LCD v LED Monitor screens

Graham00

Graham00

Suspended / Banned
Messages
3,145
Name
Graham Mc
Edit My Images
Yes
I'm in the process of picking a 24" screen for a new system, am i better off sticking with an LCD or do LED need calibration to printer optimisation ?
 
LED monitors are LCD. LED replaces CCFL back lighting, LCD is the panel type.

Whichever you get, LED or CCFL, you will need calibration for best print results.
 
Mine didn't it was ok straight out the box, presumably Neil yours did then. Of course in might be the Canon cameras produce a slightly different picture to Nikon being serious and not going into the Nikon/Canon arguement. Then maybe the monitor does need tweeking a bit. Even different make of lens could produce something else as well.
Bazza
 
Last edited:
The pictures you take have no bearing on whether you need to calibrate your monitor or not. It's just a matter of ensuring what you see on screen is what you get when you print. It may look fine to your eyes, but when you print you'll see it's slightly different. Monitors also change over time and so need calibrating at later points.

Personally, I haven't calibrated my monitors as I don't feel the cost of the device is worth it for me, given that I don't print much and I am no pro, and I don't really have the funds at the moment but it is definitely needed for any pro/semi-pro photographer on any monitor.
 
JOE
So you too have had to calibrate your IPS monitor?

Realspeed
 
All monitors need calibrating, IPS, TN, VA, PLS..

I have two IPS monitors, they have slightly different colour as they aren't calibrated.
 
Last edited:
Joe

Also apart from just the monitors a good graphics card makes all the difference, just using the motherboard graphics will and never can produce as good as a dedicated graphics card.

The computer I use for this kind of work each component was researched very carefully not only by myself but also by a very knowledgeable computer builder son who actually built my computer for me. Even then my demands for what I wanted took a lot of persuading as he was used to building the "normal" every day do all work type of computer you can buy in any computer retailer, and getting him to understand and accepting took some effort to get him to realise it was primarily for photographic work so each component was selected for this task.

It took too many hours to recall the amount of work involved in research of components, selecting one then rejecting for different reasons, even down to the type of computer case, but sufficient to say you could never ever get anything shop bought like it. Going into the components would take too long but to have one similar built believe me would be very very expensive, more than what most would pay (even my wife queried the cost). This is why maybe I don't need to do any calibration.

As for matching a monitor screen to print one has to take into account monitor screens are backlite hard copies arn't, and purely on that basis you will always have a problem no matter how slight in getting an exact match.

Graham

I also looked into overclocking during my computer build stage and was warned off as overclocking can involve altering several settings within a computer . My 16 gig of Corsair RAM runs at the manufactures preset speed, yes I could boost it and the motherboard as well as other parts but advised against, as it never pay to run anything at max speed as they can burn out quicker due to extra heat generated and cause other damage within a computer. For example can you increase the fan speed or provide a better/more cooling fans?? does your computer casing allow for extra fans to assist in air flow. Just something to consider when overclocking can produce more heat which you may not have thought about, many computers this facility is not available. This is the kind of in depth research I went into on my computer build. Extra cooling fans may need a bigger power supply depending on what is already in your computer, the things that need thinking about just doesn't include pure overclocking. For example my computer has several cooling fans and a clean air flow to keep it running at the lowest temperature,even the internal cabling was kept out of the way for this purpose.So not only does it suck in cool air but throughout the computer inside the air is moved along and blown out as well. Essential is keeping a computer running as cool as possible, how many actually keep their computers dust free not only inside but the vents as well? Dust in air vent can and does slow a computer down and a big cause of overheating.

AS regards over clocking it was explained to me like this, you wouldn't run a car constantly flat out, the engine alone would not be able to handle it, and its the same with computers.
 
Last edited:
As far as the components go, only the graphics card will make a slightest bit of difference to the colour accuracy, and if the monitor is calibrated, it will make next to no difference at all.
The monitor will still need calibrating regardless of hardware.
Monitors change over time, no two monitors are exactly the same, no computer can tell exactly what colours to change to produce colour accuracy unless it is calibrated using a calibration tool.
 
neil_g said:
even IPS need calibrating.
Click to expand...

My NEC (IPS) is absolutely fine with no calibration, according to friends.

