Low cost HD color monitors

[David Rasberry]

Thought it would be worth a heads up on the latest generation LG 1080p consumer LCD and plasma TV's. We have been installing these by the dozen for digital signage, video conference and general presentation use. But it wasn't until I took one of the 32 inchers home and began playing with it that I realized how good these things can be as low cost on set reference monitors or color correction monitors for desktop finishing indies. They come in sizes from 32" to 55" in the LCD's and 42" to 60" in the plasma models.

The LCD's in both cold cathode and LED backlit models are TFTn displays with refresh rates up to 240Hz for the top line models.

What really makes them stand out for potential reference use though is they are Imaging Science Foundation ISFccc certified. They display 100% of the NTSC color gamut. XVYcc deep color, extended color gamut and these things have very good black levels along with very sophisticated color and grayscale calibration controls in expert mode. Bring your colorimeter and test generator.
Controls include continous backlight level adjustments, Primary and secondary fine color adjustments, independent for both contrast and brightness, selectable black levels and gamma curves. Luminance control lets you set 100 IRE reference white level, then adjust grayscale for 2.2 gamma reference in 10 IRE steps independently for R. G and B levels.


Turn off all the dynamic color and contrast hyper saturated consumer crap, dial in the display, and these things look really good! Very subtle and natural grayscale, little or no banding in low contrast gradients and excellent color saturation without blooming or noise on digital or component analog inputs. You will occasionally see a little quantization noise in near black shadow areas. Color remains dead on consistent up to around 40 degree off axis viewing angles and then just gradually loses saturation, no color shifts.
There are two user adjustable expert settings, so one can be calibrated for HD REC 709 and the other for SD REC 601 or whatever color space you want to calibrate for. Settings can be independently assigned for each input. ISF reference test chart discs are available from Amazon for both DVD and Blu-Ray.

The 32" 1080p models with the ISF features start at around $600 at Best Buy. Worth a look. Much better HD color reference monitor than any under $1k computer monitor.

http://www.lge.com/us/tv-audio-video/televisions/index.jsp

 

[Eythan Holladay]

Interesting - I wonder how long it will be before we see 10 bit in the consumer realm .. I am in your target market. I have been debating on a dream color, but I may give the LG's a look

 

[Marc Wielage]

The main issue with these monitors is viewing angle. They're not that bad dead on, in the "sweet spot," but god help you if you're a foot to the left or a foot too high. This makes them a real problem if you have two or more people looking at them in an edit bay, and they're sitting close together.

It's for this reason that I think the higher end Panasonic broadcast plasmas are better overall. I would agree that getting ISF adjustment is a step in the right direction.

 

[David Rasberry]

They don't list the bit depth in the US specifications, but the Euro models with the same features are specified as 10 bit displays and I am pretty sure the US ones are too. Same display technology is shared by both versions. Mine definitely maps color better than any 8 bit display I've ever seen.

 

[David Rasberry]

The main issue with these monitors is viewing angle. They're not that bad dead on, in the "sweet spot," but god help you if you're a foot to the left or a foot too high. This makes them a real problem if you have two or more people looking at them in an edit bay, and they're sitting close together.

It's for this reason that I think the higher end Panasonic broadcast plasmas are better overall. I would agree that getting ISF adjustment is a step in the right direction.

Agree on the viewing angle if you are sitting very close, but these are much better than an ENH panel computer display in that regard. Full viewing angle is 178 degrees H and V. but uniform color and contrast angle is about 70-80 degrees H and V. If you sit at normal 3:1 viewing distance it is not much of a problem. However LG makes the same ISF certified chassis in plasma versions too. 42" plasma lists for $800 now if you can find a dealer that stocks them. LCD's have pretty much taken over the consumer market even though the current gen plasmas can produce more uniform quality images.