What are the required features for a good monitor for serious digital image editing? Is it required to be a CRT or can a flat screen be used in this role without giving up anything important?
I don’t know anything about quality but I find it much more fatiguing to watch a CRT for an extended length of time.
I think that’s due to the refresh rate being set too low so you subconsciously pick up on flicker, something LCDs don’t have.
My biggest problem with LCDs is that they don’t show a consistent picture, depending on your field of view. An image can look quite dark and flat, and then you tilt your head and it looks great. I have a reasonably modern screen, and it still does that, though it’s better than it used to be.
CRTs give great vivid colour and don’t have that washed out problem LCDs have, but good luck in finding any, as they’re virtually obsolete.
I suggest you try dual monitors, one of each.
Dual monitors sounds good for other reasons, but does anyone have anything more specific in terms of features to look for?
LCDs don’t have features. You turn them on, you turn them off.
OK, specific CRT features then.
I don’t think I understand. Monitors are pretty much all the same.
I suppose you should decide if you want widescreen, 21 inch or more, or rotatable screens so you can look at images at a 90 degree twist, but that depends on what you expect to be doing with the images.
Go into a shop, look around, ask questions, buy a monitor. There’s not much else to say.
Not so. Some LCD monitors are much worse than others at color rendition, contrast, viewing angles, and refresh rate.