Monitors, or what I don't know.
In a recent discussion on graphics.com William McBee (Gerbick) brought up a couple of points regarding monitors that got me wondering about a recent monitor purchase I had made. It would seem I was suffering from post-purchase indecision and left me seeking validation as a consumer. Will also pointed out, obliquely, that there was some things I just didn't know, or had forgotten, when I initially made my buying decision. So I set off to, as one my teachers in art school would state, "figure out what you don't know and go learn it."
I started out by comparing a number of LCD monitors to see how they rated in relation to each other in their terms. A couple of my favorite brands; Viewsonic, Dell, and LaCie, and I included a brand I was unfamiliar with Eizo that was mentioned in the discussion on graphics.com. The selection process is biased in that I was trying to compare apples to apples so to speak, I have a Dell 24", and was looking for manufacturer that offered the same size of monitor. Also, I don't know the full range of monitor manufacturers available, so this is a subset based on what currently resides in my head.
The table shows what information I was able to find, with question marks marking information that was unavailable. And, this is in no way an endorsement of any particular product, but as a comparison between what I was able to find in the limited time I allotted to this project.
This little exercise was probably the most successful in terms of the supplemental information I was able to garner from various sources outside the comparison specifications of each monitor available after the table. Specifically what the various terms mean and how measurements are expressed by manufacturers in order to up-sell their products. It kind of reminds me of the days of when a manufacturer would rate the speed of a dot matrix printer. The manufacturer would print rows of periods, the item requiring the least amount of dots so the fastest, and then sample the speed from roughly one of the middle rows, again the point at which the printer is outputting the fastest, and then use that as an indication of their overall print speed. Fortunately times have changed, a bit, and hopefully most manufacturers have moved past that tactic.
In the final analysis I (re)learned what the various terms mean and their relative value in the real world. More importantly I figured out what I don't know and went out and learned what I could about it.
As to my monitor choice and my need for post-purchasing reinforcement, I think I did okay, and probably will not be really happy with a monitor until they make one that rivals print quality.
And, a note of thanks to Will is in order for being a good teacher and pointing out what I don't know.
| Manufacture | Viewsonic | Dell | Eizo | Eizo | LaCie |
| Model | VP2330wb | 2407WFP * | ColorEdge CE240W | S2410W | 321 LCD |
| Panel size (in) | 23.0 | 24 | 24.1 | 24.1 | 21.3 |
| Display Area (in) | 19.5 x 12.2 | 20.375 x 12.75 ** | 20.41 x 12.76 | 20.41 x 12.76 | 17 x 12.7 |
| Pixel Pitch (mm) | .258 | .27 | .27 | .27 | .27 |
| Brightness-nits | 250 | 450 | 450 | 450 | 250 |
| Contrast ratio | 800:1 | 1000:1 | 1000:1 | 1000:1 | 500:1 |
| Video Response (black to white) | 16 ms | 16 ms | 16 ms | 16 ms | 20ms |
| Video Response (grey to grey) | 8 ms | 6 ms | 8 ms | 8 ms | (?) |
| Horizontal View Angle (degrees) | 170 | 178 | 170 | 178 | 178 |
| Vertical View Angle (degrees) | 170 | 178 | 170 | 178 | 178 |
| Optimum Resolution | 1920 x 1200 | 1920 x 1200 | 1920 x 1200 | 1920 x 1200 | 1600 x 1200 |
| Interface | Analog/Digital | 4 x USB 2.0/Analog/DVI-D/S-Video/Composite | Analog/Digital/2 USB 2.0 | Analog/Digital/2 USB 2.0 | VGA/DVI-I/DVI-D |
| 16.7 Million Colors | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes |
| VESA Wall Mount | yes | yes | (?) | (?) | yes |
| Power Savings | Energy Star | yes | yes | yes | |
| MSRP (US) | $1299.00 | $703.20 | $1700 (retail) | $1700 (retail) | $2049 |
| Processing (bits) | 8 | 8 | 14 | 8 (?) | 12 |
*The Dell 2407WFP is manufactured for them by Samsung.
**Dell doesn't list the display area, anywhere that I could find on limited time, so I resorted to using a ruler.
Response times - the lower the number the better, from the Wikipedia entry, manufacturers typically post an average response time.
Dot pitch - the smaller the number the better the resolution, again see this Wikipedia entry for more.
Luminance - measured in nits, the higher the number the brighter the display.
Contrast ratio - the range of light to dark, again a higher number reflects a better range of light to darks, again Wikipedia's entry offers a good entry and this entry from Practical-Home-Theater offers a good explanation of the numbers and their importance.
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