LCD screens and colors

Kraftwerk

So i have a new LCD screen since my old loved CAD CRT died, and since then colors really trouble me. I got an LCD from Samsung that is supposed to have better colors. (one with these CCFL backlights)
So i wonder if there are any tips on how to improve the colors (the included tools are shit) and how to make sure the colors in my textures look good on most other screens. Thx for any usefull pointers.

thomasp

i guess turning off any image enhancers (vibrant colors, etc) would be a starting point. apart from that... who's your target audience? safe to assume that gamers often use terrible cheap but big LCD screens so if these are your customers there's no real point in crying for high end CRT color and gradient display.

hyrumark

I use a Spyder 2 monitor calibrator, and I've noticed that my stuff looks better on a wide range of monitors than before, especially the greyscales and skintones.

rollin

normal tft´s are very bad in displaying the correct colour.. you can improve it a little bit by calibrating it by hand or with a tool (by hand means: to get some calibration image, program or webpage and set the monitor settings accordingly)
even if you´ll only be able to setup the contrast correct. for the colours you need some kind of an real-printed ref board - or some calibration hardware (what´s kind of useless unless you have an eizo or similar tft)

cptincognito

You get what you pay for with monitors, now that you've bought one you're kinda stuck with the color range you've got. The last two times I've bought LCD's, I went for the cheaper solution, and the pain and frustration I've had makes me wish I'd dropped the extra 2-300 bucks on a better monitor of the same size.

TN = garbage color
IPS = much better

I'm not saying people should buy Apple monitors, but I've always worked with their cinema displays at offices, and wished i'd dropped the extra cash on getting a comparable one for my own.

The whole backlight thing may or may not increase contrast, but it doesn't really mean much in terms of color gamut. For that, it's all about the base technology the screen uses. Once again TN == garbage.

malcolm

Just went through this same pain, bought and returned 2 different lcd monitors because the picture quality and colour were not acceptable in my opinion. Eventually gave up and just bought a 23" matte mac cinema display, colour is perfect out of the box just had to adjust the brightness slightly.

frostymoose

I've been doing a lot of research on displays recently. What you want for accurate colors is something with an IPS or a PVA panel, which have more accurate color reproduction than a TN panel, which is found in cheaper LCDs. www.flatpanels.dk should tell you what panel is in any given model. Strictly speaking an IPS panel is best for print work because of the color accuracy and the minimal color shift from different viewing angles. Unless you're doing print work, though I honestly don't think that you really need to buy a panel that is so expensive, because you won't be printing, and the colors will show up different on everyone else's displays anyways.

rollin

to test a monitor online

http://www.lagom.nl/lcd-test/

pior

Isnt Dell the best choice anyways? I have always been positively surprised by their quality and their is a good chance that the target audience is using them aswell. (not the ones with the disc base - the models with the nice V base, up.)

I know it might sound like a very plain thing to say but I feel like this would be a safe choice! And I think I heard that Dells use Samsung tech anyways?

Also I found out that simply painting a nice skintone is a great test to check the quality of a monitor. It seems like the subtles pink gradients tend to turn purple on cheap LCDs. It's a very layman thing it but it can be a helpful to try this out!

Good luck!

UncleBezo

A decent monitor calibrated with a decent colorimeter is a must. But as Frosty notes, if your target audience for your product is games, you should be viewing it on the same equipment they will. A 24" Dell or comparable monitor and an Eye-one Display2 colorimeter will give you a viewing environment that is better in color accuracy than the enviroment 99.9% of your target audience will be viewing your product in. Chances are pretty darn good that they won't be playing your game on print quality monitors. But if you are working for print or film, by all means get the most accurate display you can.

Kraftwerk

Hello everyone, first thx for all the pointers so far. Well since i surely wont be doing prints and IPS and PVA panels where way out of my price range i have to stick with a TN panel for now. (but good to know in the future if they ever get more effordable) The page from rollin helped a lot and looks that my new Display isnt that bad (SyncMaster 226 CW btw) guess i should just work on something and see how people gonna like it. Again thx for all the helpfull pointers.

Snader

another option might be to get a cheapass hugeass monitor for modeling and a small good one for colour checking

Farfarer

I bought a 22" Samsung and had to sell it within a week because the colours were so bad. You could be sat infront of it and the colours at the top/bottom and left/right would be different because the viewing angle of the TFT screen was so bad. Since then I've avoided 22" and TN panel screens.

I eventually splashed out on a 23" Apple Cinema HD monitor (which is, I believe S-IPS panel) and the colour reproduction is fantastic. Very accurate and a very large viewing angle. Far better than the retina-searing 24" Dell monitor that I got afterwards. Which, due to it's ridiculous range of input methods, I use for my games consoles but not for my PC.

thomasp

ah, so it was a classic TN panel issue after all. i thought you were talking about vibrancy and contrast of colors and assumed that a screen with some fancy backlighting would not come equipped with a lowend panel, my bad.

as for the dell's, there are different models of the 24 inchers, you can spot the preferable panels simply by looking at the price. they were around two times the price of the TN model last time i checked. seems valid for screens from other manufacturers as well.