Monitor advice and Lens repair questions

[Cyberwlf]

Hey people

I have two issues id appreciate peoples thoughts on.

Firstly, I am looking to buy a new LCD monitor, looking at a budget of around $400-500, preferably an S-IPS if possible. I know Dell Australia is selling Dell 2007 FP, but as its a lottery, I am not sure I am comfortable 'risking' it. I had researched S-IPS's earlier this year but not familiar with how things have(nt) changed in the market since then.

Secondly, In what can only be described as a tragic event my Nikkor 18-200 VR lens fell out of my camera bag and onto a tiled floor, the filter on the front smashed instantly, but the filter ring stayed. I got the filter ring taken off by a camera shop which used a machine.

The lens seemed to continue working fine till all of a sudden one day the ring around the front piece of glass of the Nikkor started to feel like it was falling off. So since then I put it back in its case and have not taken it out. Would this repairable by Nikon? or is it cheaper to buy a replacement?

Any advice that could be provided would be welcomed!

Thanks

[K1W1]

What is S-IPS?

For the lens repair my suggestion is to ring Nikon Australia on 02 8748 5222.
You may also like to have a chat with your household insurance company about whether you are covered. In many cases unless you are a Pro photographer you probably will be and even if there is an excess the excess may well be less that the repair cost.

[Visual Reality]

IPS stands for In-Plane-Switching, a type of LCD display. S-IPS (Super IPS) is a variation of that developed by Hitachi.

These are very hard to come by. I recommed buying a good MVA or PVA, such as my BenQ FP241W - not every company gets these right, but this one has near perfect color and is fast enough to not ghost even in the fastest games. The viewing angle is also good enough to see everything fine even from the side - but like all LCDs blacks are still best when viewed straight on. It was the #1 24" LCD 1-2 years ago, I am not sure what is current now as I haven't been keeping up.

[K1W1]

Well you learn something every day. But is it relevant in day to day operation or is it just a marketing w**k designed to sell products at a higher price?

BTW neither of the Melbourne IT wholesalers who I deal with who distribute Benq list that model.

[Cyberwlf]

Thanks for the ideas. Yeah I was contemplating 'falling' back to a MVA/PVA monitor if necessary.

Currently not back in Australia, but in Greece and next Turkey, which is why i've put any repair 'on hold' till i get back at the end of November. But shall call Nikon when I return. Good point re house hold insurance.

Yes S-IPS is anything but a marketing term, and is good to know of. S-IPS/Enhanced-IPS/H-IPS are all superior LCD display technologies to your 'average' monitor. LaCie's, Apple Cinema Displays, and other 'high end' ones all typically included these.

TN is what most manufacturers now produce, it's garbage, it's colour re-production abilities are limited, its a 6bit not 8bit display, so you're never even getting a proper colour spectrum displayed as it effectively dithers down an image. TN is great for gaming and internet/office. It's the worst for photography. MVA/PVA were improvements over the TN technology, providing wider gamut of colours, better contrast/brightness from more angles, but didn't quite match the capability of S-IPSs.

P-MVA/MVA suffers though from several issues compared to S-IPS though still. 'When you deflect your line of sight just a little, the colors are all there again. This is a characteristic VA panel contrast shift and some users pick up on this and might find it distracting. Thus, MVA matrices are somewhere between IPS and TN technologies as concerns color reproduction and viewing angles.'

AMVA has been seen as an improvement and one of the best types of VA displays, but like S-IPS, the issue is finding one!

[K1W1]

Currently not back in Australia, but in Greece and next Turkey, which is why i've put any repair 'on hold' till i get back at the end of November. But shall call Nikon when I return. Good point re house hold insurance.

If you are in Greece check your travel insurance if the drop was O/S.

[Cyberwlf]

Will see if they will cover it.

How would the BenQ compare with the Dell 2007FP, also a potentially a PVA monitor?

[Cyberwlf]

How would the BenQ compare with the Dell 2007FP, also a potentially a PVA monitor?

Anyone got thoughts on this or other good monitors?

[DWwolf888]

Thanks for the ideas. Yeah I was contemplating 'falling' back to a MVA/PVA monitor if necessary.

Currently not back in Australia, but in Greece and next Turkey, which is why i've put any repair 'on hold' till i get back at the end of November. But shall call Nikon when I return. Good point re house hold insurance.

Yes S-IPS is anything but a marketing term, and is good to know of. S-IPS/Enhanced-IPS/H-IPS are all superior LCD display technologies to your 'average' monitor. LaCie's, Apple Cinema Displays, and other 'high end' ones all typically included these.

TN is what most manufacturers now produce, it's garbage, it's colour re-production abilities are limited, its a 6bit not 8bit display, so you're never even getting a proper colour spectrum displayed as it effectively dithers down an image. TN is great for gaming and internet/office. It's the worst for photography. MVA/PVA were improvements over the TN technology, providing wider gamut of colours, better contrast/brightness from more angles, but didn't quite match the capability of S-IPSs.

