What 30" Monitor?

B

BrenMyster

Well-known member
Hey

I'm looking at getting a 30" monitor and I'm currently looking at the Dell 3008 and the Apple cinema display (currently discontinued)


Any help on making my decision would be awesome. I'm mainly using FCP and photoshop

Cheers

B
 
Well, if the decision is between a monitor that you can buy now, and one you can't buy (discontinued)...I think the decision is clear.

"What car would you like to buy sir? That Mini Cooper right over there? Or the Toyota Matrix that used to be in that parking spot over there...but isn't anymore?"
 
NEC 30" LCD monitor. Get the one that comes with the color calibration puck, and purchase the separate Spectra View II software from NEC online(you can download it). I chose this monitor over both the Dell and the Apple, for a lot of reasons. Do some more research and read the reviews, the model number is;
NEC LCD3090WQXi-BK
 
The reason I needed a 30" monitor was I run dual video cards, with a screen resolution of 2560X1600. 30" LCD, and higher, are the only monitors that can run that resolution. I went with the NEC because it has a 5-year warranty, and I'm on my second 30" LCD monitor in two years(first was a Samsung-started to have dead pixels after 13 months. Samsung sent me 3 different replacement monitors, all had the same problem. And since they don't make 30" monitors anymore, and the problem was un-resolved, they refunded my money). I have yet to here, or see, a 30" LCD monitor, running at the resolutions I'm running, last more than two years. They all develop dead pixels after about a year, to a year and a half.
Don't know anything about the 27" monitors. But, you get what you pay for. The NEC's are spendy(about 2 grand). I also have a Dell 24" LCD monitor that I use as a preview monitor for NTSC. It's been running at 1900X1200 for years. Oh, and there is a difference between TFT(older/cheaper), and the more expensive monitors like the NEC. I have a 12 LUT table, and also 97.8% coverage of AdobeRGB (102% color gamut size vs. NTSC [1953]. Keep in mind that 99% of your viewers, and all of your printers, will display less colors. But, it sure is nice to work with all the subtle shades when color correcting.

So I guess what I'm saying is; if you don't see the reason to spend $2+ thousand dollars on a monitor, you don't need one. If your not running dual video cards, and 2560X1600, I would skip the 30", and go for the 27" NEC.

All of the "newer" sub-30" monitors are basically 1080P LCD television. They are only capable of a max resolution of 1920X1080(1900X1200 is a standard resolution). If that's all you need, then great. But, if you edit pictures in Photoshop for printing, or do heavy duty color correction in video, that viewsonic may leave you lacking. It's all about what you can afford, that is going to get the job done for you.
Now you have $1650 more dollars than me ;)
Spend it wisely.
 
David S. said:
Both Apple and Dell offer 27" IPS monitors at 2560-by-1440 in the $1k range.
Click to expand...
IPS was the term I was looking for. And, I completely forgot about those. I was only interested in replacing my Samsung 30" with another 30", and that's why I went with the NEC(5-year warranty).
Also, just to make it clear, to run those resolutions, you need a dual DVI-D video card(dual separate cards, or the newer, two cards in one).

To me, it makes a huge difference, having this much screen real estate.
Sheesh....could save 1000 bucks by just losing 3".....oh well.
 
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