Banding in Greyscale Gradient Phillips 190BW

[Gupfold]

Hi there

I would like some advise or insight into LCD's. I have just got 2 x New Phillips Brilliance 190BW 19" LCD's with a resolution of 1680x1050. I am used to working with a 21" Samsung CRT. I am noticing some Banding in a greyscale gradient and the banding is showing different colours even though it is grey! There is also quite a significant difference in the monitors with one showing more banding than the other and the one looking more saturated than the other. The reason I chose these was because they had a higher resolution than the other 19" LCD's. It makes editing a photo very difficult when you see colours in a Black and White image.

I havnt worked with a LCD before and so do not know what to expect or if this is normal. Do I have 2 Duds? is this normal? do I choose a junk Monitor? Should I have chosen differently? Samsung?

Any insight advice would be appreciated.

Guy

I am working on Windows Vista 32 with a ATi X1650 Pro graphics card.

[DarkPenguin]

From what I can find (and my regular source came up empty) those LCD's are TN panels.  I'm not sure about that.  I'd like a second source to confirm it.  But if they are TN panels they are 6 bit panels.  So, banding.

How you calibrate LCD's can make a difference, too.  Make sure you are not adjusting the RGB controls to adjust the displays.  Just work brightness and contrast and profile em.

[Gupfold]

Thanks DarkPenguin. I have a spyderpro that I tried to use to calibrate one of them and did adjust the RGB. I have just ordered the Spyder3Pro cause apparently that is better and faster and also knows how to calibrate a dual monitor setup.

If I am not to change the RGB what should they be all 100%?

How do you know if the LCD is a 6bit or 8bit monitor? I am pretty upset that it is banding cause it makes editing really difficult.

Thanks
Guy

[DarkPenguin]

They should be 100%.  Search around for a thread on the subject.

As far as I know only TN panels are 6 bit.  Fast refresh times and poor viewing angles are usually a sign of a TN monitor.

[Gupfold]

I am very dissapointed about the performance of the LCDs I have after using CRTs for so long I just presumed they would be decent. Should have done my homework before I jumped in and went for the Phillips 190BW cause now I see there is far more to it.

I am able to get a Dell 2408WFP at a good price. This is a S-PVA type panel is that better? Would that be an 8bit monitor? Will I get good results from a Monitor like this?

Thanks
Guy

[DarkPenguin]

There are threads on that specific monitor here.

PVA and MVA monitors are decent.  Much better than a TN panel.  IPS are the best for photography but they tend to be expensive.  (HP 2475 is reasonably priced in comparison.)

One thing about CRTs that I forgot I used to obsess over was geometry.  Even bad LCDs have perfect geometry.

[Gupfold]

Do any of the Samsung or Phillips LCDs compare to the HP or NEC. Looking at Face to Face Comparison the Dell seems to compare with the NEC? Is that a reliable test?

[DarkPenguin]

I don't know about philips.  But there are some very good samsungs.  Just not sure of the models.