Digital BW, The Print

I'm looking for comments from anyone who is using, or has used the 
Apple 17 inch flat panel monitor for B&W image processing. I am 
considering purchasing one to use with Photoshop for my digital work.

Marty Knapp
http://www.martyknapp.com

Just bought one with a new dual G4...haven't set it up yet...but check in
with me (offlist) in a week or so and I'll let you know how well it goes
through calibration.  Never considered one before because of the price...but
I got $400 off when I bought them together...bringing the monitor to about
$500.

Robert

On 7/17/02 3:54 PM, "martino3847" <marty@...> wrote:

> I'm looking for comments from anyone who is using, or has used the
> Apple 17 inch flat panel monitor for B&W image processing. I am
> considering purchasing one to use with Photoshop for my digital work.
> 
> Marty Knapp
> http://www.martyknapp.com

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@y..., "martino3847" <marty@m...> wrote:
> I'm looking for comments from anyone who is using, or has used the 
> Apple 17 inch flat panel monitor for B&W image processing. I am 
> considering purchasing one to use with Photoshop for my digital work.
> 
> Marty Knapp
> http://www.martyknapp.com

Marty,

I have been using a G4 and a 22" Apple Cinema Display for B&W digital 
image processing for nearly a year now and I am extremely pleased with it.  I 
also have another G4 dual processor and two LaCie 22" monitors.  Between 
the two setups, I find that I use the Cinema Display most of the time for digital 
black and white photography.

You might also want to consider the new iMac with a 17" flat panel display 
that was announced today.  It has a wide aspect ratio like the 22" display.  
Based on my experience, I'm sure you would be more than pleased with 
either setup.

Jerry Campbell

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@y..., "martino3847" 
<marty@m...> wrote:
> I'm looking for comments from anyone who is using, or has 
used the 
> Apple 17 inch flat panel monitor for B&W image processing. I 
am 
> considering purchasing one to use with Photoshop for my 
digital work.
> 
> Marty Knapp
> http://www.martyknapp.com

Hi Marty,

I've been using one for several months and I really like it.
I have a G4 with dual monitor support and I figured that I'd get
the 17 flat panel and keep my older 20 inch CRT.  So they are
both connected and the difference is amazing.  The flat panel is
much, much brighter, contrastier and sharper.  I always use
the flat panel for the image and the CRT just for pallettes
and dialogue boxes.

Roy

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@y..., "royvharrington" <roy@h...> 
wrote:
> --- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@y..., "martino3847" 
> <marty@m...> wrote:
> > I'm looking for comments from anyone who is using, or has 
> used the 
> > Apple 17 inch flat panel monitor for B&W image processing. I 
> am 
> > considering purchasing one to use with Photoshop for my 
> digital work.
> > 
> > Marty Knapp
> > http://www.martyknapp.com
> 
> Hi Marty,
> 
> I've been using one for several months and I really like it.
> I have a G4 with dual monitor support and I figured that I'd get
> the 17 flat panel and keep my older 20 inch CRT.  So they are
> both connected and the difference is amazing.  The flat panel is
> much, much brighter, contrastier and sharper.  I always use
> the flat panel for the image and the CRT just for pallettes
> and dialogue boxes.
> 
> Roy

Thanks for the feedback, Roy. The G4 with dual monitor support sounds 
like a great idea, too. I'm just about ready to spring for this set-up, 
due to the useful comments I received from you and other kind souls on 
this list.

I'm preparing to make the plunge for piezography software for my 1280, 
too. All of this is connected to my commitment to learn how to make the 
best B&W digital, carbon pigment prints I can. The world feels pretty 
exciting, now. I have much to learn! The mountain does look pretty tall 
from down here, though.

Marty
http://www.martyknapp.com

Marty and others thinking about getting a new Mac soon might want to 
fold the following rumor into their thinking. This quote is from 
ThinkSecret.com, which I heard about on MacFixIt.com:

