Charlie,

You would be able to see the difference if you had two computers one with a digital DVi video card and one with a D-sub analog video card with your LCD display and could switch between the two computers. (I have done this in my testing of LCD displays over the last 2-3 years.) It is with better LCD's, very obvious that DVI produces a better quality image.

The reason is simple and logical. CRT displays are analog devices, so the video cards made to drive them are made to convert the computer's digital information to analaog to drive a CRT. An LCD is natively a digital device, so inside LCD's with D-sub analog connectors there has to be a device to translate an analog signal to digital to be able to display it.

So running an LCD with an analog output video card involves converting the computers digital information to analog, sending it to the LCD which then has to convert that analog signal back to digital, In other words the signal is compromised twice by being converted from digital to analog, and again from analog back to digital.

Using a digital output DVI connector video card involves NO translation and conversion is involved, the digital picture information produced by your computer gores directly to the LCD's screen. And if you set the screen resolution from your computer to the LCD's native resolution then the information is reproduced 1:1 directly with the computer outputting each pixel in an image directly to a single corresponding pixel in the LCD's screen.

Mr. Brooks,

Thanks for the kind reply. You are most excellent with your explanations. It seems so simple now. I bought a Canon 5D from your Shutterbug article and was reassured in my purchase of an Epson R1800 from your reviews. Boths items are simply terrific.

I think its time to upgrade my video card to an ATI DVI card. I think I might be able to place it on the motherboard myself.

Incidentially, my Dell 20" UltraSharp LCD is also made by LG Phillips like the Apple Cinema Vision monitors. I'm very pleased with mine eventhough the Apple version is rated better.

Thanks once again for your help. You tell the truth about what's what on this forum and in Shutterbug magazine articles. You have a world of experience and it really shows...
______________________
Charlie Wesley
St, Augustine Beach, FL

Charlie,

If you do decide to go for an video card upgrade I would suggest you will obtain the best Photoshop performance with ATI Radeon 9000 series video cards.

http://mirror.ati.com/products/Radeon9600/Radeon9600propcmac/index.html

Thanks for the encouraging remarks. I try my best.

I'll second David's suggestion about a good graphics card. My two year old Dell came with the ATI Radeon 9800 Pro and it is excellent. I did find that I needed to replace the Dell drivers with the current drivers from the ATI web site for better performance in Photoshop.

Larry.

Glad you mentioned the driver. The drivers supplied by the operating system are usually inferior regardless of what system, as I had the same experience with an ATI Radeon 9600 Pro for a Mac - the performance was much better after installing ATI's driver.

What about the Matrox cards? I was always under the impression that these were the best cards for 2D work.

Steve,

For Windows PC's Matrox Millennium video cards have in the past been one of the best performers supporting Photoshop and image editing. An equally good if not better choice these days is the ATI Radeon 9600 Pro video card.

David,

Thanks for the info. My current AGP card is a Millenium 550. However, I will probably rebuild my PC this winter. Are the ATI PCI Express cards still the best bet for Photoshop? If so, which models?

Thanks,

Steve

Steve,

The ATI video card model that seems to be chosen most by digital photographers is the Radeon 9600 Pro model, possibly in part because it is an option with high-end Apple Macs used for graphics.

David,

The ATI 9600 Pro is an AGP slot card. It would work with my current motherboard. However, newer motherboards are using the new PCI Express slot. There is no AGP slot anymore.

Do you know what an equivalent card would be for the PCIx slot?

You can get a list of PCI Express cards by using ATI's Product upgrade advisor. The list is too long to post here.

http://buy.ati.com/productinfo/ua/final.asp

Thanks,

Steve

Steve,

Based on specifications and features the Radeon X1600 Pro Video Card seems to be the closest choice and about the same price.

Thanks for you insight.

Steve