Mind you, as I am colour blind, it would be a wee bit of a waste of time and money.
 
realspeed said:
Graham

I also looked into overclocking during my computer build stage and was warned off as overclocking can involve altering several settings within a computer . My 16 gig of Corsair RAM runs at the manufactures preset speed, yes I could boost it and the motherboard as well as other parts but advised against, as it never pay to run anything at max speed as they can burn out quicker due to extra heat generated and cause other damage within a computer. For example can you increase the fan speed or provide a better/more cooling fans?? does your computer casing allow for extra fans to assist in air flow. Just something to consider when overclocking can produce more heat which you may not have thought about, many computers this facility is not available. This is the kind of in depth research I went into on my computer build. Extra cooling fans may need a bigger power supply depending on what is already in your computer, the things that need thinking about just doesn't include pure overclocking. For example my computer has several cooling fans and a clean air flow to keep it running at the lowest temperature,even the internal cabling was kept out of the way for this purpose.So not only does it suck in cool air but throughout the computer inside the air is moved along and blown out as well. Essential is keeping a computer running as cool as possible, how many actually keep their computers dust free not only inside but the vents as well? Dust in air vent can and does slow a computer down and a big cause of overheating.

AS regards over clocking it was explained to me like this, you wouldn't run a car constantly flat out, the engine alone would not be able to handle it, and its the same with computers.
Click to expand...

I tried in the BIOS but i'm not competent enough to do this myself.

My new system when i get it will have an overclocked i5 running 4.2ghz but during the custom selection process it warns that certain parts need to be upgraded too, like the case,fans, power supply as you mentioned as well as motherboard. Also some arctic silver thermal paste at only an extra fiver.
 
My IPS monitors are calibrated every 2 weeks as all monitors drift in colour reproduction
 
PsiFox said:
My IPS monitors are calibrated every 2 weeks as all monitors drift in colour reproduction
Click to expand...

Ding 10 points. All monitors will gradually change over time. Has nothing to do with how good the screen or graphics card is.

Even a pro design studio will be regularly calibrating their top of the line screens.
 
neil_g said:
Ding 10 points. All monitors will gradually change over time. Has nothing to do with how good the screen or graphics card is.

Even a pro design studio will be regularly calibrating their top of the line screens.
Click to expand...

10 points is that a goldfish or a stuffed toy?:)
 
realspeed said:
Joe

AS regards over clocking it was explained to me like this, you wouldn't run a car constantly flat out, the engine alone would not be able to handle it, and its the same with computers.
Click to expand...

My overclock only cuts in when the boost in processing is necessary.
 
realspeed said:
AS regards over clocking it was explained to me like this, you wouldn't run a car constantly flat out, the engine alone would not be able to handle it, and its the same with computers.
Click to expand...

Mines been overclocked for the past 4 years too max. Bearing in mind on a dual core its not constantly using flat out power 24/7 so it can't be all that bad surely unless I'm wrong somewhere down the line.
 
the latest intels only use max clocks when needed anyway, they throttle the multiplier (if i remember rightly) when not needed. for example my i7-2600k overclocked to 4.4Ghz runs at 1.6Ghz when idling and low processing requirements. it only ramps up to 4.4 when it needs the extra grunt.
 
realspeed said:
Mine didn't it was ok straight out the box,
Click to expand...

Dell sells their ultrasharp line of monitors as "factory calibrated" it means nothing more than "you get a fancy graph". as said, monitor drifts so you have to calibrate every so often to get the accurate colours back.

graphics cards have nothing to do with colour accuracy.


overclocking is so easy to do these days, gone are days of calculating FSB and RAM speed, now just turn up multiplier and voltage. as long as you don't exceed 115% default voltage and have sufficient cooling (not Intel stock cooler) your processor should do fine.

for example, i7 2600k at 4.5GHz with 45x multiplier and 1.4v should do fine as long as you keep it under 75c during heavy load.

for Pentium 4, you are in for a lot of fun. FSB = 4x bus speed. RAM speed = ram multiplier x bus speed. processor speed = processor multiplier x bus speed. it depends on motherboard those notations can be vastly different. lastly buy a monster cooler, these P4s are HOT!
 
Neils right. The latest processors use something called speedstepping which judges the load on the processor and clocks the chip up or down depending on the load. All that happens when you overcolock a Sandy/IvyBridge processor is you alter the maximum clock speed the chip is allowed to throttle up to. The "locked" parts can't have their maximum multiplier changed. All this is managed on-chip by dedicated hardware and takes into consideration the workload, current thermal dissipation of the chips and a number of other things.

As to monitors, Dells U series (or certainly the U2410) ships with a factory calibrated sRGB mode. You can still do better when you get them on your PC with a dedicated calibration device. My two U2410s were definitely different to each other even in factory calibrated settings.

A dedicated graphics card is NOT a requirement if all you are doing is Photoshopping. The onboard ones will be fine.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top