LG 1930/1940B, Samsung 913N, LG 1915S or what, for editing photographs?

    Getting really mixed up trying to choose a 19" monitor for my new PC . Games aren't that important to me but I want to be able to watch films without ghosting, so I don't think a 25ms PVA or MVA screen would do me. Am I right in thinking a 25ms PVA or MVA screen would likely not be able to show films well without ghosting?


    I'd quite like an S-IPS panel, as the major problem I have with LCDs I've seen is poor viewing angles, but I'm concerned about the contrast ratio factor. One problem is that I want a monitor that's capable of showing shadow detail quite well, for editing my photographs which often have a lot of shadow in them.


    The only affordable (under £230) S-IPS panel I've found is the LG 1930B. Would this likely be better for the job than a TN panel, or would its contrast ratio make it less useful than, say a TN (12ms) monitor like the LG1915s or the Samsung 913N (8ms)?


    Ideal would be an 8ms PVA monitor, but all the ones I can seem to find are a lot more expensive than what I can really afford.

    Hey there,
    I'm not sure which price comparison pages are commonly used in the UK, but here's what I found on kelkoo.co.uk in the sub 230 Pound range:
    Acer AL1922As
    PVA panel, 170 degrees viewing angle, 8ms, 1000:1 contrast ratio
    It has DVI and no D-Sub VGA input, but that's ok, since DVI is the way to go anyway.
    Alternatively, you might want to look into the
    Xerox XA7-19i, which a lot of folks on our board seem to be happy with so far.
    MVA panel (allegedly sometimes sold with TN panel, make sure you ask the dealer first), 170 degrees, 8ms, 800:1 contrast, DVI, D-Sub.


    good luck

    Hi,


    Thanks very much for those recommendations, I hadn't been able to find anything like these ones, very helpful suggestions. The Xerox one has a good price but of course I'd have to have some way of finding out whether the one was looking at is TN or MVA (I doubt the people selling it are going to be able to tell me).


    Do you know what panel it is they use, or what other monitors use the same panel?


    Is the Acer 1922AS using the same 1000:1, 8ms panel as the Belinea 10 19 20 (another one that I found around the same price at some shops)?

    If the the shop's description of the monitor claims "170 degrees", then customers should be able to rely on that they are in fact buying an MVA panel monitor.
    In case they still send you a TN panel device, you are going to notice it immediately and are therefore entitled to a full refund or have it exchanged.


    But I guess the Belinea or the Acer have a slight edge over the Xerox anyway.

    Thanks again for the advice. In the end I didn't go for the Acer or the Xerox, but for the similarly priced Belinea 10 19 20.


    So far I'm really happy with it. It cost £246 including delivery. I really didn't want an lcd screen and was unhappy with their quality because of their bad viewing angles and poor contrast, but the Belinea 10 19 20 seems to be comparatively excellent on those fronts.


    I was a bit concerned that the Belinea 10 19 20, despite being a PVA screen, wouldn't be a lot better viewing angle-wise than the TN monitors I saw in the shops, which were typically terrible. But it has the best viewing angles of any LCD monitor I've seen , far better than TN monitors, which tend to change in colour significantly if you so much as move your head a little. It's not perfect, the tones do shift a bit and go white especially from extreme angles, but it is a whole lot better than I was expecting. With my dad's TN monitor you can't see a thing on the screen if you're below it, on the 10 19 20 you could watch a film sitting on the floor below it.


    It also is low contrast, at least as it's set up just now. It sees a lot of shadow detail, unlike my dad's 400:1 contrast ratio TN, in fact too much, at the current gamma.. I see a lot of artifacts and noise in my photos in the shadows. It has contrast similar to my brother's CRT, I'd say. It doesn't have the over-contrasty, shadow detail-less look I associate with LCDs.


    I need to calibrate it somehow. The colours out of the box are not very saturated and there is no saturation control (though I boosted the saturation with the digital vibrance thing).


    Anyway, I definitely recommend it. Although Belinea's hot pixel policy is terrible, mine thankfully doesn't have any (yet).