Monitors: Back to the basics please

[macaddicted]

I started another thread on monitors, but I have realized that I need to take a step back and get some basic definitions.

The more I research the more I am confused. 10 bit LUT, 12 bit LUT, but what does it all mean when you have 8 bits or 10 bits per channel on your graphics card?. I think my MacBook Pro's Mobility x1600 has 10 bit output, but how does that relate? I have a great printer, and can see the advantages of working in PS's 16 bit mode, but will I be better served to get a 10 bit or 12 bit monitor? Will it get me closer than an 8 bit monitor when I work in a 16 bit mode?

I've researched enough to know that IPS screens are better than MVA/PVA which are better than TN, but little about how to relate the quality of the graphics card to the screen. If I'm using a laptop am I really better off getting a higher LUT monitor at 1 1/2 to 2 times the price? I'm not willing to get a second system;  I need a laptop more for personal and professional reasons.

I'm doing this as an advanced amateur, but I am also have a BA in graphic design so I know how important that little extras are. I want to be frugal rather than cheap, so spending a little more to get a better system is something I always consider. I would hate to buy a $600 monitor only to discover that spending twice as much (Hint: it really is as high as I can justify to myself) would have given me a better working system. But then I come back to why is an Eizo CE210W twice the price of a Samsung 215TW when both use the same Samsung screen? (according to http://www.flatpanels.dk/panels.php)

Any help is appreciated, links, books, links, articles, links.

Thank you.

[Tim Lookingbill]

The high bit monitor LUTs are only good for software that can adjust those LUTs which requires communication through hardware DDC. Some calibrators can do this. I'm not sure how well. The NEC SpectraView LCD's and its companion calibration package does just that. The only advantage of being able to adjust the LCD's LUTs is to illiminate banding in smooth gradients by not adjusting the video card's LUTs which are 8bit.

My 2004 20" G5 iMac I just received, though equipped with an S-IPS panel, shows subtle evenly distributed banding in the 3/4 tonal area of a grayramp. My photos are spot on colorwise just using Apple's eyeball calibrator which has greatly improved for neutralizing LCD's since I last used it in OS 9.2.2. If you have a good eye for neutrals, you can get gorgeous neutrals with this robust calibrator on Apple LCD's. My photo restoration images viewed on the iMac match exactly to my EyeOne calibrated CRT and minilab prints.

I never thought I'ld say this but the iMac display neutralizes better using the Apple calibrator than my 9 year old CRT that I refuse to let go of because of my lousy experiences in the past calibrating sub-$500 LCD's. Even though the CRT still calibrates within sRGB specs with the EyeOne Display, I really like Apple's LCD's which, going by this iMac, have very good viewing angles which the 215tw was reported as being subpar in this regard. The reviewer put up three duplicates of the same image after calibration and said the center looked perfect but the far left and far right showed a subtle shift in luminance and color. The iMac doesn't do this.

16bit captured images have nothing to do with your video card or monitor in getting a 16bit preview. Its only advantage is to prevent banding within the data when applying extreme color and contrast edits. PS's previews are always in 8bits.

[orangekay]

Your other thread is still on the first page.

[macaddicted]

Your other thread is still on the first page.
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=105176\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

I know. I changed my question and left a post there saying what I was going to do.