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stoid

macrumors 601
Original poster
I'm thinking of getting a nice computer monitor for graphic design to use with my 15inch PowerBook when I'm at the desk. While the Apple monitors are nice, I recall that LCDs are (were?) not as color accurate as a quality CRT.

What options do I have, and what would be the best monitor CRT or LCD for doing graphic design.
 

stoid

macrumors 601
Original poster
So an Apple LCD would be color accurate enough to do relatively exact color matching? Obviously there's gamut differences between any RGB monitor and a CYMK printout and that's why we use the PANTONE or similar system, I'm just wondering if I'm going to be spending over $1300 (I'd go Apple 23") on a monitor, if I wouldn't be better of using that money instead to get a top of the line CRT instead.

Unfortunately, I just don't know what to look for in a monitor.
 

Bear

macrumors G3
Jul 23, 2002
8,088
5
Sol III - Terra
stoid said:
So an Apple LCD would be color accurate enough to do relatively exact color matching? Obviously there's gamut differences between any RGB monitor and a CYMK printout and that's why we use the PANTONE or similar system, I'm just wondering if I'm going to be spending over $1300 (I'd go Apple 23") on a monitor, if I wouldn't be better of using that money instead to get a top of the line CRT instead.

Unfortunately, I just don't know what to look for in a monitor.
The Apple HD Cinema Displays are just fine for photowork and colormatching. You just need to calibrate the screen. I would recommend the Spyder2 or similar for calibrating your displays. (The 20" non-HD LCD may be just as good, however, the brightness specification is lower.)
 

Abstract

macrumors Penryn
Dec 27, 2002
24,889
921
Location Location Location
A Dell LCD would be just as good as an Apple one after calibration, but it's not like you need to get an LCD to be with the cool kids.

Just get a great CRT. Otherwise, get a Dell and calibrate it very accurately. I think a lot of calibration is based on personal judgement, which isn't the best thing, but I guess you can do it accurately enough.
 

MrSugar

macrumors 6502a
Jul 28, 2003
614
0
Bear said:
The Apple HD Cinema Displays are just fine for photowork and colormatching. You just need to calibrate the screen. I would recommend the Spyder2 or similar for calibrating your displays. (The 20" non-HD LCD may be just as good, however, the brightness specification is lower.)


this is not entirely true, I use dual 23" apple displays and they are not good at color matching. In fact, if you look on apple support forums you will see floods of posts talking about how the previous generation of Apple monitors were a lot more color stable than the current one.

That said, the main problems lie with the 23" displays, as far as I know the 30 and 20 inchers are okay... although if I were you I would test them out first and be damn certain for the amount of money you are going to spend.
 

Blue Velvet

Moderator emeritus
Jul 4, 2004
21,929
265
Top-line CRT all the way unless space is a factor.

Barco, Lacie etc... use a hood, have a neutrally-coloured workspace, get a calibrator...

Mitsubishi also make some excellent monitors at a reasonable price.
 

emw

macrumors G4
Aug 2, 2004
11,172
0
iGary said:
What she said. ;)
Says the man who works on an LCD ;)

CRT vs. LCD is worse than Mac vs. PC or Red Sox vs. Yankees, I think. They both have pros and cons that you need to consider.

CRTs, while generally less expensive and having a much better black point, tend to be (obviously) bulkier, more prone to calibration issues related to movement and/or placement, and are not as bright or consistent over time.

LCDs, while having nice brightness levels and a smaller footprint, tend to still have issues with color variation within the display and can't give as good of a deep black.

We've done some significant testing on the Apple ACDs and have found the 30" to be the most consistent, strangely enough, in terms of overall color consistency, measuring a variance of ±50-100K across the monitor, which is pretty much measurement device noise.

Another choice are the Eizo monitors, but they're significantly more expensive.

The hard part with any of this is finding the appropriate calibration targets. Most applications allow you to choose only white point, vs. use CIE xy coordinates. There are many xy coordinates that will map to a given white point, and the variations in apparent color of that white point can be fairly significant.

There's a lot more to getting good, consistent, calibration than simply hooking up an OptixXR device and running a calibration.
 
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