I got badly burnt on display stuff about 4 years back. Recommnded a display that was a disaster. Did I bone up after that!
Everything is a price/performance curve. No point in talking EIZO if they are always going to be out-of-budget. Uninformed, and uninforABLE, bosses, are notorious for going el Cheapo. Having said that, there are ways.
Currently, IMHO, the best bang-for-buck is the DELL U2410, (not to be confused with the G2410, which has a crap TN panel). For around US$600, or less if you prowl, you are getting a 12-bit color H-IPS display, (not S-IPS). 1.07 Billion colors. They have factory (hardware/firmware set), sRGD and AdobeRGB presets).
Dell UltraSharpâ„¢ U2410 24"W Monitor | Dell Australia
At least you might have a chance in the average prepress dept. of obtaining one. 16:10 ratio. 24". Yes, DELL do mostly crap/mass-market TNs, but don't let this put you off. Go and visit flatpanels, and see what they say, (Shawn's link).
If you want to step up from there, price-wise, NEC 2090UXi, or similar. Then after that its the EIZOs, Qs whatever. Sky's the limit from there, price-wise, but am talking reality here, and assuming worker-grunt prepress op. conditions. The NECs come in with Multi-Sync., at about US$1500, I think, with the necessary software to keep things within range.
Bear in mind too, many of the EIZOs are PVA, or at least variations on the patterned vertical alignment technology. Nice deep, contrasy blacks, but can be problematic in the viewing angle. IPS have great viewing angle tolerances. I prefer the advantage in viewing angle, personally.
The field has changed a lot in the past 2 years. Many more options open. IMO, Apple have used Apple Mambo in regard to their displays. Yes, I do believe Apple use an LG-Phillips IPS panel, but I think that is only found out from tear-downs. They are famous for NOT telling punters what's in their displays. I don't believe they offer value-for-money, against units like the U2410. I would certainly be looking at an NEC before an ACD, which is in that price-bracket. Going back several years, Apple were putting whatever panel in ACDs that they effing well felt like, but, to my knowledge, they NEVER disclose what panel is in them. Other vendors do.
Whatever you get, fork out the $200 or so for say, a Spyder3 puck. At least you'll have made an effort to calibrate. I believe it is not possible to set White Point on an ACD. I could be wrong on this, and am looking into it at the moment.
Whatever else you do, do not buy a display with a TN panel in it, (the mass market cheapie). They have 4-bit color, and use 'dithering' to achieve a visual result. When you read 16.2 Million colors, that's dithered. When you read 16.7 million colors, that should be 8-bit...genuine 16.7 mill. Of course, that's a lot less than 1.07 billion, (DELL U2410).
I'd be wary of iMacs. They are really 'home' units. There is a thread on Aussie Whirlpool forums at the moment where about 35% of poll respondents report color problems that they feel bad enough to waste a llot of time getting looked at...with all the usual palaver involved in warranty claims. Also, they put a glossy cover on it. Why? So that when people walk into shops, they go "Wow!" That euphoria lasts about a week, I'd say. Colors are way-oversaturated. You get ambient light reflections....Not for any kind of pp work where color matters.
All I could talk them into here, at the time, was a DELL 2007FP. But a nice enough S-IPS display with a pixel-pitch just above 0.24 from memory. It is now discontinued. But as I look at it this moment, it is handling the fine face on this forum no trouble. Color rendition pretty good. It has been a reliable work-horse for the price, but would love one of those U2410s.
