Hi, I'm going out at lunch to possibly make a monitor purchase and I have a question that will make me sound VERY stupid. Which is better...".20 dpi" or ".25 dpi"?

Message edited on: 12/28/2004 08:25

It won't make you sound stupid. There are no stupid questions, just stupid answers. :-) /lecture Anyway, it's not dpi, it's dot pitch, ie, the "diameter" of the aperture grille opening, and it's measured in milimetres. lecture/ Theoretically, 0.20 mm dot pitch is better, since it's supposed to give a smoother picture, with less jaggies. But the appearance depends a lot on the eye of the beholder. What you are better looking at is the maximum and/or optimal resolution, and the refresh frequency it can sustain at that resolution. For instance, a 19" monitor should have optimal resolution of 1280x1024 at the bare minimum of 75Hz. 85Hz would be better, but it will also depend on your graphic card. Higher the frequency, more stable the picture. Also, take a look at the colours and the sharpness/focus of the picture. Bad monitors usually have good focus just in the middle of the screen. And check that at the resolution you're going to work at. A monitor can be good at 1024x768, but awful at 1600x1200. I've got a Samsung with 1600x1200 at 85 Hz and it's very nice to have so much stable screen estate. :-) HTH.

Thanks HTH, I have two different monitors in mind, one suggested by another 3Der and a Samsung I found at a local store. I'm having lunch with my brother in a half hour and we are going to look at TVs for him and I think I may pick up one of the monitors for myself. Thanks again and I'll keep the refresh rate in mind too! :)

I picked up a 21 inch LCD monitor a few days ago, OMG its beautiful. The brand name is "Olevia" 630$ The size your looking for if LCD will not be cheap, The Tube monitors i think would be a cheaper cost, but big and bulky :) Good Luck on you search :) Peace Scott

Size is not everything. :-) Really, CRTs still have the edge in colour and response, unless you're prepared to go into the really-high-price jungle. BTW, Burpee, HTH stands for "Hope this helps". :-)

Attached Link: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00006B6WO/ref=e_de_a_td/103-6640098-3266204?v=glance

Did not pick one up but I think I've made my mind up on one that was suggested to me by Pinhead. It will have to be shipped though.

BTW, my image "Comfortable is Easy" looks very brownish on my monitor but I just printed it out on two different systems and it is almost completely orange. Very disappointing, wonder if that's how it looks to everyone else. (?) Nancy

Message edited on: 12/28/2004 14:33

Hi Burpee What model were you considering? I'm not aware of anything with the 0.20 mm pitch, that's the best I have heard of.

Nancy, don't forget that what you see is not what you get when you print things out. I know someone will correct me on this but the monitor system of colours is entirely different to the print system

I did a search before I replied, there's a lot of monitora with that kind of dot pitch advertised. But it appears that some of them are cheating (and what else is new in monitors :-)?). They are measuring horizontal pitch, while the diameter is still in the range of 0.25 mm. burpee, that monitor looks quite okay, especially for that kind of money. BTW, the pic looks kinda orange to me, but not completely. It may be that your current monitor lost brightness (a common thing) and it can be that the printers are printing what they see. It's not uncommon to have pics printing out very light and washed out. And, nice picture. :-)

Hi, that's what I bought a year and a half. Let me tell you that I'm really satisfied with the quality and the refresh rate. The price was 500.00$ Canadian Michel

Thanks everyone, all I have to do is get over to Office Depot and order it. I can't wait!!!! Bea knows that my monitor always shows pics darker than they are and that's been a big issue for me. I create something that looks awesome from my side but looks too light or has bad contrast or color on other's screens. It's really put a damper on my creative spirit :D

If you get a new monitor, be sure to apply the correct colour profile. This should be on your monitor instalation cd. Don't just rely on 'plug & play' default. This will help you get better and more accurate results when printing and it almost goes without saying that the same goes for your printer. Colour accuracy is vital in what I do, so a little time spent setting things up properly will save you grief later on.

Thanks Bryster, I have to admit that I did not know that there were any profiles to correct or adjust. My printer too? :o I have an Epson Stylus CX5400 and it came with a bunch of programs but I don't recall a color corrector. Maybe it's in the utilities? Will check, thanks :)

Burpee: Go to the CONTROL PANEL and open DISPLAYSETTINGSADVANCEDCOLOR MANAGEMENT. Click ADD and follow the instructions for installing a COLOR PROFILE. The same goes for your printer. The profiles should be on your installation CDs in both cases. Profiles (.icm or .icc) do not require you to adjust things, that's the whole point. They do it for you.

Gosh, thanks so much. Copied and saved your directions. I assume that I should wait until I color correct the new monitor before color correcting the printer but I'm off to take a look anyway. :) Nancy