24" + inch monitor choice
polycounter lvl 14
Hey fellow polycounters, i'm looking to get myself a decent monitor for texturing/3d etc and was wondering what people's opinions are here. I'm thinking of getting a Samsung around 24" and preferably a height adjustable one since i'm tall. Anyone bought a new monitor recently?
Replies
So I got u2410 the dell guy said it was the replacement for the other model. Works great, here are the 2 issues with it that also existed on the previous model.
1. The reds on this monitor are fucking super red, like way too red. You will need to switch the monitor to custom mode and calibrate it. The red will still be vary vibrant.
2. Almost all these monitors have a subtle gradient hue shift across them, on mine the bottom of the screen is slightly more green and the top more red, usually you will only notice this on pure grey background.
http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/products/Displays/productdetail.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=bsd&cs=04&sku=320-8277
http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/reviews/hp_lp2475w.htm
I got mines for $130. Very good resolution and its crystal clear.
I'm using the sRGB preset and the reds dont look that vibrant (but it does in the default preset)
I was really hessitant in buying one though due to all the negative comments about some tinting problems that people were posting about but then I finally took the plunge and just went for it. You'll find negative reviews for anything, especially if you're looking for them.
It has height adjustment and screen swivel+rotating ability and a crap load of inputs (audio, hdmi, dual dvi, 4xusb and a bunch of other stuff I dont care about
Also it has a non glossy black border, something all monitors should have!
And its also 16:10, which is getting rare nowadays
Colour accurate monitors are made for photo professionals who have control of their work all the way through the pipeline.
If you're spending more than $400 on a monitor your wasting your money. Having said that though I find that Samsung has a lot of nice reasonably priced options. I also don't like buying monitors that I can't inspect in person. Even If I buy something of NewEgg or NCIX I always like to see if Best Buy/ Futureshop has the same model on display.
Why is this bad advice? To me this is pretty good advice. The difference between a $500 monitor and a $1500 pro NEC monitor is not really worth the price for game artists, for the reasons he stated.
I got my dell 2408 before they discontinued it for about $500, very VERY good monitor. We've had a lot of these monitor threads, the main thing is dont cheap out and go for a TN!(unless you really cant tell the difference).
So, uhm. I dunno what you're trying to say here :P
I will say your Dell is very nice and would probably fit in the upper part of the consumer market. Same as, and comparable with, the 2 monitors I use.
I certainly wouldn't advise going for top-of-the-line pro-grade, but I absolutely would not suggest that anything more expensive than $400 is inherently bad. That's really lazy, poor advice, imo.
My reply was mainly pointed to his "inaccurate colour representation is ok" attitude, which is bad for obvious reasons.
Accurate and neutral colour representation is especially important for texture artists, especially with the quality of contemporary quality and fidelity of games. Usually you have to spend more than $400 for that. Which you did.
That's my point here.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824001380&Tpk=xl2370
I like it... The whites are way whiter than my old monitor and the blacks are very deep. It's a big upgrade from my old one, so I'm happy with it and it fitted my budget pretty well.
He could be either saying that any monitor that is literally over $400 is a waste of money for game artists, which pretty much means anything that has a IPS panel. So in other words, as a game artist you should be getting a TN panel because your target audience are people who use TN panels.
Or hes saying that anything way above that price range (eizos, some NECs) is useless for game artists, which is right, and irrelevant because no one here has said anything about those super color accurate monitors.
I think glynn's interpretation is correct though, based on the previous replies.
There was a sale on these (newegg) when I picked it up for $350+free ship.
I would stick with the hdtv's for use as a monitor after this though, it removes the need for dual monitor setup and it feels much better on my eyes.
For me, that would be less pixel space than my 24, and much much less than my 24 + secondary 20, so i would have a hard time switching, no matter how big the display is.
I imagine it'd need to be twice as far as a regular monitor display would be?
Working on the smaller 20-24" screens gives me this weird tunnel vision effect when ever I work on big/detailed models.
For me, it's hard to zoom out and view all the details properly on a model on a smaller screen (like the difference between drawing small vs big).
glynnsmith: It's perfect for my desk since it has a slide out kb/mouse tray and the screen sits far back on it. I don't have any problems viewing text, there's no weird color shifting at extreme h/v angles, and I used the built in win 7 color/cleartype calibration, so that helps.
It's not "Bad Advice", but I appreciate you trying to brick my whole post with one incomplete sentence.
I actually never said anything about being inherently bad, I simply said it would be a waste of money; which it is.
I also take offense to you calling it lazy poor advice. If anything I would say your comment of "Bad Advice" is in fact poorer and lazier than my original post.
@Earthquake This is bang on the money. No point in going nuts as all that extra work you put into tweaking your color space is going to be wasted on literally everyone that plays your game. There is a lot better places for that money to go that will make a bigger impact on your art... tablet anyone?
@pixeldamage
I don't own a Dell, but a few of my friends have started going that route and I don't hear any of them complaining. I don't want to give you price advice as I live in Canada and our electronic prices are all over the road.
I apologise for my initial short reply. I do think I explained myself clearly in my rebuttal, though.
I guess we have to agree to disagree.
