Monitor Recommendations

[Munsell]

I've done some searching around, but can't find any good info. I'm looking for a monitor in the ~$500 range. I don't do day to day production, and can't really warrant a $1200 plus LaCie or Quatro or even a Mac Cinema Display. While I would get really great use out of a top of the line monitor, the people who approve my purchases would never go for it.

I would like a monitor that takes well to calibration and can be used for viewing color in relation to doing press color corrections. S-IPS would probably be nice, so several people can look at the screen and not see different colors, but I'm not sure if thats available at this price range. Any suggestions would be great.

 

[Alith7]

find a couple year old Imac.
you can find them for around $500 and get the great quality of an Apple monitor.

 

[WharfRat]

CinemaView: Innovative Multimedia Products

-

MSD

 

[Munsell]

Any other recommendations other than stuff like Apple Cinema Displays? We do have mostly iMacs, but in general, I've heard the screen really isn't the best for crucial color. I guess as long as its able to be calibrated its not a huge deal though. I found another thread that spoke rather highly of the Dell Ultra Sharp U2410 as a decent mid range monitor. Anyone else have experience with this monitor?

Wharf Rat - I am rather intrugued by the Cinema View monitor. Do you have experience with this? It looks like its basically a knock off ACD. What really attracts me most to the ACD is how it looks. This one definitely fits the bill in terms of looks, but does it hold up? Everything I'm reading says they are just cheapie TN monitors inside a nice case.

 

[Alith7]

Munsell~
I have used the Dell Ultra Sharps also, I put them on all the office PCs not just for the higher quality monitor reducing eye strain, but all so the built in USB ports are very helpful.
I tried them on one of my G5 towers when the monitor died thinking it would be pretty good, especially with Apple's built in calibration. It worked OK, but not great. It tended to be VERY hot in the oranges and Reds and bit dull on the contrast no matter what I did.

However, for the Apple displays, I frequently can hold my press sheet next to my iMac with an almost exact match. Is there a reason that you're against them?

 

[Munsell]

No specific reason. I'm not really against them, I was just trying to figure out if there was anything else out there that was slightly more affordable. The more I look around though, the more I see that a monitor with similar specs to the ACD (similar resolution, IPS etc) cost about the same or more. I think I may have trouble getting approved to buy any $1000 monitor, but it looks like if I want something I don't have to worry about, I'll have to spend about that much.

 

[Lukas Engqvist]

Are you alone approving or do you do colour correction with a client having his/her opinion? If you need to be more than one to discuss what you see on the monitor I only know of the Quato Intelliproof that are able to preserve colour accuracy across viewing angles. Quatographic Technology GmbH, but it's expensive.

 

[WharfRat]

I have had 3 of the Collins displays in heavy prepress duty for over a year.
I use the i-1 on them about every 3 months
For me - they are great.
The background gray matches the Apple Cinema -
so I figure the colors are matching pretty well .

Low points:
The resolution is a bit lower than the MACs. Not quite as crisp.
(definitely not deal closing problems)

I have them set up dual with Apple 20" displays.
I do all my work on the Collins with the tools on the Apple
except
Photoshop - I have the image on the Apple and the tools on the Collins.

For the price - I do not think you can beat them.
I have a crap load of various Dell (and other) monitors
on machines around the shop.
They are OK but
and they do not compare.

MSD

 

[Alith7]

I would look at used apple monitors. if you shop carefully, ebay and the apple Refurb store are GREAT places. I've had a LOT of luck buying monitors that way.

this generation of Apple display has a VERY wide viewing angle, and the matte screen really cuts down on glare.
APPLE 20" Flat Panel A1081 HD Cinema Display NR! | eBay

I wouldn't recommend the one listed above, but shop ebay carefully and look for sellers with high ratings on used comp equipment, as well as make sure they have a good return policy.

If you can find a good deal on the apple refurb area, those come with full warranties like a new monitor.

 

[seejay]

Hi there,

I've using a Phillips specraview for the last 18 months. Good monitor, calibrates really well (using its own supplied software) and was hitting a verification mark of 93% using bodoni's viewsign software.

