ART121.groupART121.group, DESIGN, March 2006 Computer Arts Issue 121 PDFs, CA121
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//-->GROUP TEST|GROUP TESTPRO-LEVEL LCD DISPLAYSHow do the newest large-format monitors compare with the champions of the old guard? Will size orcolour accuracy make you more productive? We went out in search of the best monitors money can buyThis time last year a 1,920x1,600 display was consideredexceptional, and came with a price tag to match. Butnow former pro-standard 1,600x1,200 displays havecrashed to around £400, and Apple and Dell are trying toone-up the competition with new 2,560x1,600 displays.These days the battle is between size and accuracy.The old guard, represented here by NEC and Eizo, arepitching smaller displays packed with extra electronicsto provide the best pre-flight accuracy possible, whileDell and Apple hope to catch the size vote. Based on ourtests, they have a good chance of success, becauseextra pixels mean extra productivity. Added size has twobenefits. Not only do you have the space you need tospread out every last tool palette and to see more ofwhat’s going on in your designs, but blemishes alsobecome more obvious. So it’s much easier with largeprojects to keep a creative balance between the detailand the overall design.But how do the giants compare with their smallercompetitors? Turn the page to find out…ILLUSTRATION: twelve:ten30” CINEMA HD DISPLAYP923007WFPP92S2410WP932180WG-LEDP93April 2006|91ART121.group Sec1:9124/2/06 12:49:17 pm|GROUP TESTBig and beautiful, the Cinema HD Display looks thebusiness in every sense. But a few small flaws let it downA great monitor at a great price. It falls just short ofperfection, but for value for money it can’t be beatenCinema HD DisplayMACYesCONTACTPCYesSTREET PRICE£1,650 (www.apple.com/uk)3007WFPMACYesCONTACTPCYesRECOMMENDEDSTREET PRICE£1,425 (www.dell.co.uk)Apple 0800 039 1010 www. apple.com/ukcontrast and no dead pixels. Smallerresolutions can be interpolated intothis area, so there’s no problem withswitching down for use with gamesor consoles. Video seems to workwell, too, with only a hint of smearingand ghosting. Extras include twoUSB 2.0 and FireWire 400 sockets.On the downside, the feature setis minimal. Controls are limited topower and brightness, which arehidden away at the side, apparentlyso the clean lines of the main panelaren’t broken, and there’s no on-screen display for fine control.The lack of a colour temperatureor gamma setting is more or lessexcusable now that this is often left tosoftware, but a couple of ergonomicquirks are less praiseworthy. There’san external power supply brick,which isn’t really excusable. Andalthough there’s a tilt option, theheight is fixed, which means thatsome people will find it’s either toohigh or too low for their working level.Dell 0870 152 4699 www.dell.comWith no OSD or colour managementyou’ll need to set the colourtemperature with the graphics card ifyou don’t want the default 6500K. Butthis is a small price to pay forsomething this big. There’s also afour-way USB 2.0 hub and a CF/SD/SM/MS and MMC card reader.We have two main criticisms. Thefirst is the traditionally dowdy Dellstyling, which looks moreconvincingly plasticky than any of theother monitors on test here. The sizemakes up for this to an extent, butthe styling says ‘functional’ and not‘stylish’. The second is that the lack ofonboard smarts means the displayresolutions are limited to 640x480 forboot time, 1,280x800 if you have anordinary graphics card, and2,560x1,600 with a dual-link DVI.This won’t be a problem forprofessional use where you’ll wantthe full resolution all of the time. Butif you ever need a different resolution,you’ll be stuck.This 30-inch monster is theflagship – Dreadnought might bea better word – of Apple’s CinemaDisplay range. Styled with the samesvelte aluminium and white lines asits smaller siblings, it oozes visualcharisma and will instantly look athome in any design studio – or atleast any studio that has 27 inches orso of desk width to spare.The 30-inch diagonal holds a huge2,560x1,600 panel at a nominal100dpi and will work with dual-link-equipped PCs and all new PowerMac G5s. Once you’ve tried workingat this resolution it’s hard to consideranything less, because the ease ofuse is a huge improvement onsmaller panels, and there’s aninstant productivity gain from havingmore space in which to arrange toolsand working windows. Plus – let’s behonest – having something this bigon your desk looks fantastic.Visually the display is very good,with adequate brightness, goodRESOURCEDual-link usesstandard cabling,but double-clocksit for higherresolution. At thelow-end, cardsbased on theGeForce 