LCD monitors and the color black

I build in SL using a ViewSonic PF790 CRT. Although old and HUGE; this monitor displays a bright, sharp image. One thing's for sure; black on this baby is BLACK. So when i build something and I set a prim to black (on this monitor) it looks really black. The issue is that when i view black on any average LCD monitor (haven't seen on professional LCD) my black prims (note: not black textures) look like shit, I mean they look grey not black. Anybody else notice this? . Wouldn't be a problem if not 75% of people prolly have "average" LCD's that they see my builds on.

were u counting how many times I said black?

Indeed--I counted. I'm with you here! Better LCD monitors will have a greater contrast ratio (like the Marinas Trench to Mount Everest instead of a pond to a footfill) so BLACK looks BLACK and WHITE looks WHITE and everything inbetween is closer to as it should be.

Anyhoo, I got a new LCD monitor meself... Samsung SyncMaster 204B.

Few days in already and I highly recommend it. The fuzzy text on my old CRT was killing me and the SATURATION WAS NOT SATURATED ENOUGH. Now, I get vibrant colors... mmm, it's really like seeing SL thru a new pair of eyes.

Nice Torley! That looks like a great monitor. So i came up w/ this "brilliant" idea...I wondered what would happen if i put a 1x1 pixel bitmap of the color black on a prim...when i go to upload i get this message.

so much for brilliant idea

I have a Samsung SyncMaster 710MP that I've had for about 3 1/2 months and have had no problems with it. I really like this one because it has built in speakers and a TV Tuner in it, which saves some more space on my desk. I could have gotten the 19" one, but the 17" is big enough for me.

Another thing to keep in mind with LCD screeens is that the colour gamut (range of colours) can be very tight next to a CRT. I wouldnt recomend anyone uses an LCD (especially on a laptop) for editing textures etc etc as you will find there are some shades you simply cannot see.

Me too! I've used a Samsung SyncMaster 710v on my old pc for a year or so. Way better color range than the Acer AL1912 I use on my main pc. I still prefer the Acer for SL and 3d work though, just because it's bigger than the Samsung. But for Photoshop work, I prefer working on the Samsung.


Lis

Today's flat screens, especially high quality ones like apple, are very good--graphic professionals use them exclusively every day.

As for black, the best way to check your blacks using ANY monitor is to look at the grayscale numbers in your graphics program. In photoshop, use the info palette and set it to show grayscale. In my experience anything above about 95% grayscale will appear stark black in SL. so if you want black with detail, you need to get it in the 90-94% range so you can still shade it darker.

If you see that black on your monitor is only 75% grayscale in the info palette, then it will appear dark grey in SL (or in printing, etc.) and you know you have to adjust. (and you should also either find a way to re-calibrate your monitor or get a new one!)

White works the same way. One you get to about 5-10% grayscale, it will appear white in SL.

Just wanted to throw in another cheer for Samsung here. I've been using dual SyncMaster 191Tplus for 2 years now, and I've had no problems with them. Colors are are rich and bright. Black is black. I can easily switch between white points (5000K for when I'm doing print work, and 6500K for everything else). Granted, that switching is done through the video card, not the monitors themselves, and I happen to have an ass-kicking workstation card (QuadroFX 3000), but the monitors handle the switch perfectly, with no problems. The same can't be said for other flat panels I've used (had a Dell for a little while; it's white point was rediculously high, and it didnt' take kindly to being told to lower it).

The thing I probably love the most about these monitors is the Magic Bright feature, which changes the backlight intensity at the touch of a button, without noticeably affecting the colors. If my eyes are tired, I can crank down the backlight without having to worry that I might not be seeing acurate colors when I do.

Before the flat panels, by the way, I had had a SyncMaster CRT for many years. Samsung monitors have never let me down.

This no longer holds true as the newer LCD's have a wider colour gamut than CRTs. Not sure about laptops since it really isn't that ideal a platform to be doing these things.
If you don't calibrate your monitor, it doesn't matter if its a CRT or LCD, since both can be wrong anyway.

Seconded.