The thread title pretty much says it all, but let me go into more specifics about what I'm looking for and why... 
(As a note, I'm asking here rather than in the Peripherals forum since I suspect you guys would be more familiar with high-end displays.)
I've always used CRTs. I'm an artist and, a little bit, a gamer: I primarily do photography and 3D rendering and animation, as well as other graphical work. LCD screens have only really seemed like an option recently. They've finally overcome the shallow viewing angles and color/tonal shifts with even such a slight change in viewing angle as from the top to bottom of a display. I find myself looking at ACDs and the new 24" iMac and the old 20" iMac and thinking, "hey, that's not bad..." It seems the most beautiful screen type to have, and the kind in all the displays that have nearly passed muster, is S-IPS (or is it H-IPS?).
I like to see pixel-level detail clearly. As I find higher screen resolutions necessary (and only as of a year ago did I bump it up to 1280x960) I'm starting to notice, and feel dissatisfied with, a certain lack of sharpness (especially horizontally), as well as the CRT blooming effect, and of course the amount of desk space taken up by a big, heavy, boxy CRT. Hence, why I'm starting to think about getting an LCD display.
Even with the latest *-IPS displays, I still have some problems. I've always disliked matte screens. The contrast- and saturation-destroying haze of blurred reflection that's cast over the image is awful. I'm also bothered by the way the very fine texture of the surface interferes with grid of pixels, casting a sparkly grain-like noise over the whole screen. I'm pretty sensitive to detail, and especially as a photographer, I know the value of seeing the true image without added noise.
The first time I saw a glossy LCD screen (on a 17" Toshiba laptop) it was a revelation, an epiphany - I stopped and thought to myself, "this is what has been missing all this time!" No haze, no grainy noise texture, deep rich blacks...it was amazing! It was also in a fairly dark room. Glossy LCD screens are just so reflective. I'm not even sure if a matte screen is actually any less reflective than a glossy screen, just that it blurs it into a less-distinct (but also less-avoidable) haze.
My CRT has a "glossy", flat surface too, but it's much, much less reflective - the very low intensity of its reflections, plus the slight blue tint to surface reflections, is a telltale sign that it was manufactured with a thin-film antireflection coating. The reflections are sharp, like a glossy LCD, but just so much dimmer - even with the display off, I can't make out my face as illuminated by area lighting. I found myself wondering why the heck LCD screen manufacturers don't AR-coat glossy screens. It'd be the best of ALL worlds: clear image, no grain, no haze, dim reflections.
Well, they do: upon seeing a Sony 11.1" TZ150 notebook, I noticed the dim and distinctly purple-tinted reflections on its glossy LCD screen. Eureka - a glossy LCD screen that has AR-coating! The coating isn't as good as on my CRT - it's a lot more colorfully tinted and not as well dimmed (I wish I could put them side-by-side, along with a regular glossy screen, to take a comparison photo), but it gave me hope that LCD screens could be made this way.
So, in short, I can't accept any screen unless it's S- or H-IPS (or better, in terms of sharpness/clarity of detail, contrast, color, stability of the former three qualities over a wide viewing angle, and clarity/responsiveness of video/motion). I don't want to accept a matte screen, and I can't accept an untreated glossy screen. So, I pose my hopes and dreams to you, o hopefully knowledgeable forumites: is there an LCD screen for me? Does there exist a high-quality *-IPS display (or better), preferably 24", with glossy CRT-like antireflection-coated surface?
(As a note, I'm asking here rather than in the Peripherals forum since I suspect you guys would be more familiar with high-end displays.)I've always used CRTs. I'm an artist and, a little bit, a gamer: I primarily do photography and 3D rendering and animation, as well as other graphical work. LCD screens have only really seemed like an option recently. They've finally overcome the shallow viewing angles and color/tonal shifts with even such a slight change in viewing angle as from the top to bottom of a display. I find myself looking at ACDs and the new 24" iMac and the old 20" iMac and thinking, "hey, that's not bad..." It seems the most beautiful screen type to have, and the kind in all the displays that have nearly passed muster, is S-IPS (or is it H-IPS?).
I like to see pixel-level detail clearly. As I find higher screen resolutions necessary (and only as of a year ago did I bump it up to 1280x960) I'm starting to notice, and feel dissatisfied with, a certain lack of sharpness (especially horizontally), as well as the CRT blooming effect, and of course the amount of desk space taken up by a big, heavy, boxy CRT. Hence, why I'm starting to think about getting an LCD display.
Even with the latest *-IPS displays, I still have some problems. I've always disliked matte screens. The contrast- and saturation-destroying haze of blurred reflection that's cast over the image is awful. I'm also bothered by the way the very fine texture of the surface interferes with grid of pixels, casting a sparkly grain-like noise over the whole screen. I'm pretty sensitive to detail, and especially as a photographer, I know the value of seeing the true image without added noise.
The first time I saw a glossy LCD screen (on a 17" Toshiba laptop) it was a revelation, an epiphany - I stopped and thought to myself, "this is what has been missing all this time!" No haze, no grainy noise texture, deep rich blacks...it was amazing! It was also in a fairly dark room.
Glossy LCD screens are just so reflective. I'm not even sure if a matte screen is actually any less reflective than a glossy screen, just that it blurs it into a less-distinct (but also less-avoidable) haze.My CRT has a "glossy", flat surface too, but it's much, much less reflective - the very low intensity of its reflections, plus the slight blue tint to surface reflections, is a telltale sign that it was manufactured with a thin-film antireflection coating. The reflections are sharp, like a glossy LCD, but just so much dimmer - even with the display off, I can't make out my face as illuminated by area lighting. I found myself wondering why the heck LCD screen manufacturers don't AR-coat glossy screens. It'd be the best of ALL worlds: clear image, no grain, no haze, dim reflections.
Well, they do: upon seeing a Sony 11.1" TZ150 notebook, I noticed the dim and distinctly purple-tinted reflections on its glossy LCD screen. Eureka - a glossy LCD screen that has AR-coating! The coating isn't as good as on my CRT - it's a lot more colorfully tinted and not as well dimmed (I wish I could put them side-by-side, along with a regular glossy screen, to take a comparison photo), but it gave me hope that LCD screens could be made this way.
So, in short, I can't accept any screen unless it's S- or H-IPS (or better, in terms of sharpness/clarity of detail, contrast, color, stability of the former three qualities over a wide viewing angle, and clarity/responsiveness of video/motion). I don't want to accept a matte screen, and I can't accept an untreated glossy screen. So, I pose my hopes and dreams to you, o hopefully knowledgeable forumites: is there an LCD screen for me? Does there exist a high-quality *-IPS display (or better), preferably 24", with glossy CRT-like antireflection-coated surface?