7800GTand 7800GTXchipsets supportit. And at the highend there’s thenVidia QuadroFX3450 and 4500.With the latter youcan go for overkilland run two 30-inch monitors nextto each other. Seewww.answers.com/topic/digital-visual-interfacefor more on DVIell has launched this huge 30-inch display as an Apple-beatingalternative, and so far it has createdquite a buzz. Physically, a weightystand means it’s heftier than theApple, although the dimensions aresimilar. Costs have been cut byeliminating the on-screen display,so controls are limited to power andbrightness, which are tucked intotouch controls along the bottom.PC users should be aware they’llneed a dual-link (not dual-head –dual-link really means dual-speed)DVI graphics card to drive thismonster, which will add between£250 and £900 to the price for thosewho don’t already own an nVidia7800GT or better (see Resource, left).The Dell’s visual performance isexcellent, with no dead pixels on ourtest unit, good grey balance, and verygood brightness and contrast. In factthere’s so much brightness you’llwant to turn it down. Video didn’tseem to be a problem either.DVERDICTIt’s tempting to fall in love with this display for its looks alone. Luckily, it alsohas a lot going for it in the performance department. But don’t invest in itwithout checking that the fixed working height will work for youVERDICT★★★★★This is a great monitor at an excellent price. If you can live with the stylingand the limited range of resolutions, it offers exceptional value for money,with only a few small compromises on ultimate visual performance92|April 2006ART121.group Sec1:9224/2/06 12:50:03 pmGROUP TEST|An excellent pro-level all-rounder, but starting tolook a little small compared to the competitionNot very big, and not particularly beautiful – but goodcolour performance for perfectionistsS2410WCONTACTA FUNCTIONAL BUT FEATURE-HEAVY PROGRAM THAT MIGHT JUST SURPRISE YOUMACYesPCYesSTREET PRICE£1,030.70 (www.colourconfidence.co.uk)2180WG-LEDMACYesCONTACTPCYesSTREET PRICE£2,880 (nec-display-solutions.co.uk)Eizo 01483 719500 www.eizo.co.uklow contrast easy-on-the-eyes textand high contrast graphics work.The contrast is exceptional, with aquoted value of 1,000:1, and videosupport is also great, with a super-fast mid-tone 8ms response createdwith a special overdrive circuit. Inpractice this means no smearing orghosting at all for video use.In use ergonomics are good, withan unusual low-level tilt option thatmay interest animators, althoughwe’re not entirely convinced thathunching over a display is healthierthan maintaining a straight back.An impressive five-year warrantyfinishes off the package.The 2410 offers a punchy andattractive display, and visually theresults were among the best in thistest, but in a studio setting a higherresolution might be of more value.This is certainly a monitor that willdo the job if you want near-ultimatepicture quality with an extendedresolution and a believable price.NEC 020 7202 6326 www.nec-display-solutions.co.uktouch of professionalism and canhelp ensure your colour perceptionisn’t distorted by ambient lightingconditions. Unlike some of thealternatives in this round-up, thismonitor offers two DVI inputs. It can’tdo anything clever such as picture-in-picture, but you can use this toshare the monitor between twocomputers at once.If your job involves live proofing,the combination of extreme accuracywith a wider than usual colour gamutmay be interesting. But even thenthere are two notable problems. Thefirst is the monitor’s limitedresolution, which is looking a littledated now that the competition hasmade a move into larger territory.The second is the very high price.And while there’s no doubting thatthe accuracy on offer here is very,very good, the loss of extra space andextra money means that this is atough sell to creatives who aren’tprimarily colour technicians.This 24-inch 1,920x1,200 modelfrom Eizo is pitched at the upper-middle end of the pro-market, but ispacked with pro-level features thatmake its feature set the mostsophisticated in this round-up.Colour control includes settingsfor red, green and blue – which isn’trare – and also cyan, magenta andyellow, which will appeal to anyonecreating designs for print. A built-inbrightness monitor compensates fordrift effects, which means brightnessshould stay constant as the displayages. This is certainly handy, but itwould have been good, if also muchmore expensive, if this kind ofmonitoring could have been madeavailable for colour control, too.Another useful feature is 10-bitgamma correction, which offerssmoother displayed tones. Theseand other on-screen display settingscan be stored in text, picture, movie,video, custom