Can't you just calibrate it, though?
That's a good quetion. Yes you can. But even calibrated it may not show a wide
range of colors or it may not be able to show a fine gradation. In the worst, low-end LCDs they use 6-bit DACs so they can only show 64 shades or red, 64 blues and 64 greens. You might see some banding or artifacts.
Also if a horibly non-linear LCD is calibrated the it may have to resort to larger step sizes at on end of the scale or the range gets clipped.
But if calibrated what the LCD is able to show will be "right" just some shades will be missing. But it's really just a matter of degree.
In fact one way to see if a LCD monitor is "good" is the look at the calibration files and see what had to be done.
Also depends on the use. Was talking to a studio product protrographer this weekend and we is absolutly certain he can do color corection on a green screen monochrome monitor. He shoots a Mcbeth color chart in the frame with he subject then shots a second frame without the chart. He knows what RGB values should go on each color patch on the chart. S you can do good work on a whacked ot uncalibrated monitor if you are the analytic type. Your preview will not be right but the end result can be
