What are the specs to look for in a video editing monitor?

[idic5]

--I need one with W7 drivers since i just discovered that my sony GDG-F500R cannot be fully 'undestood' by W7 (and therefore my NLE app, Pinnacle Studio vers 15, thinks it does not have the proper rez to run. So I am in the mkt for (presumably) a LCD / LED flat panel monitor.

What is most important for a better video editing experience,

size (best size) , response time (LT ? ms) , panel construction (TN/IPS), brightness measure, pixel pitch, screen rez, etc
and what is the order of the spec in importance.

I'd be doing both SD andf HD video editing, so I'd need the strongest link, one that is good for HD editing.

and if someone can recommend some monitors that wd be good for under $400, I'd appreciate it.

 

[ssddx]

monitors should be all plug and play unless you are using something truley ancient. once your video card drivers are installed the maximum/minimum/recommended settings for your monitor are often shown in display properties.

monitor options are based on both your personal preferences and budget. i can make a few recommendations based on experience in a related field, but ultimately you need to make a few choices yourself.

you are most likely looking for a 1920x1080 monitor at minimum. this would play hidef content fullscreen. 1920x1200 would also work nicely but might blow your budget.

either a 20, 22 or 24 inch screen. i'd say go with a 22 and move up or down depending on budget issues.

response time should have a maximum no greater than 16ms which is pretty much every monitor out there. 60hz is fine unless you plan on having 3d content played in which case you might want to look at 120hz dual-dvi monitors. keep in mind though that 120hz monitors are TN panel only.

personally i dislike TN panels. the viewing angles are very poor and they lack the color accuracy of better quality panels. the plus side is that they are rather cheap. at the very least i'd suggest going with a VA or 6 bit E-IPS panel. personally i like my S-IPS, P-IPS or H-IPS 8 bit panels. any ips panel will offer a very large viewing angle without distortion, even the cheaper e-ips types.

i never run the monitor at full brightness so you do not need anything to crazy. anything which conforms to the average should be sufficient.

LED/LCD are both refer to lcd panels. the types are listed above. led only refers to the backlighting used (normal lcd uses ccfl). there really isnt any gain by using led over ccfl at this point in time so pick whichever.

 

[idic5]

"personally i like my S-IPS, P-IPS or H-IPS 8 bit panels" what are the model names?

 

[jaguarskx]

"personally i like my S-IPS, P-IPS or H-IPS 8 bit panels" what are the model names?

You need to determine if you want to spend the $$$ for those types of monitors. They generally start at about $600 for a 24" monitor and the price just goes up from there.

For example, my 25.5" Planar PX2611w costs about $800 when it was new, my NEC LCD2690WUXi was about $1,200 when it was new. Both use H-IPS panels.

 

[ssddx]

S/H/P-IPS panels are what you might call "top of the line". they often start at about $500. you can definitely notice the difference over lower end panels. my laptop screen looks like crud! (but not much you can do there, its a laptop!)

perhaps i should have highlighted this a bit more but for your budget you might want to look at either a VA or E-IPS panel as they should fall within your budget. personally i'd prefer the e-ips.

in terms of colors displayed, TN, VA, E-IPS are equal at 6bit. S/P/H-IPS are 8bit. the reason why i jump on the e-ips bandwagon for cheap monitors is because you can view the monitor at any angle. with a TN panel if you're off center by a few degrees the screen starts to grey-out or invert colors.

personally i use a vp201b but they don't make them anymore, its a 5 year old model.

i've had good luck with viewsonic in general but i've often seen dell and asus products come up in recommendations here.