LCD Monitors fit for editing

1. adamgonzales1
   Member

   

   Hello everybody, I'm hoping I can get some advice.  I'm looking for a good LCD monitor to edit video with.  I have looked at different websites including (obviously) Videomaker, PC world, PC mag, even Newegg for some "tried and true" LCD monitors to edit video with. I have read multiple articles on the important aspects, but yet, I am still leery about purchasing one. I've read reviews where some people say monitor "x" is great and then somebody else says that same monitor is worthless... I've read about problems in general with color recreation, tiling, ghosting, etc... I'm looking for something around 19" and I am on a budget of up to about 250.00.  Anybody have suggestions on particular brands or models???  Or does anybody have any advice about how they chose their monitor??? I'm just getting started so please be kind... Thanks for your time.

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2. robgrauert
   Member

   

    Are you looking for an LCD computer monitor or are you looking for an LCD monitor to use as an external monitor with your NLE?

   Robert J. Grauert, Jr
   http://www.robgrauert.com
   http://command-r.tumblr.com

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3. ralck
   Member

   

   Being a nerd I can hopefully offer you some advice about computer monitors (which based on the size you are talking about, I assume you'll be using it as a computer monitor).

   First of all, let me say that ALL (no exceptions) 19" monitors are TN panels meaning they are 6-bit color instead of 8-bit.  This means they can't do "true" color (they only display approx.  262,000 colors and can "fake" approximately 16.2 million colors).  An 8-bit monitor can to "true" 16.7 million colors.

   That being said, even an 8-bit monitor isn't the end-all of monitors.  It still needs to be color calibrated and even after this point it's not a perfect solution (LCD's don't have the best contrast, and are controlled by your video card which does processing on the video so it's not true to the video you actually have).

   What I would recomend is that you get yourself a decent CRT television (even a small one will work well) and hook this up to your computer via firewire (you can use a converter box, camcorder, or something else to convert from firewire to composite).  This will allow your NLE to output the video through firewire to the external monitor without your computer's video card getting "in the way" and will give you the most accurate representation of your video.

    Just to give you an example, my computer has an 8-bit monitor so I can get "decent" representation of my video on my computer.  I also hook up my camera via firewire to my computer, then a television to the camcorder through composite and tell my NLE to use it as an external monitor through firewire.  It's not perfect, but I've done a "rough" calibration of the colors on both my monitor and the TV and I get pretty good results this way.  This is just a basic setup and isn't perfect, but I'm in no way a professional, so it works for me.

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4. robgrauert
   Member

   

    "This will allow your NLE to output the video through firewire to the external monitor without your computer's video card getting "in the way" and will give you the most accurate representation of your video."

    

   Just to put in my two cents, doing it this way taxes your CPU. So you won't have as many real time effects. You may have to spend time rendering, depending on what you do to your video. Ideally you should have something like a Kona card. But if you're not doing anything too wild, video out via firewire should be fine. As I said, I was just putting in my two cents....

   And connecting your camcorder or deck to the TV with S-Video will be better than composite.  

    

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5. adamgonzales1
   Member

   

   Thanks for all your replies. 

   robgrauert: I am looking for an external LCD Monitor to hook up to my Mac Laptop so I can have dual screen to work with Final Cut.  I thought about an Apple Cinema display (which normally look really good) but, I would also like to share the Monitor with my Dell Laptop.

   ralck: I have considered getting a small production monitor and I intend on adding this to my production system in time.  Right now, I am more interested in getting an external LCD monitor to dual-screen my laptop. Thanks for your advice though, I wasn't specific as to what I was trying to get.

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6. BarefootMedia
   Member

   

   Let me describe the set-up I use for my primary edit suite.