and sRGB presets.This is useful if you switch betweenARESOURCEEver wonderedhow LCD panelsreally work, orhow they stack upagainst plasmadisplays? There’sa huge library ofuseful links atpandora.be/educypedia/electronics/LCD-PLASMA.htm,which will explaineverything youwant to knowabout LCD, CRTand plasmatechnologyt 1,600x1,200 this NEC offeringhas the smallest resolution ofthe monitors in this round-up. It alsohas the most confusing name. Whileit’s related to the SpectraView2180UX – NEC’s own alternative thatcosts around a third as much – thereare significant differences.This model is both bigger andheavier, and it uses a uniquebacklight technology, based on amatrix of colour-controlled LEDs.These can be calibrated veryaccurately to provide an extremelyeven lighting surface, with very finecontrol of colour temperature.There’s also a wider than averagecolour gamut, so you can see moreof the colour space you’re working in,with less uncertainty at the edges. Inuse this worked as advertised, withan extremely smooth visual field, nodead pixels on our test unit, and topperformance on still images.Also included in the package is aproofing hood, which adds that extraVERDICT★★★★★VERDICT★★★★★This is a fine monitor, with good ergonomics and display quality. If you don’twant a super-sized model, the sophistication of the colour control andaccuracy means it offers some of the best pro-level value aroundThe 2180WG-LED probably offers the best colour accuracy that money canbuy. That makes it a credible choice for proofing professionals. But the highprice and low resolution are likely to give it less appeal among designersApril 2006|93ART121.group Sec1:9324/2/06 12:50:13 pm|GROUP TESTVERDICT:PRO-LEVEL LCD DISPLAYSWHICH MONITOR COMES OUT ON TOP? IN THE END IT’S A TWO-HORSE RACE BETWEEN APPLE AND DELLThese are all excellent monitors,and they would all fit into anyprofessional studio. But each hasdistinct strengths and drawbacks,particularly when you consider whatyou get for your money.On this basis we have concernsabout the NEC 2180WG-LED, mostlybecause of the silly price. Technically,with good calibration, it has thepotential to offer the best colouraccuracy of any monitor on themarket today, and its ability to finetune colour temperature will beuseful to some. But the differencebetween what it offers and theaccuracy of cheaper alternatives isn’tquite enough to justify the outlay, andthe price is high even for those in theprofessional proofing market.The Eizo 2410, at around £1,000, isone of the cheaper alternatives ontest here and is certainly worthconsidering. With outstanding colourcontrol and a widescreen 1,920x1,200format, it’s good value for those whowant professional colour at areasonable price and don’t have theroom or the need for a largeralternative. It also wins points forinnovative ergonomics and proofing-quality visual accuracy.But there’s no getting away from thefact that you’ll get more work donemore easily with a bigger display. TheApple and the Dell are very similar,“Take a closer look and thedifferences between the Delland the Apple can’t be ignored”but there are significant differences –although with a price difference ofaround £200, cost isn’t the decidingfactor that it could have been here.The race is very tight, and it’stempting to split the results onpartisan lines and suggest that Macusers will be happiest with the Appleand PC users with the Dell. But takea closer look and you’ll seedifferences that can’t be ignored.Although the Apple wins on style,it’s let down by physical ergonomicsthat limit its flexibility, and also by thefact that the display itself isn’t quiteas punchy or bright. So the Dell winsoverall – although if you need lowerresolutions that only the Cinema HDDisplay can handle, the Apple makesa very worthy runner-up.WHICH PRODUCT IS BEST FOR YOU?MANUFACTURERAND MODEL30-INCH CINEMA HD DISPLAY3007WFPS2410W2180WG-LEDR•WININNENER•W•ER•WINNER•WINNWINNER•R•WWINENINSTREET PRICE(INC VAT)VIEWABLE AREA(DIAGONAL)RESOLUTIONCONNECTORCONTRASTBRIGHTNESSWEIGHTDIMENSIONS (MM)USB HUBFIREWIRE HUBCARD READERHOODWARRANTYRATING£1,65029.7in2,560x1,6001xDVI-D dual-link400:1270cd/m212.47kg543x688x2152xUSB2.0Two-wayNoNoOne year★★★★★£1,42530in2,560x1,600£1,030.7024.1in1,920x1,200DVD-D+Dsub1,000:1450cd/m210.2kg566x480x230NoNoNoNoFive years★★★★★£2,88021.3in1,600x1,2002x DVI-D430:1200 cd/m211kg473x462x212NoNoNoYesThree years onsite★★★★★WINNERR•NEWINNER•WINNE1xDVI-D dual-link700:1400cd/ m211.2kg559.7x690x2004xUSB2.0NoCF/SD/SM/MS/MMCNoThree years next day swapout★★★★★94|April 2006ART121.group 94R24/2/06 12:50:21 pm [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ] |
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