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LCD monitor specs
Hi,
I’m finally moving into the 21st century and buying a LCD monitor for my editing system. Yes i’ve been living in a cave. Anyway….just curious about specs such as resolution size, colors, brightness and contrast ratio that i should be concerned about before making my purchasing decisions. Recommendations on brands would be cool too. In the past i’ve only edited SD and but i anticipate moving into the HDV editing world. I also shoot still photography and will want the monitor to be good specs for photoshop editing. I”m working on a Mac with FCP.
Any suggestions or recommendations for specs/brands to look for and why would be awesome! thanks.
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16 Replies
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There is more to your choice than just a monitor Renee. If you are creating broadcast video you need a video I/O solution for feeding the video to the monitor, because true video monitors and computer monitors are birds of a different feather, and need to be addressed separately.
So, tell us more about the video you create and then the discussion can be narrowed down to monitor type (i.e. broadcast quality vs. the alternatives), and best I/O solutions.
David Roth Weiss
Director/Editor
David Weiss Productions, Inc.
Los AngelesPOST-PRODUCTION WITHOUT THE USUAL INSANITY ™
A forum host of Creative COW’s Apple Final Cut Pro, Business & Marketing, and Indie Film & Documentary forums.
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I have regular tv monitor set up through my deck so use that as a broadcast reference. If there are true video monitors that can also be used as my computer monitor, i’m not aware of that, but i’m terribly behind the times in technical upkeep…
i do documentaries, so my budget is not large….
I’m mostly looking at larger monitors (over 20 inches) or 2 smaller monitors i could use as one.Does this help?
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A lot of people are using LCD and plasma moniotrs as their video monitors these days, but as David pointed out, to get accurate video monitoring with them you need I/O. As for editing monitors, a lot of people are using Dells these days (and they are one of the most popular video LCDs too). The Dell Ultrasharps (2408 and 3008 are 2 that come to mind) are the ones. If you’re not using it as a video monitor, then the color accuracy isn’t as important, and other monitors, like Samsungs, Westinghouse, Sharp, and others, will do the job. Compare brightness and resolution between brands and models.
Ed -
when you are saying an I/O what exactly are you speaking of here? like a S-video connection? forgive me for my ignorance. since i’ve been using a standard video monitor in the past i’ve not had the need for my computer monitor to serve the same purpose. but i’m not opposed to the idea.
as far as specs i’m assuming the higher the better?
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Then what you are asking about Renee is best referred to as a computer monitor or display. Despite the fact that they are technically LCD displays, when you ask a room full of video editors to start discussing HD LCD monitors you’re typically going to get a discussion about the merits of true broadcast video monitors.
As Ed mentioned, the Dell Ultrasharps are very nice — I have two 24″ 2408FWPs myself on my FCP system. However, I must say, my newest addition here is a 30″ monitor from HP, which I have just begun to use on a Windows workstation, and I must say, I think I actually prefer a single 30″ to two 24″ monitors. Although there might be some flexibility lost with a single monitor, the look and feel of a 30″ are just about perfect.
David Roth Weiss
Director/Editor
David Weiss Productions, Inc.
Los AngelesPOST-PRODUCTION WITHOUT THE USUAL INSANITY ™
A forum host of Creative COW’s Apple Final Cut Pro, Business & Marketing, and Indie Film & Documentary forums.
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A card like an AJA LHE or Blackmagic or external box like the Matrox MXO or MXO2, etc.
They have the YUV video outputs you need for video. Whether you already have a video monitor or not, you still need a way to accurately assess (and edit) the color.
Ed -
I thought by my saying i needed it for my editing system made my needs apparent. guess not!
yes need it for my computer. thanks for your thoughts on your displays….when considering, what should i be concerned about re: resolution, contrast, etc….
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I actually just videotaped a discussion about this with a veteran Colorist for my upcoming DVD and we’ll probably just put that portion of the discussion up the Cow shortly.
Long story short, minimum 10:000 to 1 contrast ratio and something that gives you a lot of handles or control. You should be able to independently control the blacks, the colors, the color temp, etc… And most of all, the blacks should be black, not a dark grey.
Generally the cheapest you can go and have what we consider an “accurate” monitor for editing and color grading will be about $3,500 for an LCD.
Now the Panasonic Pro Plasma screens, once they are calibrated, they can definitely be used for color grading as a budget alternative. The 42″ is about $950 these days and they give you complete control over everything. We run two of the 42’s and one of the 50’s here in my shop which are calibrated against by professional CRT’s.
I was seriously considering the 24″ TV Logic LCD display to replace my CRT’s, but tomorrow we’re having multiple HD monitors demonstrated by Flanders Scientific Inc, you can see their yellow banner on the left side of this forum. Their 24″ is about $3,200 or $3,500 and according to the reps, they are outstanding. So we’ll see and there will be article upcoming about these monitors soon.
The new Panasonic 2550 LCD display is the best of their bunch, though I thought the blacks were still a little bit bright, but certainly something that would work great in an edit suite.
Walter Biscardi, Jr.
Biscardi Creative Media
HD and SD Production for Broadcast and Independent Productions.STOP STARING AND START GRADING WITH APPLE COLOR Apple Color Training DVD available now!
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[renee bergan] “yes need it for my computer. thanks for your thoughts on your displays….when considering, what should i be concerned about re: resolution, contrast, etc…. “
Ah, if all you need a computer display, go with the 24″ Dells. Best of the bunch.
Walter Biscardi, Jr.
Biscardi Creative Media
HD and SD Production for Broadcast and Independent Productions.STOP STARING AND START GRADING WITH APPLE COLOR Apple Color Training DVD available now!
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[renee bergan] “I thought by my saying i needed it for my editing system made my needs apparent. guess not! “
Renee,
What just came to my mind when I read your comment above is the classic line I once heard about movie making. When reading a script for a “western themed” movie, the scene description reads as follows:
EXT. DAY – THE OREGON TRAIL
A war party attacks and the pioneers circle the wagons.
It’s just two lines in a 120-page script, but as any production manager will tell you, it will easily take ten days to shoot.
Likewise, since we work in a high technical visual medium, which very much depends upon critical viewing, one simply cannot generalize about the use of monitors in an edit bay. There are entirely too many possible discussions on the subject, because, as I tried to point out to you, there are computer displays of all sorts, and a wide variety of true video monitors that range from a few hundred dollars up to as many thousands as you want to spend, all of which can be integral to an editing system. Just do a search on this forum and you will see, the subject is far from simple.
David Roth Weiss
Director/Editor
David Weiss Productions, Inc.
Los AngelesPOST-PRODUCTION WITHOUT THE USUAL INSANITY ™
A forum host of Creative COW’s Apple Final Cut Pro, Business & Marketing, and Indie Film & Documentary forums.
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