   My computer is a VAIO laptop with a variety of AV outputs.  I have an Advent LCD TV/monitor purchased during "Black Friday" of 2006 for $125, about half price.  It is an SD television set with a number of other input options.  Generally speaking, I use the S-video (not the composite) input connected to an older digital camcorder which connects to my computer via the Firewire (or IEEE 1394) port when I'm editing to view the program out from my NLE.  But I can also connect the S-video directly to my computer's S-video out or connect it to the computer monitor out.  This let's me use the monitor as an extension of my desktop or as an alternative to the laptop LCD screen.  Which I almost never do.  But I'm able to leave any input connected and can switch between inputs with the remote.  So I could use the monitor as a desktop extension, then switch to watch my NLE's program out with ease.  And I can use the Advent as a TV when I'm working on non-editing applications.  I find it works quite well for me.

   But as others mentioned, to be a useful monitor for the NLE output, it has to be properly adjusted.  Now I've been at this for decades and adjusting a monitor using color bars is almost second nature to me.  If you don't know how to adjust a monitor to color bars let me know and I can run through the steps (even on monitors without a "blue" switch.)  Using SMPTE bars, I'm able to make accurate brightness and contrast adjustments.  I can adjust color by eye from experience, but even that isn't too difficult learn.  Then I am able to confirm the accuracy of my monitor by watching the video on my big TV set (which I also adjusted using SMPTE bars.)  Because I frequently produce programs for cable, I'm also able to check out the image when it's cablecast.  So I know my monitor is properly adjusted and accurate.

   My secondary edit suite uses a VAIO desktop which I connect (using IE 1394 & a camcorder) to an older CRT monitor, but it only accepts composite video signals.  But I find it adequate for my needs.  But the important thing to remember about any monitor you choose is that it must be properly adjusted, especially the contrast and brightness settings.  (which computer monitors are notorious for improper display of NTSC video, even when adjusted.)

   So that's what I've got going on.  Hope it helps you make a monitor selection of your own.

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7. robgrauert
   Member

   

    yea, you don't really need a second computer monitor. Just buy a broadcast monitor or TV to use with your NLE. 

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8. ralck
   Member

   

   I understand a little better now, Adam,

   One thing you'll want to do is make sure the output(s) on your laptops match the input(s) on your LCD monitor.  Also, I know some Mac laptops require a "dongle" to adapt their video output to a standard connection.

    If your laptops are newer, they most likely will have a DVI output on them, which is pretty standard and on most LCD's.  If they are older they might have a VGA or even just an S-Video output.

   Then you'll want to find an LCD that has the inputs you need.  Also, I recomend figuring out what resolution you need (go to a local computer store and check out different LCD's- generally the bigger the LCD the bigger the resolution (17 and 19 inch have one res, 20 and 22 inch have a bigger res, 23/24/27 have yet a bigger res, and 30 have yet a bigger res).

   As for my computer setup, I've got 2 monitors and the TV I talked about in an earlier post.  My monitors are a 24" 8-bit panel and a 19" TN panel.  The 24" is the Dell 2408WFP and it's amazing.  The 19" is a Hanns-G and it's been a very sturdy worker for me (and a steal at the price I got it for), though no TN panel will be the best.  I would recomend one of these brands simply because I use them.  I've never used something like an Apple display, but I've heard most people are happy with them; but from what I heard my monitors are as good (19") or much better (24") and for a cheaper price.  I don't know... maybe I'm missing something as to what makes the Apple displays are so much more expensive?

    Hope this gives you some information to help you in your search.

   Oh yeah... one more thing- I don't know if you care, but an interesting fact is that about 90% of the LCD panels made today are actually made by Samsung or Benq.  :)

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9. adamgonzales1
   Member

   

   Thanks a lot to everybody. With your help I bought a Samsung T220. The resolution was what I needed, the response time was good.  Also, it comes with both DVI and VGA (and came with the cables). Luckily my Mac laptop does have DVI and my PC laptop has VGA so, this works perfect. Call me a N00b but I figured out that this particular monitor allows me to have both my laptops connected (1 dvi and 1 vga output) at the same time and switch inputs directly from the monitor, which is great, I thought I was gonna need a KVM switch to share it... Thanks again :)

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