>July 12, 2002 - Think Secret has confirmed Apple has tentatively 
>scheduled August 13 as the rollout date for new, faster Power Mac G4 
>systems and will quietly discontinue its most popular Mac ever, the 
>all-in-one, classic iMac over the next few months.
>In what has been "standard procedure" for CEO Steve Jobs, neither 
>announcement is expected to be made during his keynote address next 
>Wednesday, July 17. Jobs and Apple historically do not talk about 
>un-announced products and hardly ever officially announce the end of 
>a product line. There is no reason to think this policy will change 
>on either of these products, sources report.
>As we mentioned earlier this week, Apple announced a $300-$500 
>mail-in rebate offer on Power Mac G4 systems with the purchase of 
>either a 17-inch Studio Display, 22-inch Cinema Display, or 23-inch 
>Cinema HD Display. The promotion is Apple's effort to clear existing 
>inventory of systems that have slowed to a crawl worldwide before 
>announcing new systems. Historically, Apple has timed new product 
>announcements to the end of promotions, and sources have confirmed 
>this time it will be no different. "The G4/display promotion ends 
>August 12," an un-named source inside Apple said. "The new systems 
>will be announced the next day, or at least that's the plan at this 
>point. It's that simple."
>It is expected the new models will include speed-bumps to at least 
>1.2GHz and a new motherboard design. Sources have squashed for good 
>any rumor that USB 2.0 will be part of the new professional systems. 
>It is also expected that once the new systems ship (which might not 
>be immediately after August 13), they will ship with Mac OS X 
>version 10.2.

Sam McCandless                 samcc@...

>Thanks for the feedback, Roy. The G4 with dual monitor support sounds
>like a great idea, too. I'm just about ready to spring for this set-up,
>due to the useful comments I received from you and other kind souls on
>this list.
>
>I'm preparing to make the plunge for piezography software for my 1280,
>too. All of this is connected to my commitment to learn how to make the
>best B&W digital, carbon pigment prints I can. The world feels pretty
>exciting, now. I have much to learn! The mountain does look pretty tall
>from down here, though.
>
>Marty
>http://www.martyknapp.com

In a message dated 7/17/02 6:55:43 PM, marty@... writes:

>I'm looking for comments from anyone who is using, or has used the 
>Apple 17 inch flat panel monitor for B&W image processing. I am 
>considering purchasing one to use with Photoshop for my digital work.

As long as you calibrate it with an LCD/CRT Spyder to get the curves correct, 
it works great for this... it has a hack built in that gets the grays quite 
neutral without custom profiling, but the shadows are clogged, and the 
gradients are not even until the Spyder curves are built and applied. Its 
nice for color too...

C. David Tobie
Design Cooperative
CDTobie@...

C. David Tobie
Design Cooperative
CDTobie@...

CDTobie@... writes:
 > 
 > In a message dated 7/17/02 6:55:43 PM, marty@... writes:
 > 
 > >I'm looking for comments from anyone who is using, or has used the 
 > >Apple 17 inch flat panel monitor for B&W image processing. I am 
 > >considering purchasing one to use with Photoshop for my digital work.
 > 
 > As long as you calibrate it with an LCD/CRT Spyder to get the curves
 > correct, it works great for this... it has a hack built in that gets
 > the grays quite neutral without custom profiling, but the shadows are
 > clogged, and the gradients are not even until the Spyder curves are
 > built and applied. Its nice for color too...

Can you get away with using one of the custom dot-gain tricks (like
the one described in the list files area) to match the monitor to the
output, or does it really need to be calibrated?

If it's calibrated, do you end up using a dot-gain curve too, or does
it work as is?

g.

CDTobie@... writes:
 > 
 > In a message dated 7/17/02 6:55:43 PM, marty@... writes:
 > 
 > >I'm looking for comments from anyone who is using, or has used the 
 > >Apple 17 inch flat panel monitor for B&W image processing. I am 
 > >considering purchasing one to use with Photoshop for my digital work.
 > 
 > As long as you calibrate it with an LCD/CRT Spyder to get the curves
 > correct, it works great for this... it has a hack built in that gets
 > the grays quite neutral without custom profiling, but the shadows are
 > clogged, and the gradients are not even until the Spyder curves are
 > built and applied. Its nice for color too...

Can you get away with using one of the custom dot-gain tricks (like
the one described in the list files area) to match the monitor to the
output, or does it really need to be calibrated?

If it's calibrated, do you end up using a dot-gain curve too, or does
it work as is?

g.

In a message dated 7/22/02 7:27:43 PM, hartzell@... writes:

>Can you get away with using one of the custom dot-gain tricks (like
>the one described in the list files area) to match the monitor to the
>output, or does it really need to be calibrated?

Dot gain generally only makes a single overall correction to the gamma. In my 
experience the Apple LCDs need much more tweaking than that to offer accurate 
grays, expecially in the shadow areas. This could all be done manually 
(unlike color correction, its a 2d correction, not 3d, thus possible, if 
inconvenient) but how are you going to determine the corrections; by eye? And 
what about those times when you want to view color?
 
It really makes the most sense just to calibrate it like any monitor.

C. David Tobie
Design Cooperative
CDTobie@...