LCD Monitor Shoot out at Editors’ Lounge

March 5, 2010

Source: Editors' Lounge

Burbank post house hosted an Editors’ Lounge event comparing LCD evaluation monitors.

CEO & Founder of AlphaDogs Terence Curren comments, “The loss of CRTs for evaluation has been a sore spot amongst those of us who color correct for a living. We previously held a monitor evaluation event at Editors’ Lounge in 2007. The situation has improved since then, but we still have no decent replacement for a CRT.”

Brian Hutchings, Freelance Colorist added “In general, I was pretty unimpressed with the monitors. In two years since the last shootout, the monitors have improved slightly with the prices dropping a little. Good monitors remain out of reach for most. Besides the upper tier of larger facilities here in L.A., I don't see where production companies and smaller tier facilities can or will afford to spend $10,000 apiece for monitors when they can buy a Panasonic plasma monitor for half that. Economics will continue to be the driving force, not quality.”

Philip Hodgetts, President, Intelligent Assistance said “The best thing about the experience was to be able to directly compare monitors between vendors with the same source for the display and in an optimized environment, something that just can't be done at trade shows or dealer demo rooms. Clearly a lot of effort went into the presentation from the Alpha Dogs staff, which was much appreciated.”

Shane Ross, Freelance Editor stated “Unlike the first time we reviewed monitors at Editors’ Lounge, three years ago, these monitors were all VERY close. They were all 10-bit panels, TV Logic XVM-245W, FSI LM-2470W , Cine-Tal CInemage B230, two Sony models (PVM-L2300 and BVM-L231) and JVC DTV-24G1Z. The JVC was the only 8-bit panel there, and it showed.

They were all very good. I would choose any of them to tell the truth. The FSI and the TV Logic were the same panels, but the TV logic was darker than the FSI. The FSI seemed to be set a tad brighter than the rest, and me personally, I couldn't tell the difference between the Sony PVM and BVM, even though the BVM had a better backlight. Off axis from all was very good.

Again, I'd trust any of them. Which is what you WANT to see. You want to know that what you see on your monitor is what someone else would see on theirs. You DON'T want it too look like what you see in Best Buy...50 monitors and nothing looking the same.”

Sony, JVC, Flanders Scientific, Cine-Tal and TV Logic all provided monitors for this event. Alpha Dogs provided a room with a neutral grey backdrop properly illuminated to SMPTE specifications to provide the best environment for comparing the abilities of the different monitors.

A looping series of 4:4:4 images and test signals were fed to all the monitors to provide a true side by side comparison. Guests were free to walk around at their own pace, evaluating the monitors and asking technical questions of the vendors' representatives who were present.

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