On May 18, 2005, at 1:48 AM, David Mann wrote:
Or is there a recommended LCD that has a good color depth?
Depends on what you're willing to spend... Apple just significantly reduced the price of the gorgeous 23" HD screen, although I'm pretty ignorant about the prices of equivalent competitor's products (I'm too busy saving for a PowerBook to worry about screens).
Based on what my engineering colleagues in the Imaging And Graphics department at Apple have told me, the current high-end LCD displays have both more gamut and better rendering than what they get from anything outside of a US$1000+ CRT, and the LCD displays are more stable, require less frequent recalibration.
The Apple Cinema Display 20" (same hardware as what's in the iMac 20") is a Phillips display, which I believe is the same as what's used in the high end Sony displays. Expect to pay $650-800 for a display of this quality and size (Apple gets $799 for the 20" at this time). The latest Cinema Display 23 is, again, I believe the same technology and OEM vendor as the 20" model, just more expensive due to size (Apple's current price is $1499 ... I remember when that product was over $3000!).
Low-end CRTs have gotten worse too. My partner (system administrator for a large tech company) had to return 8 supposedly high-quality IBM branded CRTs because of issues with focus and image stability ... they were hurting the engineers' eyes and preventing them getting work done. Replaced with a set of LCD flat panel displays, everyone is much happier now. And that wasn't even for photographic work!
Godfrey
