EventDV.net: The Event Videographer's Resource

Being someone who has always edited with dual 17" CRT monitors, the switch to a large, single LCD screen presented quite a change. But for the sake of conservation--both space and power bill relief--I was willing to give it a go. The new monitor in question is a Philips 23" Brilliance LCD monitor (Model 230WP7).
     After an easy set-up process, I was off to the races. I adjusted my NLE (Premiere Pro 2.0) to accommodate the new workspace and began editing. Within a few minutes, I could appreciate the new workspace. No looking across monitor edges, and no back-and-forth with the head. Also, the monitor's 1920x1200 resolution gave me more desktop height compared to the dual 17" monitors I was running at 1024x768. This means more levels of the timeline visible at all time.
     After a couple hours of editing, scrubbing back and forth on the timeline, it was obvious to me I would not be going back to the old setup. Another benefit I had not counted on is how much easier using this larger, single monitor is on my eyes. After three hours of editing, I found my eyes to be less tired than when using my traditional setup.
     Like many of us, I'm generally happy with my existing setup and reluctant make a change. But in this case, when I did, I found the benefits to be real and useful.
     One criticism I have for most of the Widescreen LCD monitors I have seen (this one included) is the Aspect Ratio of 16:10. I don't output or ever view in native 16:10, and I doubt many of you do either. Why must we be forced to use this on our monitors? Until the monitor manufacturers guess the message, I guess we will always be saddled with that small black bar.

One final note: while not necessary for video editing, the screen's ability to rotate 90 degrees for portrait viewing was great for photo editing.

The basic numbers on the 230W are as follows:

WUXGA (1920X1200 resolution)
178-degree viewing angle
12ms response rate
Both DVI & VGA inputs
4 built-in USB hubs.