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which: two 17" lcds vs one 20" lcd?

C

Col127

macrumors 6502
Original poster
i'm considering leaving my 22" crt for lcds, for their ergonomic benefits. i currently run at a 1600 x 1200 resolution.

anyways, i'm thinking of either two 17" lcds, particularly the L1710SK 17" which seems to be a great monitor, OR a dell 20" ultrasharp lcd.

i actually get more screen space and save money by going with the two 17" lcds, but i've nver done a dual monitor support and i don't know how annoying it might be to span projects i'm working on, on two monitors.

i'm a design student, so colour is important to me. what do you guys think? any recommendations on what i should do?
 
The only disadvantage (in my opinion) with dual monitors is that they tend to take up more space, and if you have a single window that requires alot of space (such as HD video), spanning two monitors is a pain. Otherwise, two monitors has many advantages. Much more screen space for less money. Also, I like to use one screen for controls and the other for display. For instance, adjusting the levels on a photo; one monitor has a full-screen of the photo, and the other has the toggles for adjusting. Keep in mind that for the most part the color fidelity seems to be better on CRT's, so you might want to keep the old crt around if needed. But the ergonomics of LCD are phenomenal. I never noticed the eyestrain with CRT's until I got an LCD. You can feel your face relaxing.

As for supporting multiple monitors, this mainly depends on your graphics card, but even on my older Powerbook G3 (Pismo), I can run two monitors without difficulty. On the "consumer level" macs, multiple monitors is disabled, but can be had with an easily-available hack.

Good luck.

Dave
 
Col127 said:
i'm considering leaving my 22" crt for lcds, for their ergonomic benefits. i currently run at a 1600 x 1200 resolution.

anyways, i'm thinking of either two 17" lcds, particularly the L1710SK 17" which seems to be a great monitor, OR a dell 20" ultrasharp lcd.

i actually get more screen space and save money by going with the two 17" lcds, but i've nver done a dual monitor support and i don't know how annoying it might be to span projects i'm working on, on two monitors.

i'm a design student, so colour is important to me. what do you guys think? any recommendations on what i should do?
Click to expand...

I'm not real familiar with the LCDs you describe, but there are pros and cons to going either way (BTW - what system are you installing these on?).

Dual 17" Pros - more screen real estate, slightly less expensive, although you might need to purchase an additional video card, so it's probably a wash. Separate screens for different parts of a project.

Dual 17" Cons - more desk real estate eaten up; not likely to be as color accurate; single screen area not as large (may need to split images across screens).

20" Pros - single large screen for projects; more likely to be color accurate (look at the HP2035 @ $900, similar to ACD 20"); less desk real estate; single video card, no additional purchases.

20" Cons - Perhaps more expensive; less screen real-estate

I run dual monitors - a 17" ASD off of my Ti Powerbook, and it is nice to have the separation, but I seldom use it as dual "primary" monitors. If you go dual 17", you will likely continue to use one as the main monitor, and one as the "extra" monitor, since looking at both all the time will be distracting since they'll be split.
 
Dave00 said:
The only disadvantage (in my opinion) with dual monitors is that they tend to take up more space, and if you have a single window that requires alot of space (such as HD video), spanning two monitors is a pain.
Click to expand...

if your doing HD you might also want an HD monitor ... in that case id run 2 23" Apple LCDs. 🙂

*****
im so used to dual setups that a single monitor setup is difficult for me to work on; i feel so cramped! 😱

the only time idual setups suck is when your doing print work with a landscape layout ... 🙄 i don't do print anymore so it's not a big deal to me.

if i were you, id keep that CRT and run it as a third monitor for color correction (additional <PCI> video card necessary + powermac). you're going to notice a big color shift when moving to the LCDs. if you're doing a lot of pro-print work you'll want a good quality LCD and a screen calibrator.


good luck | peace
 
Col127 said:
i'm a design student, so colour is important to me. what do you guys think? any recommendations on what i should do?
Click to expand...

id go with one monitor if you need better color quality. it takes some time to calibrate one screen to the right colors you want, try doing that with two AND getting them to match. im sure it is possible, but its probably easy getting one monitor matched up. i also vote one b/c i have used monitor spanning with my PB (12" PB screen with a 19" CRT) and at least for me it gets annoying looking from one screen to another. i used a 21" CRT at an engineering company i worked for and that was MUCH better. you con focus on one area and with a monitor that big you can fit everything you need. thats my opinion, i think youd have to try a dual set up to see which you liked better.
 