The cost was reasonable, about 1/2 the price of a high-end monitor. MY take is that this monitor is a good compromise between price and quality.

 

[SilvaJr]

Dear all,

I have been working to find good monitors with reasonable quality to be used in a non-Apple prepress environment.

Printing under color standardization (ISO 12647), we got a good software called viewSign. This software tests your monitor just as you test your proof.

Actually, viewSign can testify the necessity of having a well-calibrated and accurately profiled monitor in the first place. This software won't help if your screen is out of whack or your profile is too old. Or, to be more accurate, it will help, but only by reporting, calmly and coldly, precisely how bad your screen is at rendering colours accurately.

After differents tests calibrating different monitors using Eye-One Pro + Eye-One Match to create profiles and viewSign to certify the color accuracy, we encountered Dell 2405FPW Flat Panel Monitor with 95% of color accuracy checking against the wider ISOCoated profile, passing all tolerances according to ISO 12647.

So, for a reasonable price, take the Dell 2405FPW and you wont be so far. But dont forget to buy at least a Eye One Display to create a good profile too.

Thank you,

 

[David Milisock]

Viewsonic has had some deals on their upper quality monitors for about that price, shop the web. IMO all displays have issues and LCD displays have serious issues with angle of view, yse that incudes all of them. NEC/Mitsubishi has reasonable devices for that price also.

Controling the ambient working conditions and regular calibration are serious considerations also. Light your environment to 5,000K, cover the windows and keep the clutter down.

 

[David Milisock]

Dear all,

I have been working to find good monitors with reasonable quality to be used in a non-Apple prepress environment.

Printing under color standardization (ISO 12647), we got a good software called viewSign. This software tests your monitor just as you test your proof.

Actually, viewSign can testify the necessity of having a well-calibrated and accurately profiled monitor in the first place. This software won't help if your screen is out of whack or your profile is too old. Or, to be more accurate, it will help, but only by reporting, calmly and coldly, precisely how bad your screen is at rendering colours accurately.

After differents tests calibrating different monitors using Eye-One Pro + Eye-One Match to create profiles and viewSign to certify the color accuracy, we encountered Dell 2405FPW Flat Panel Monitor with 95% of color accuracy checking against the wider ISOCoated profile, passing all tolerances according to ISO 12647.

So, for a reasonable price, take the Dell 2405FPW and you wont be so far. But dont forget to buy at least a Eye One Display to create a good profile too.

Thank you,

Outside of having to support application files from the Apple platform I can't think of any reason to buy a MAC anymore. We have one or two just to solve MAC problems but all production and RIPS run on Windows, using Corel or Adobe. All the hardware is mostly the same anymore.

 

[jyarrow]

In Numbers We Trust

In Numbers We Trust

In my experience of over 25+ years in the business, I don't trust any monitor to give "true" representation of what the printed piece will look like, because it is impossible to accurately represent how reflective color will work with backlit projected color (as in your monitor). Thus I base all of my color decisions on the color numbers (in Illustrator, Photoshop, InDesign, etc).

This frees up my monitor sources considerably. For one of my printers I have put an Olevia 32" 1080p television on one of the mac production stations, and they are thrilled with it. This monitor offers very nice color, a huge production area, and a price that can't be beat at $350. These are sold by Micro Center and you can buy them online. I also have an Olevia TV at home and love it.

For the Xitron "soft proofing" station (i.e., where we roam jobs before printing) I have a refurbished Sony Bravia 32" TV working on the PC as a monitor. This is 720p, but it's still more than enough resolution for the job. This refurb was about $300.

The one thing I do have to caution you on with using the Olevia is to turn off the color modifications that the monitor imposes (usually set to "Vivid") and do the advanced ColorSync calibration. We noted that we couldn't even see some screens on the new monitor before calibration, but doing the advanced calibration fixed that.

Hopefully these suggestions will be useful to you.

Jim Yarrow
Maccimizer, Inc.