LCD Graphics Quality

I think you really have to see them in use...a store, or somebody you know that has one.
When I was looking for my first LCD a year or so ago, I went to a couple of the big box electronics stores and just looked at the different ones there. The majority of them looked pretty much as you're describing yours.

The only one that stood out to me at that time was a Sony that was bundled with a complete system. I snagged the model number off of it and checked, and it was pretty much the top of the line at the time, and definately more expensive, but it just looked so much better, it had depth to it instead of looking flat.

But lately, a lot of the less expensive ones look as good or better than the higher priced ones, so I think you really need to see them in action before you buy.

Phoon,

I have the 19" Samsung 940BW. It's a widescreen, but I was looking at specs online for the 931B and 940BW and they are identical. Before this I was using a 19" Viewsonic CRT, which I LOVED and still works, but after using the widescreen at work, I had to get one and gave the CRT to my daughter.

Anyway, I haven't been dissatisfied with the Samsung. My eyes are almost 40 years old, but I can't believe they would have forgoten the Viewsonic and now accept some crappy LCD as being just as good   

Seriously though, have you checked all your settings, not just the monitor, but I mean in windows. The way you describe the gradient problems would make me check the my color depth settings in windows display properties.

Just trying to help. Good luck.  

Gaussian blur is the tool to use for grainy gradients. If you just can't get it right, try lightening any dark colors you have in the gradient. PSP doesn't mix black or white very well.

I use the 931C and it is great.

I've been using a 930B for a year now and i love it..you might want to try stepping up your render settings also, what you were able to get by with before, just wont cut it with the lcd.

I just bought a DELL UltraSharp 2007WFP 20.1-inch Wide Aspect Flat Panel LCD Monitor and the graphics look great!

I don't really like widescreen displays.
Sites like this with fixed width look terrible.

I've had my Samsung SyncMaster 213T (21") LCD for a couple years. Text and graphics are crisp and clear, no problems with gradients at all. What graphics card do you have? I have nVidia, and installed the software that came with it, and made adjustments through that. Also, my current (and previous) card came with Analog and DVI (Digital) input, so have the DVI plugged in.

Hey ,

Ive have learned a painful lesson. Phoon was right. Been so busy this past year that I haven't drawn much of anything. Then a few cursors recently, and now as I work on larger graphics in WB and Wallpapers, the Banding issue in Gradients has become glaringly apparent just as phoon described. My PC is less than a year old, ATI Radeon X1300 256MB PCI-E using a DVI-I connection, which is irrelevant as this same setup with my Viewsonic CRT didn't present banding issues.

After a lot of reading about LCDs and calibration and how banding is a fact of life in the current world of LCDs, I am pretty dissapointed. I love this display and the have been enjoying the real estate / working space the wide screen affords me but I have calibrated this monitor in different light settings, mucked with the gamma, applied dozens of profiles, default as well as custom, and in line with what I have read... reduced banding but not eliminated it.

Bottom line, Shopping for a new piece of glass tomorrow.

ciao