Revision is easy to check like so:
cheapest price I found in the UK, next day delivery, the people there respond to your emails and they are now selling the A01 version.
I got a A00 version but there are no obvious tint or dithering issues, but even if there was, you can flash the firmware yourself anyway which will fix the dithering problems.
this g series 24" dell seems reasonable priced?
dell G2410
clueless and in the market fer a new monitor as well.
It also helped that I got it for a decent price. 239$ CDN
Feel free to tell me how much of a sucker I am for getting a cheap shitty TN.
http://www.samsung.com/us/consumer/office/monitors/premium/LS24KIZKFV/ZA/index.idx?pagetype=prd_detail
To me the difference is astounding, it doesn't feel like your looking at a screen, more like your're looking THROUGH it. With TN panels I can always make out individual pixels, and black never looks black. On IPS panels, black looks really black and "inky". And colors explode off the screen.
Gaming is a whole different experience too. I somehow feel more immersed. As I said, it doesn't feel like you're looking at a screen, more like you're looking THROUGH it.
Forgot to mention that HP ZR24w normal gamut and Dell U2410 is wide gamut. This might be an issue if you don't wan't to work with wide gamut display.
as long as this comes with some sort of warranty, it is likely a *very* good deal. Since its straight from dell i would imagine something like a 1 year as apposed to the 3 year retail warranty.
So, lets break down panel types, as this is the easiest thing to get confused about here. In general, this is how it works(feel free to correct me if any of this is wrong):
TFT = All LCD monitors are TFT, unless i'm mistaken TFT has nothing to do with panel type
IPS = Ultra high end, some/most NEC monitors, some/most Apple cinema. These generally offer the highest image quality, best colors, but slower refresh rates up to 20ms great view angles
P/M VA = Mid high end, your quality Dell Ultrasharp series, these seem to be losing favor a bit to the cheaper e-ips lately, but any quality mid-range(IE Dell 2408wfp or older ultrasharp that isnt a TN) = M/PVA. Ultrasharp used to = good quality *VA panel, but now the brand covers shity cheap TN panels as well, so you have to do your research. These panels offer very good IQ, color and decent refresh rates, less than 10ms great view angles
E-IPS = Apparently this is a cheaper way to manufacture IPS panels, and the quality should range from a bit better than TN, to on par with *VA panels. You can actually find some of these for a bit cheaper than *VA panels, so these are generally the sweet spot today. A few of the early run E-IPS panels seemed to have some problems, but if you read reviews you should be able to find a quality one. Manufacturers seem to be switching over from VA panels to these E-IPS panels en-masse.
TN = Cheap, shity grandma/gamer LCD monitors. These are as cheap as they get, and they have the worst color, IQ and view angles than anything else, however they also have the fastest refresh rates of all making them popular with gamers and people who sit around wanking off to 1ms input lag. I would avoid these unless you already own one and the flaws do not bother you(some/many people do not mind them, i would never want to do art on one).
Two quick ways to tell if its a TN panel or not
1. Google "<monitor model> + "tn panel" or "panel type" you should be able to find some info on it.
2. If the view angle is 170x170 or less, 99% it is a TN panel, IPS/VA panels tend to have 176x176 or 178x178 view angle specs, which are actually reasonably accurate, whereas TN panels list at 160 165 170 etc but are all closer to about 45x45 =D
here is a link that talks about ips/va/tn, but doesnt have anything about the newer e-ips
http://www.pchardwarehelp.com/guides/lcd-panel-types.php
I use an ultrasharp at home and work, and I couldn't be happier.
The HP LP2475w monitor is without doubt the best monitor I have, although I was expecting it to really blow my socks off, and to be honest it hasn't.
Unless you have a lot of money and spending it isn't an issue for you, I suggest the sceptre all the way. I have my sceptres right next to my HP and the difference is really not that big. Possibly the biggest difference you will notice is the stand is way better on the HP and it has more options, but as a simple monitor going cheap CAN actually work out just fine.
So yeah, I expected the HP to drastically change how I view things on the computer, because of the high quality panel, and the price. But in actuality, all I use it for is to occasionally get a more accurate look of my work. I still work on all my monitors equally, and don't feel the need to favor the HP even though it IS better. I suppose my expectations could have been too high for the HP, but I truly would prefer to be working off 2 sceptre monitors, versus one HP. And at the cost of the HP LP2475w you could actually buy 2 sceptres and a 8800gt graphic card to view them on!
hyrumark,
That sounds dreamy.
Reading the following wiki excerpt sounds equally as interesting "the effect of quality?":
EQ: I greatly appreciate the panel type breakdown, I know this has been discussed before but
till now I have put off thinking about LCD $$$.
For a Game Dev Art/Tech Forum>> PolyCount sure is my all around "go to" killer secret weapon.
a broad range of insta-expertise is always "only a thread away".
Like barely skimming through LCD monitor issues and concerns for over 2 years.
Knowing all along, that I could jes dial in the info and
reel it in like today!( Maximized results with minimal effort and energy invested ).
So while I am truly appreciative and grateful...
Please excuse my kneeling/groveling and my kissing of yer asses and just say,
thank you :angel: