Flat Panel Monitor Advice Please

[The Dent Guy]

I've finally decided to upgrade my desktop monitor from my heavy CRT 17" and get a nice modern sleek flat panel.

Will probably go for a widescreen between 19" and 22".

My question is.....when i use my Dell laptop, i have to angle the screen perfectly or the screen will appear dark - also the colours aren't correct.

Yet an LCD tv can be viewed at lots of angles with no brightness differences and the colours are accurate.

Why are there these differences and is there a monitor which behaves more like a flat panel TV?

 

[verytalldave]

Laptop screens are designed like bank ATM machines in that it is difficult for a person sitting or standing next to you to read the screen. Laptops inherently have narrow viewing angle screens for this reason.
Monitors for desktop use have wide angle viewing as per LCD/Plasma TV's.
Dont worry. Go down to your nearest PC world and see for yourself.

 

[Nik_Endeavour]

Laptop screens are designed like bank ATM machines in that it is difficult for a person sitting or standing next to you to read the screen. Laptops inherently have narrow viewing angle screens for this reason.
Monitors for desktop use have wide angle viewing as per LCD/Plasma TV's.
Dont worry. Go down to your nearest PC world and see for yourself.

Or you can get a Sony VAIO with an X-Black screen which has a damn good viewing angle

 

[The Dent Guy]

What about the accuracy of colours compared with laptops?

And is there any real benefit of HD for monitors?

Thanks for your help - will be nipping down to PC World over easter.

 

[robert.saunders]

Try ebuyer.com, unless you want a tactile experience

 

[Mark300SL]

I went mad just before Xmas and bought a Dell 24" for my photoshop work. The cheapest way to do this was to buy a PC from Dell via my firms account
The monitor is amazing, 1900x1280 resolution makes my 13mp Canon images a lot more useable and I calibrate it via a Spyder pro so I know the colours are 100% accurate.

Some of the cheaper 22" monitors however often similar performance at a slightly lower resolution for a LOT less money.



If you want colour accuracy then use a hardware calibration tool, if you just want a colour rich monitor display then most half decent LCD panels will work just fine.


Mark

 

[Aoraki]

Bought a Samsung SyncMaster 2232BW from PC World at Xmas (business account, saved £40), 3000:1 contrast ratio, 2ms response time, 1680x1050 screen res and profiled using Spyder2. Highly recomended.

 

[Ratz]

When you are using your laptop are you sure the brightness/contrast is adjusted up, also are you running it off the mains? Internal power management tends to lower screen levels especially when on battery. Also LCD screens tend to have much better viewing angle horizontally than vertically.

Colour calibration is a very tricky business, I spent 3 years working on a project to calibrate CRT's(which are much more stable than LCD's) which is now used by M&S. Ambient light is a major issue amongst other things.

 

[DieselE]

Yet an LCD tv can be viewed at lots of angles with no brightness differences and the colours are accurate.

Why are there these differences and is there a monitor which behaves more like a flat panel TV?

I've got an iiyama 19" LCD monitor which I find fantastic. OK it's not widescreen but there are widescreen LCD monitors out there.

 

[Frank O' Phile]

Try ebuyer.com, unless you want a tactile experience

Seconded.

Always get a good service from them.


I can never think of a good enough reason to visit PCWorld.

 

[The Dent Guy]

Update

Thanks all - for your help.

After a good think and weighing up the pros and cons with price, aesthetics and spec, I ended up buying a Fujitsu Siemens L22w-5 22" widescreen from PC World. They price matched the web price so i got it for £149.97

So far im impressed - straight froward plug and play, screen flashed up recommended viewing resolution (the max) and hey presto.

Was very impressed with ebuyer.com tho ........

Had i not been in the position of "wanting it now" I would have bought a monitor from them and had it delivered. Very keenly priced with free delivery - will keep my eye on that site for other stuff.