Digital BW, The Print

Since I last wrote, Jennifer, I stumbled across the June, 2004 
Consumer Reports magazine's review of 17-inch and 19-inch displays, 
both LCD (20) and CRT(8) displays. Among the four 17-inch CRTs they 
reviewed, two IBMs, the E74 ($145) and the Think Vision C170 ($190) 
did best, but the Dell E773c ($150) did almost as well. A Gateway 
EV730 ($150) brought up the rear and didn't have the three-year 
warranty the other three had. A 17-inch ViewSonic wasn't reviewed, 
but a 19-inch VS was and didn't do well.

The best of all 28 displays was the 17-inch LCD Apple Studio Display. 
It's $700, but I'm mentioning it to point out that its optimum (and 
maximum) resolution is 1280 x 1024. So 2048 x 1536 seems unrealistic 
as a standard at this size. In the case of CRTs, it's better to watch 
at an 85 Hz refresh rate or higher. If necessary, I'd watch a CRT at 
a lower than 1280 x 1024 resolution in order to watch at 85 Hz. The 
resolution at which you can do that is the most important one. I like 
1024 x 768, and it's often provided at 85 Hz.

Not all displays can be profiled with every colorimeter (Spyder, 
etc.). So if you want to be sure you can profile one you're 
interested in, dig into the spec's, call up, etc. until you find out. 
I don't think it's essential, and I think there might be a better use 
for the money, so I'd buy the colorimeter and its software last.
--
Sam


At 11:49 AM +0000 8/8/04, jvajdos@... wrote:
>Just wanted to follow up a little and say thanks to everyone. I was
>able to see what was on my computer by going to www.belarc.com -- it
>is scary what all they could detect!  So from what I understand, I
>need at least a 16 meg video card (good news I already have that)
>and calibration software (like Spyder).  If I get that, then as long
>as I get at least a 17 inch CRT or high end LCD with good resolution
>(2048x1536) I should be good to go. 
>
>Also, I really like the B & W conversion at
>http://www.thelightsright.com/DigitalDarkroom/PhotoshopTools.htm
>
>Thanks again for everyone's help!