LCD monitor for Vegas

hbear wrote on 9/13/2005, 7:38 PM

Well, first, it's really cheap. With rebates and instant discounts you can get it from staples.com for $180 including shipping.

A big factor here is that this is an analog monitor...uses the standard VGA output from your computer.
A digital monitor is going to cost you probably $100 more. You would also need to have a graphics card with the DVI output...which sends the data specifically to each individual pixel.

If you're just going to be editing for standard DVD (not HD) it probably doesn't matter as much due to the lower resolution of DVD.

Another issue to consider is the color correctness.
No cheap LCD will match the color correctness you can achieve with a CRT, or high-end LCD.
If you want the color balance you see onscreen to be the same as it looks on the final TV monitor (assuming that it is calibrated!) you would also need a color calibration unit such as the $189 Spyder2
http://www.colorvision.com/profis/profis_view.jsp?id=101

So...the main issues are going to be, do you want to do HD?
Do you want precise color control?

If not, go for it.

MH_Stevens wrote on 9/13/2005, 7:56 PM

The Dell 2405 24" LCD is the only monitor up to the job for under $1500. Watch the price as often they are $1200 - often $950. You will need a DVI graphics card that can drive it at its native 1920x1080 resolution. Putting a $200 monitor on a $1000 NLE is like putting bear-thread tires on a Porche. The dell doubles as a good quality HDTV.

Mike S

craftech wrote on 9/13/2005, 8:31 PM

If you are buying it for computer use there is a very nice one in that price range that I bought for my daughter's computer. She loves it.

It is the Samsung SyncMaster 710N-2 17" LCD Flat Panel Monitor. I bought it from Amazon.com.

While you are on that site you can read user reviews of other monitors as well.

John

jrazz wrote on 9/13/2005, 8:41 PM

I just ordered 2 of these for my setup at home NEC LCD1970GX / 19" / 8ms / SXGA / 1280x1024 / 700:1/ Black / LCD Monitor
They retail for a little of 600 a pop, but you can buy refurb's on tigerdirect.com for about half that much and they come with a standard 12 month warranty.

craftech wrote on 9/14/2005, 5:11 AM

I just ordered 2 of these for my setup at home NEC LCD1970GX / 19" / 8ms / SXGA / 1280x1024 / 700:1/ Black / LCD Monitor
They retail for a little of 600 a pop, but you can buy refurb's on tigerdirect.com for about half that much and they come with a standard 12 month warranty.
=============
I almost bought an NEC monitor myself, but after comparing user reviews I was turned off by the number of dead pixels, inconsistent display, and other problems some people complained about. I tend to try to assess quality control issues before I purchase pretty much anything either using Consumer Reports, User Reviews at Amazon, and Epinions. I also got a little nervous when I saw so many NEC monitors available "refurbished" at places like Overstock.com, etc.

However, if that monitor interests you they have it for $512.45 with FREE SHIPPING fromAmazon.com.

John

jrazz wrote on 9/14/2005, 6:31 AM

John,

I guess I am at an advantage here as I do a lot of computer work and I have relationships with the companies that I buy from, so I can test out the hardware and see if it is something I want and if it is not, then I can simply send it back within 60 days.

CTJ wrote on 9/14/2005, 11:23 AM

...yeah, I can get it shipped to my door for $158 after all applied items.

GlennChan wrote on 9/14/2005, 11:16 PM

In my opinion:

Delivery for standard definition, for people viewing on CRT TVs:
#1- Broadcast monitor, hooked up as firewire preview
#2- Any TV, hooked up as firewire preview. You can use whatever you want for the computer monitors. I prefer LCD and they won't interfere with your TV or broadcast monitor.

a distant #3- A GOOD computer monitor, set as secondary monitor in Vegas. Use 16-235 studio RGB (under color profile or something).
I don't think the Colorvision Spyder works that well... but I don't have experience with that.
#4- Nearly all LCDs. Many LCDs have 6-bit color depth, which is horrid- lots of banding on gradients. If the have 8-bit color depth, there's still the wacked color, gamma, and ghosting.

A CRT TV will make you aware of motion reproduction (i.e. you're playing around with 60i --> 24p conversion), interlace flicker, underscan. Computer monitors won't do this.

* The two important caveats are listed above.
For standard definition only. HD is a different story.
Target audience is assumed to be mostly CRT TVs.

JJKizak wrote on 9/15/2005, 5:52 AM

glennchan:
Could you maybe fill us in on HD available monitors?

JJK

MH_Stevens wrote on 9/15/2005, 7:14 AM

I really do not mean to be snotty or snobby but a lot of the advice in this thread is out of date. Within a short time all TV will be HD. New cameras are increasingly HD and Vegas is a HIGH END NLE where very soon most users will be working, or at least experimenting, with HD. ALSO the move to LCD TV's is well underway. How many CRT's do you see on the shelf at Costco? To advise a Vegas editor to get a monitor / graphics card that is not at least DVI and 1920x1080 is just plain bad advice.

Mike S

jrazz wrote on 9/16/2005, 6:25 AM

I just received my 2 19" NEC monitors listed above. I do not forsee sending them back. I picked up the refurbs from tigerdirect with the 1 year warranty and I am not displeased to say the least. I need to calibrate them, but they far exceed my previous CRT monitors. I had a sony trinitron and a sun monitor 17" and 21" respectively. I did not see any dead pixels, although there might be a couple, I could not find them. These monitors can be connected by an S-video cord, DVI, or VGA as all connections are built in and the refurbs are a little over 300 dollars... just in case you are still looking.

CTJ wrote on 9/16/2005, 9:18 AM

...just rec'd. Norcent 17" LCD LM-760... I like it, due to some shipping delays, i rec'd. some other discounts bringing final price to $133.71.

by the way, how do you find and/or search for dead pixels?

GlennChan wrote on 9/16/2005, 11:15 PM

Could you maybe fill us in on HD available monitors?

I honestly don't know what's the best thing to do for HD. Issues:

A- Almost no HD CRTs are being sold, as far as I know. So now you have the majority of your audience watching on LCDs, rear projection, plasma, etc. DIfferent colors from CRT, with some quirks (response time, what happens with blacks).
B- Limited HD distribution currently, so it may be prudent to hold out? Especially when LCD prices are dropping dramatically.
C- The standard for HD is supposed to be a HD (*NOT* SD) broadcast monitor with SMPTE C phosphors.
HD / 709 color space is difference from SD / ITU-R 601. Most down/up converters don't handle the color space conversion, so the colors will end up wrong. I think to get proper color you need a monitor that accepts HD SDI (standard definition SDI won't do).

The best thing to do may be to monitor on multiple monitors. Ecinemasys' DCM23 looks interesting.
And after that just get some consumer crap.
Color issues may not be that important when the market is so messed up.

2- I think SD will still kick around for at least a decade, if not more. It'd be prudent to have a SD broadcast monitor around I would think.
And CRT broadcast monitors are still good monitors.

Wolfgang S. wrote on 9/17/2005, 2:04 AM

I mean, who gets that things right is definitively Canopus, if you use a Nexus with the HD support. For Vegas, there are decklink cards, the Decklink Pro or SD, using SDI and YUV interfaces. Great, these cards are supported by Vegas directly since Vegas6.

However, tests have shown that this does not work fine for PAL-DV, since the field order is not interpretated correctly, what makes the card useless for the PAL world at the moment (I do not know, if it works fine for the NTSC world).