Hi there

I would like some advise or insight into LCD's. I have just got 2 x New Phillips Brilliance 190BW 19" LCD's with a resolution of 1680x1050. I am used to working with a 21" Samsung CRT. I am noticing some Banding in a greyscale gradient and the banding is showing different colours even though it is grey! There is also quite a significant difference in the monitors with one showing more banding than the other and the one looking more saturated than the other. The reason I chose these was because they had a higher resolution than the other 19" LCD's. It makes editing a photo very difficult when you see colours in a Black and White image.

I havnt worked with a LCD before and so do not know what to expect or if this is normal. Do I have 2 Duds? is this normal? do I choose a junk Monitor? Should I have chosen differently? Samsung?

Any insight advice would be appreciated.

Guy

I am working on Windows Vista 32 with a ATi X1650 Pro graphics card.

From what I can find (and my regular source came up empty) those LCD's are TN panels. I'm not sure about that. I'd like a second source to confirm it. But if they are TN panels they are 6 bit panels. So, banding.

How you calibrate LCD's can make a difference, too. Make sure you are not adjusting the RGB controls to adjust the displays. Just work brightness and contrast and profile em.

Thanks DarkPenguin. I have a spyderpro that I tried to use to calibrate one of them and did adjust the RGB. I have just ordered the Spyder3Pro cause apparently that is better and faster and also knows how to calibrate a dual monitor setup.

If I am not to change the RGB what should they be all 100%?

How do you know if the LCD is a 6bit or 8bit monitor? I am pretty upset that it is banding cause it makes editing really difficult.

Thanks
Guy

They should be 100%. Search around for a thread on the subject.

As far as I know only TN panels are 6 bit. Fast refresh times and poor viewing angles are usually a sign of a TN monitor.

I am very dissapointed about the performance of the LCDs I have after using CRTs for so long I just presumed they would be decent. Should have done my homework before I jumped in and went for the Phillips 190BW cause now I see there is far more to it.

I am able to get a Dell 2408WFP at a good price. This is a S-PVA type panel is that better? Would that be an 8bit monitor? Will I get good results from a Monitor like this?

Thanks
Guy

There are threads on that specific monitor here.

PVA and MVA monitors are decent. Much better than a TN panel. IPS are the best for photography but they tend to be expensive. (HP 2475 is reasonably priced in comparison.)

One thing about CRTs that I forgot I used to obsess over was geometry. Even bad LCDs have perfect geometry.

Do any of the Samsung or Phillips LCDs compare to the HP or NEC. Looking at Face to Face Comparison the Dell seems to compare with the NEC? Is that a reliable test?

I don't know about philips. But there are some very good samsungs. Just not sure of the models.