Monitor Advice?

[photophile]

Spending more and more of my time taking my tiff files ( from my m6 and m4-2 ) ...and digital files from my d200, and working them in photoshop. Most of my work is done on my dell laptop and the screen is workable but not good for these purposes. Am considering a dedicated monitor... have an older 19" viewsonic crt...but thinking about an apple 20 / 23" or a dell flatscreen. Would like to have people's opinions about which screens they like... and which they don't. I calibrate routinely. All comments welcome. Thanks. CH

[delander]

Whatever screen you get try to make sure that it is an IPS type. I think the Apple screens are as are the better NECs.

Jeff

[thrid]

I just went through this whole process at work. We reviewed perhaps a dozen monitors and the Apple and NEC Spectraview LCD's came out on on top.

They had the widest viewing angle, the best contrast ratio and uniformity across the screen. One of the EIZO (241 if I remember correctly) showed more shadow detail than all others, but the viewing angle was so narrow that unless you were looking at it dead center, the contrast shifted all over the place.

[Rolo]

I've used two 23" Apple screens side by side since October and highly recommend it.

I put a lot of time in on the computer and it makes life much more bearable.

Rolo

[marknorton]

I use the Eizo 30" SX30301W for general use and I'm thinking about one of their ColorEdge monitors.

If you're interested in precise colour calibration, it's worth looking at the ambient lighting and decoration in the room in which you work, both of which can change your preception of what you see on the monitor. A monitor hood - such as on the ColorEdge monitors - can reduce the impact. My own monitor sports one made of cardboard painted dark grey on the inside. It will not win any prizes in an interior design competition...

[cwf]

Sean Reid has some useful if brief comments on displays in his recent article about his going back to Mac. ReidReviews, imho, is worth the subscription price.

[photophile]

many thanks to all of you. i shall keep researching a bit more.. and then move up to something...best. CH

[rick_dykstra]

I'm almost ready to buy an Eizo Coloredge CG301W. I've researched extensively and didn't find a single review where the Apple screens were rated as highly. I'm a mac fan and have always wanted their 30 inch screen. I could get two Apple 30's for the price of one Eizo 30 - it's the hardware calibration capability of the Eizo that's got me interested.

So, is there anyone here who thinks Apple's top screens are better than Eizo's best performers? That would be interesting!

What did Brian Reid have to say on the matter?

[marknorton]

Rick, I think you've just dented my equipment budget for this year - I hadn't realised there was a 30" Coloredge yet, not shown on the UK web-site yet, and it would give me the opportunity to do away with my cardboard hood.

Comparative reviews will tend to mark the Eizo down because of their higher cost and in the same way the new M8 reviewer can't see beyond the price sticker, it's important to set aside pure value considerations when considering an Eizo. I'm more than pleased with my "cooking" 30" from them, I'm quite sure the Coloredge version will deliver even more.

[voyeur]

how about quato monitors...?!?

i own a quato and im pretty happy with it best panels on earth...
even though they're quite expensive, it's worth it's salt.

[rick_dykstra]

G'day Mark. I've heard great things about the 30" Coloredge (Colouredge!), but also about the new 24", CG241W. I found out today that we won't have any in country down here 'til late April. Bummer. I need to get cracking on photo work and music quicker than that and so might get an Apple 30 to start with, and then supplement it with a 24" Eizo Coloredge. This would give me the best of both worlds - heaps of real estate (particularly in the horizontal plane for music editing) and a large enough platform for colour management - at the same overall cost as just the CG301W Eizo. I've been measuring up my desk! :-)

Any Eizo Coloredge users on board here? As happy you hoped to be? Is the colour calibration working?