy.
The cheapest IPS panel monitor I can find is this HP H-IPS (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824176104) which is $150 over your budget.
There is a review available here (http://www.trustedreviews.com/monitors/review/2009/03/27/HP-LP2475w---24in-H-IPS-Display/p1).

Staying within your budget I'd suggest this Samsung (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824001332) which uses a PVA panel which are generally better for colour than the TN panels used in most cheaper monitors.

There is a review of the 20" version of the Samsung here (http://www.trustedreviews.com/monitors/review/2010/01/09/Samsung-SyncMaster-F2080---20in-LCD-Monitor/p1).

[nogojoe]

Go cheap at first.

Cheapest 24" monitor ever (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824009215&cm_re=acer_24-_-24-009-215-_-Product)



Dell also has the S2409W (24inch, 16:9) for $199 right now. I got it for $184 a few days ago, so it fluctuates.

[eldanis]

Thank you so much everyone for the great advice so far! I'm really very grateful.

Right now I'm looking at the Dell 2209WA (http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/productdetail.aspx?sku=320-7825&cs=04&c=us&l=en&dgc=SS&cid=27722&lid=628335), which has an e-IPS panel, and is on the Dell website for $299. I found it via this (http://www.pchardwarehelp.com/guides/s-ips-lcd-list.php) page, which lists various IPS panels on the market now. Any thoughts on it?

The NEC EA231WMi (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002LARVYK?ie=UTF8&tag=pchahe-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B002LARVYK) also looks like a possibility, though I'm not crazy about the 16:9 aspect ratio.

[Gaso]

Ideally you need a IPS panel for the best colour accuracy.
The cheapest IPS panel monitor I can find is this HP H-IPS (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824176104) which is $150 over your budget.
NEC EA231WMi (23") should be around 350 bucks. It has an H-IPS-panel. Review here: http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/reviews/nec_ea231wmi.htm.

Price/quality-ratio seems pretty good... Both direct competitors (Dell U2410 and HP LP2475W) are a lot more expensive.

[andytw]

NEC EA231WMi (23") should be around 350 bucks. It has an H-IPS-panel. Review here: http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/reviews/nec_ea231wmi.htm.

Price/quality-ratio seems pretty good... Both direct competitors (Dell U2410 and HP LP2475W) are a lot more expensive.

Good spot although it doesn't seem to be available in the US as yet (see here (http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1436160)).

If it becomes available it's definitely worth consideration.

[Gaso]

Good spot although it doesn't seem to be available in the US as yet (see here (http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1436160)).
I think you might've read an old post, Sparco.com at least has a lot of them in stock: http://www.sparco.com/cgi-bin/wfind2?spn=A0GB598.

Last week I ordered a couple of them myself to replace old TN panels, interesting to see if there is any noticeable difference. At least I'll get rid of all the scratches and smudges my monitors have somehow gathered over the years...

[RandyCA]

I would recommend picking up cans or doing whatever else you need to do to get enough cash together to buy a good monitor.

I made the switch from a CTR to a LCD recently and found that all the TN monitors have the same problem. It is not "viewing angle" as most reviewer say (although some screens do indeed also have this problem), but it is that there is a band at the top of the screens that render the mid tones darker then they are rendered in the middle and bottom of the screen. You can most clearly see this problem by taking a portrait with good tonal distribution and making a file so that this portrait is arrayed vertically four or five high. The end result you are going for with this file is so you can compare what the portrait at the top of the screen with an identical copy of it in the middle of the screen and at the bottom of the screen. The results will be obvious. I say use a portrait because we are especially good are reading faces for minor differences. I made such a file and tested it on all my friend's monitors and they all had the same problem. I took it to a computer store and tested it on their monitors and again they all had the same problem.

It is interesting that none of my friends had noticed that problem on their screens before I did the test. But there is nothing subtle about the problem when you test in with the multiple portrait file.

Bottem line: TN screens are just fine for general computer use but not for computer graphics.

[RandyCA]

I neglected to say in the above post that this darker band at the top of TN monitors is there despite the view angle.


Also 16x9 is a fantastic monitor format to work in Photoshop with.

Also check to see what the maximum resolution your graphic card will handle and get a monitor that fits it. Really more pixels are a good thing. Think about it.

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