LCD vs TV ??????

[Xrtaea]

I'm sorry in case i prove to be the ultimate noob... but i need help with something:
I have a computer and a TV hooked together. I don't have a CRT monitor because i don't have the room for it : the computer is used primarily for games and DVD movies. There are times that i do some extensive work with photoshop as well for fun (image/photo editing) since i am into photography as well...
Lately i begun thinking that maybe i could have room for an LCD-TFT panel. After some research i understood how and why they are worse than CRT's for Photo-work.
My Question is: How does an LCD screen compare to my TV-out? Of course i know that LCD's are better but are they better in terms of contrast and color as well? If the image that i get from an LCD is not worse (in photo-ealism) than the image i get on my TV screen, then i should go get one...
BUT IS IT????
Please Help

 

[Need4Speed]

tv-out will suck

 

[pyrojunkie]

Tv-out is very limited. Its low resolution screen would be enough to make any task look pretty ugly on the screen. I have never heard of LCD's being bad for photo work. In fact I understand LCD's to be superior in picture quality. Only issues I ever hear with LCD's is a sometimes noticeable shadow effect in 3D gaming. LCD's don't have refresh rate, but during a game it can look like the pidture isn't keeping up with the fast action.

 

[Need4Speed]

Originally posted by: pyrojunkie
Tv-out is very limited. Its low resolution screen would be enough to make any task look pretty ugly on the screen. I have never heard of LCD's being bad for photo work. In fact I understand LCD's to be superior in picture quality. Only issues I ever hear with LCD's is a sometimes noticeable shadow effect in 3D gaming. LCD's don't have refresh rate, but during a game it can look like the pidture isn't keeping up with the fast action.

lcds dont have the same black levels that a CRT has, therefore the color map might be off some

 

[monzie]

First off, TVs use a different colour space to pc monitors so you are already not seeing true colour profiles on your TV via a pc.

If you compare a TV image to a CRT image of the same picture/video you will see that TV images are over saturated. Also TV's (at least modernish ones) use special circuitry to super contrast light and dark areas in an image (this is done to increase the sharpness of the picture and to fool the human eye into seeing a 'higher resolution' picture than a TV can actually display). This doesn't usually matter if you are playing a commercial DVD on your pc via your TV out port as most DVD's are designed for TV playback anyway (and you can always just drop the colour balance slightly at the Tv end), but if you edit photo's on your TV.......................your wasting your time UNLESS you are only ever going to view them on the (same) TV..........printing them CORRECTLY must/would be a nightmare.

Oh and standard TV's have a MUCH higher luminence than any CRT (even the lightframe CRT types) and a CRT has a lot more luminence than tft's......note: luminence gives contrast (see above).

TFT's are getting better but, are yet, on the whole, still no match for a good CRT (regarding imaging work...especially colour/contrast. It doesn't help that on a TFT if you move your head you see different brightness/contrast levels.

BUT, saying that I, would say a TFT would be far better than a TV for imaging work and as long as you always view your image from the same place (as most people do anyway). Get one with DVI if you want the best possible image.

If you are thinking of getting a TFT make sure you go to a shop and SEE a selection of TFT's running, as the quality, brightness, contrast, viewing angles varies vastly between manu's and models.....oh and don't forget responce times.