P-MVA/MVA suffers though from several issues compared to S-IPS though still. 'When you deflect your line of sight just a little, the colors are all there again. This is a characteristic VA panel contrast shift and some users pick up on this and might find it distracting. Thus, MVA matrices are somewhere between IPS and TN technologies as concerns color reproduction and viewing angles.'

AMVA has been seen as an improvement and one of the best types of VA displays, but like S-IPS, the issue is finding one!

Small side note, not all TN panels are 6bit, you do get some 8bit ones now as well, though usually only on the more expensive versions. As with everything you do get what you pay for.

TN is crap is a bit overstated imho. While its not good for very accurate color precision, it is good enough for most people that do not make their living with on a job that requires that feature. A decent color calibration set will make up for a lot. At any rate I would wager that virtually no monitor is accurate unless calibrated under constant light conditions, especially out of the box.

VA/IPS panels have their own drawbacks, mostly related to cost and color switching speed.

If you really need high color fidelity prepare to pay for a profesional monitor.

[Cyberwlf]

I realise me calling TN garbage was a bit overstated, but it's more to drill the point that manufacturers are just using whats cheapest in terms of display technology rather than much quality control beyond whats best for gamers, typically at least.

I own a Dell 2007WFP, an S-IPS version, it's the kind of balance i was hoping to find again. But it's in the UK, its too expensive to ship, and i cant find any online references to one for sale in Australia where i plan to spend the next few months going through photos i took over a 6 month or so period.

The quality the Dell delivers for what i paid is excellent, but I was hoping there might be other similar ones I may be able to purchase in Australia too, without risking the 'Dell panel lottery' again. Colour switching speeds dont bother me too much, cost can, as i'm just an enthusiast, not a pro.

[Visual Reality]

Small side note, not all TN panels are 6bit, you do get some 8bit ones now as well, though usually only on the more expensive versions. As with everything you do get what you pay for.

TN is crap is a bit overstated imho. While its not good for very accurate color precision, it is good enough for most people that do not make their living with on a job that requires that feature. A decent color calibration set will make up for a lot. At any rate I would wager that virtually no monitor is accurate unless calibrated under constant light conditions, especially out of the box.

VA/IPS panels have their own drawbacks, mostly related to cost and color switching speed.

If you really need high color fidelity prepare to pay for a profesional monitor.
TN (Twisted Neumatic) is 6-bit only. 8-bit is only accomplished with dithering. When you shop for LCDs you can not compare the specs. The only one I have found that is any indication to the quality of the LCD is the viewing angle. These will show 160* or so for TN panels and 178* for the good ones (MVA, PVA, IPS).

The TN's I have used just sucked for photo work. The reason isn't color accuracy - I had one that did great color. It was the vertical viewing angle. If your head wasn't perfectly in the center the screen would be washed out. You had to tip it forward to keep a consistant image without the top half being darker and crushing blacks. They are highly dependant on your position in relation to the screen.

That is my beef with TNs.

[Cyberwlf]

The TN's I have used just sucked for photo work. The reason isn't color accuracy - I had one that did great color. It was the vertical viewing angle. If your head wasn't perfectly in the center the screen would be washed out. You had to tip it forward to keep a consistant image without the top half being darker and crushing blacks. They are highly dependant on your position in relation to the screen.

That is my beef with TNs.

I have two laptops, the latter just bought for internet research/booking and photo downloads/backups. Both have TN though, so regardless of whether I run ViewNX, CaptureNX, or any other Windows application, I am never certain that my viewing angle is 'spot on' to be sure that the image isnt underexposed/overexposed or it is not too contrasty/too flat but is just my viewing angle, so leaves me cautious about culling.

[Visual Reality]

Yeah almost all laptop LCDs are TN because of their lower power requirements. Other types of panels draw more wattage from the battery.

[Cyberwlf]

What do professionals use 'on site' when they have only a laptop to work from?

[DWwolf888]

Try one of these samsungs ?
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/monitors/display/samsung-sm-xl24-xl30.html

Xbitlabs does pretty good monitor reviews.
They look at uniformity, color correctness, color space, response time per color.

[Cyberwlf]

Thanks, but yeah id already discovered the Samsung XLs, look absolutely top notch, and also completely out of my affordability range too ;) But will see if the site offers reviews of anything more affordable too.

[jcon]

Have a look at this thread I started last week. I was also looking for a monitor. I too started out with the same budget as you, I just hope you dont end up doing what I did and spend $1300! LOL...

Hope this helps...

http://dcresource.com/forums/showthread.php?t=41698

[Cyberwlf]

Thanks for that, will check it out. And yeah i hope i dont either heh. That said if i can find some decent work when i get back to Oz I must just be able to justify such a spend ;)