wPod said:
id go with one monitor if you need better color quality. it takes some time to calibrate one screen to the right colors you want, try doing that with two AND getting them to match. im sure it is possible, but its probably easy getting one monitor matched up. i also vote one b/c i have used monitor spanning with my PB (12" PB screen with a 19" CRT) and at least for me it gets annoying looking from one screen to another. i used a 21" CRT at an engineering company i worked for and that was MUCH better. you con focus on one area and with a monitor that big you can fit everything you need. thats my opinion, i think youd have to try a dual set up to see which you liked better.
Click to expand...

LCDs are much easier to calibrate than CRTs ... you can setup one and use the same profile for the other (if they are they same type).

*****
wPod is right ... try out a dual setup if you can before you buy. some people can't stand dual monitors.

i find the advantage of seperating my palletes/artboard, timeline/stage, and the ability to compare to images/docs full screen on two seperate LCDs is too big to give up for one monitor. even when posting to mac rumors or writing an email i can track processes running of the other screen. Expose has eliminated some of the drawbacks of a single screen, but most programs will not let you see all parts of the current app (palletes; secondary windows) when expose is used. i find the dual setup very useful in these situations.

like right now... i can clearly see what i should be working on in the right monitor, but im currently posting on the left. 😀 ... back to work. 🙄


peace.
 
I have an Apple 20" Cinema display on my Mac. I have a Viewsonic 17" LCD and a Sony 17" crt on my PC.
The Viewsonic makes the crt look like crap.
The Cinema display makes both the View sonic and crt look like crap.
I like the LCDs because they are sharper. The Cinema display has wide viewing angles, the Viewsonic is 160/140. Once you get off center, the Viewsonic looses its appeal. Be careful about "cheaping-out" on a display.
I've been researching this because I plan to replace the viewsonic and crt with two matching LCDs. Looking at Hansol and Samsung.
 
Flynnstone said:
Once you get off center, the Viewsonic looses its appeal. Be careful about "cheaping-out" on a display.
I've been researching this because I plan to replace the viewsonic and crt with two matching LCDs. Looking at Hansol and Samsung.
Click to expand...

yeah th L1710SK 17" you picked out Flynnstone doesn't seem to be the greatest monitor... have you seen it in person? i only trust a few LCDs (namely apple and formac) but i don't have a lot of experience with others.

i have a cheap LCD on my public B&W system at home and it's a pile of crap. if i hook up the usb (it's DVI) it causes a safe boot. 🙄

peace.
 
Flynnstone said:
My Viewsonic is a VG700. I am looking at Hansol H950, anyone have any comments on that one?
Click to expand...

Hansol is, atleast here, a low-end brand. Samsung, LaCie, NEC and Viewsonic is well known brands, but they also have cheaper LCDs aswell.
I have a Viewsonic myself (VP-series, Viewsonics Pro series) and its very good. Compared to iMac 20-in its much better, except viewing angles which is a bit worse than the iMac. (Never notice it while using it)

The VG700 was a budget monitor with 35ms (sluggish..) pixel response its a VGA only monitor and it was introduced over two years ago, so comparing it to a new Apple monitor isn't fair at all!
 
i'm running a radeon 9600 xt, on a dual 2.0 g5.

hmmm lots of options. well i used to run in 1280 x 1024 resolution, but i found that it wasn't enough screen space when working on print projects, especially in landscape, so i upgraded to a new 22" crt so i could have 1600 x 1200, and now that doesn't seem like enough 😛 i've never heard of formac or hansol before. but those formac monitors look gorgeous.

thanks for all the opinions everyone. i guess the best bet is to try a dual system before going ahead...i'll have to find a place that has that..

you didn't hear good things about the lg lcd? iread a review from pc world that loves it: http://msn.pcworld.com/reviews/article/0,aid,117505,pg,1,00.asp
 
cluthz said:
Take a look at the Dell FW2005 20.1" widescreen LCD, it has been discussed a lot at this forum. It sports a 1680x1050 resolutioin and it's specs are comparable to or better than apples 20 incher.
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/97690/
It costs about $600 too!!!!
Click to expand...

nice price, but isn't the viewing angle knida shallow? kinda ugly too... good price though.

