DSLRUsers.com

I have been using a 19" CRT (IBM P96) for quite a few years and to be honest it was pretty terrible. I had Contrast at 100 and Brightness at 0 and it was still too bright and didn't have enough contrast. It also wasn't focused all that well and think it was contributing to frequent headaches. About the only good thing about the monitor was two of our cats liked sleeping on it (but not at the same time). Anyway, I figured it was time to get a new monitor.

Knowing that LCDs are not always good for photographic work I wasn't really sure what to get. After looking at a few reviews I realised that a good LCD monitor was going to set me back around $1,000 or even more. (The Eizo FlexScan S2231W is around $1,500.) Then I stumbled across a review for the L220x. While the price is not great, working for IBM means I can get a discount on Lenovo gear but even better, I can get IBM to buy the monitor for me as I work from home. My manager approved the purchase and the monitor arrived last week.

It didn't take long to get it working and to switch my PC to 1920x1200. Oh, boy! This is a fantastic monitor. The blacks are just so black but the whites are still white. Text is just so clear compared to the old CRT. It was easy to calibrate the monitor with my GretagMacbeth Eye-One Display 2. The colours are very vibrant (perhaps too vibrant, but maybe I just need to get used to it).

Having 1920x1200 works really well for Lightroom. I can now work with both side panels open and it makes no difference to the size of the image displayed. This is the advantage of the widescreen display.

Is the monitor worth $900-1000? I'm not sure I can answer that, but I think if you can find one for under $900 is is probably a very good deal.

ATJ wrote:The colours are very vibrant (perhaps too vibrant, but maybe I just need to get used to it).

Having 1920x1200 works really well for Lightroom. I can now work with both side panels open and it makes no difference to the size of the image displayed. This is the advantage of the widescreen display.

Is the monitor worth $900-1000? I'm not sure I can answer that, but I think if you can find one for under $900 is is probably a very good deal.

Or you are just seeing in your underwater pics the colour the rest of us have

I chose a Dell 2407WFP-HC for similar reasons of colour quality being an 8 bit panel, but work has stopped me from doing much else thus far

who wrote:Or you are just seeing in your underwater pics the colour the rest of us have

Ha! My underwater shots have always had good colour.

Discussing the merits of a monitor is really difficult on the web. It is not possible to show how good (or bad) the monitor is, unlike cameras, lenses, software.

One issue with moving from a CRT to an LCD is illustrated below:



However, 3 pieces of wood, two angle brackets, 8 screws and about an hour of time solved the issue:

I can has screenz bed?

Yes Andrew, I can clearly see the colour difference in the second shot, both the timber blinds and the cat seem much darker than the first

Glen,

On your advice I reworked my PP.

I hope he/she is not incontinent

sirhc55 wrote:I hope he/she is not incontinent

You want a Manx cat??? A a breed that comes from the isle of Man, it is one of the few incontinent cats around

ATJ wrote:Glen,

On your advice I reworked my PP.

I haz blue target hangn from neck. Plz don shoot muh......


I think the cats just don't like Lenovo (mustn't be as warm ).

You haven't had problems with cat fur getting inside the CRT

Andrew

That's funny. One of my cats loved sleeping on my CRT while I was sitting at the computer too (nice and warm I guess). Now the little bastard stands or sits in front of my LCD and I'm getting a sore neck peering around him. Guess I should try your solution.