Col127 - that LG monitor looks like a pile even after reading the review... they gave it a good rating after seeing pink casts on the monitor; and you're considering it!!!???? i thought you were concerned about color? and it's only 1280px wide... i thought you wanted more horizontal space? with 2 of them you'll have a nice long broken pink image. 😱

this dell may be your best bet... though pixel wise it's almost the same as your CRT so you'll lose color, but you'll gain 80px and less eye strain. is that what you're looking for?


peace.
 
neut said:
nice price, but isn't the viewing angle knida shallow? kinda ugly too... good price though.

this dell may be your best bet... though pixel wise it's almost the same as your CRT so you'll lose color, but you'll gain 80px and less eye strain. is that what you're looking for?


peace.
Click to expand...


I was confused by the viewing angle as well. It says ±90° both vertically and horizontally. Does this mean a 180° viewing angle, or a 90° viewing angle? If it's 90°, they must be referring to a stable image view (i.e., you wouldn't see any image change if you look within that range). But it seems odd they would state it that way.

As for the color, can't comment on that as I haven't seen it, but depending on the age of the CRT and the type, he may be comparable or better on color with the LCD. But you're right about the eye strain - that's a big benefit. And it'll eat up a lot less power.
 
emw said:
I was confused by the viewing angle as well. It says ±90° both vertically and horizontally. Does this mean a 180° viewing angle, or a 90° viewing angle? If it's 90°, they must be referring to a stable image view (i.e., you wouldn't see any image change if you look within that range). But it seems odd they would state it that way.

As for the color, can't comment on that as I haven't seen it, but depending on the age of the CRT and the type, he may be comparable or better on color with the LCD. But you're right about the eye strain - that's a big benefit. And it'll eat up a lot less power.
Click to expand...

true, that CRT might not be up to snuff if he hasn't calibrated it regularly.

an LCD would clear up a lot of desk space too. 🙂


peace.
 
The viewing angle of ±90° ?
I would take that as 180°. BUT ... I think 90° off centre is ... useless and misleading.
 
Off of my 12" PowerBook [Rev. C], I quite often do a dual-monitor hookup. It is really nice... I like dual display setups. Very nice to work on. Final Cut Express really likes it too.

Yknow what you REALLY should do? Get a nice projector and use that... 60" screen!
 
I believe the official specs say ±88°, which is 176° total. I haven't seen a new Cinema Display, but the Dell 2005FPW is very sharp, and has an excellent viewing angle. I bought one after I heard all the commotion in these boards. I definitely recommend getting one. Dell has a satisfaction guarantee, so no worries 🙂
 
well i don't know much about lcds, the lg just sounded good from the review.

for those of you with dual monitors, is one typically like palettes, tools, etc. and the other for the workspace? do any of you span projects across the two monitors? how do you find that works for you? thanks.
 
Col127 said:
well i don't know much about lcds, the lg just sounded good from the review.

for those of you with dual monitors, is one typically like palettes, tools, etc. and the other for the workspace? do any of you span projects across the two monitors? how do you find that works for you? thanks.
Click to expand...

99% of the time I am using one monitor for palettes, etc., and one monitor for main application windows. I've never spanned monitors for image projects, but have for things like pages or spreadsheets, which aren't so bad looking at split between monitors.

Then again, my setup isn't really conducive to a good split image. Perhaps if I were running dual metallic ACDs or something, where the border is thin, it wouldn't be so bad.

I think the key to spanning projects is to have two monitors with identical characteristics, at least in terms of color/brightness calibration so that there isn't a large visual difference between the displays.
 
Wouldn't 90° off center or a 180° viewing angle look like this.
acd20.jpg

Usually, a 90° viewing angle means 45° to the right and 45° to the left. However, the ± thing throws me off.

The viewing angle is calculated at the angle where the contrast ratio is suckage. like 10:1 or 20:1 (full black to full white), so that text is legible (even if you can't actually read text at 89° of center). However, even if this applies, it doesn't mean that the image is hmmm.... color correct.

Color is always not so good at an angle. Different colors will fly out of the glass at different angles so this is to be expected though when not viewing straight ahead. But for the most part if you are doing something color-intensiveyou are looking at the monitor straight.
 
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