Wow…blogging seems so unfamiliar to me after…4 months since the last entry…boy did time fly! Well summer went by quickly and nothing much happened..perhaps that’s why I haven’t blogged..hah

I guess life has been changing now that I’m rolling with a new schedule…and I’m still trying to get used to the changes..but it’s a good change.

There are lots to talk about..especially with all the crazy news going on with our world..but I’ll just refrain from mentioning them because I’m tired of hearing it…hah..how is everyone doing?

There’s a hymn I’ve always liked and I shared with all of you before..even on a previous post..maybe even more than once…well anyway, recently I got a CD that had the hymn I really liked, but in a more contemporary version..which I think it’s really nice..sounds very relaxing rather than slow and boring…so I have uploaded it for your enjoyment…Some people, or rather ONE person, didn’t like having my blog auto play music in the past, so I decided to not make it autoplay (if you guys have not noticed already after all this time…). So to hear it, just push the play button up top and sit back..and relax…=P

• Currently Playing: Chris Rice - O Love That Wilt Not Let Me Go

So….I bought a new LCD monitor for my computer…and some of you might be wondering why I bought it since I already have an LCD since almost 4 yrs ago. I felt that I have some justifications for this purchase, and I think it’s a good investment..hah..if you want to read my story behind it, continue…if you want to see my overview of this monitor, scroll down further..

Anyway, so from the title, you already know what I got. Yes, the newest 24in LCD from Dell! It’s the 2408WFP, NOT the E2408 model. There’s a big difference between the two. The one I got is much better than the other, and I’ll tell you why I got it.

I’ve been wanting a 24in screen for my computer since over a year ago, but my reasons back then were, to me, not good enough to justify spending the money. I simply wanted a bigger screen just because it’s bigger and I can see more. So I was looking and waiting for prices to drop since early last year…and boy have they dropped since then. You can get a 24in from under $300 now, compare to 600+ a year ago. So I had my mind set to get the popular Samsung 245BW, one of their most affordable 24in with 3000:1 DC (dynamic contrast ratio)..and prices were good enough since beginning of the year ($400 at costco) but I didn’t act on it and waited.

So what triggered my purchase this time? Well a few weeks ago, I was looking for a professional source to get some sample photo prints. Results came in and I was rather disappointed in the accuracy of the colors. On the screen, everything looked great. On print, everything was too saturated and a bit too yellow on the skin. Despite how good the overall picture looked, those skin colors bother me and I know it will bother my clients from now and in the future. So I started doing some research on LCD monitors, color profiling, calibration (hard and soft), color space, ICC profiles, printer profiling..etc. My conclusion led me to a good reason to be on the market for one. I’ve read reviews from many sites on all sorts of LCD monitors and what are good for photo/video editing. Now I understand why there’s a big price difference among LCD monitors of the same size. A 24in can range from $300-2000+!!

I also got some sample prints from Costco, and surprisingly Costco looked even better than the professional place I got samples from.

To digress a bit, some people have said Costco prints aren’t that great, but here are a few things I thought everyone should know before coming to that conclusion because I’ve never had a bad print from them as of yet, and I think I know the reasons why..

1. Not all the Costco locations use the same printer. They vary within 5-6 different kinds or more. They use Noritsu and Fuji.
2. If you know anything about color profiling, Costco actually offers you their printer profiles according to the location. Hence, you can get an accurate color representation if you have a good screen..basically, what you see is what you get.
3. Their printer profiles have been accurately created by a professional company (Dry Creek Photo), so rest assure they are not using cheap printers.
4. Their online photo center software have some bugs that need major fixing. What I realize is that if you are printing large prints, make sure you upload them one by one rather than drag and drop…otherwise, you may not get good quality prints..but FYI: Costco is currently updating their online photo center and it will be a new one starting tomorrow. Hopefully they fixed the bug
5. Costco actually uses Fujifilm Crystal Archive papers for their prints, which are comparable professional quality papers, up to par with the Kodak Endura Professional paper, which a lot of professionals use for printing.
6. If you have some photo editing skills and have a good monitor, and if you know and have edited your photos to exactly what you want, make sure you mark the option in their photo center NOT to alter or enhance your images. Doing so will ruin your image and what you see will not be what you get.

End of digression.

So back to what I was saying, I looked into various LCD monitors and models. Eizo seemed to be the best out there. Of course, they also cost MUCHO DINERO..prepare to spend at LEAST 1400-3000 for one of their professional monitors. Why are they so expensive? They have built-in hardware calibration inside the LCD, with support up to 16 bit and accurate representation of the true 16.7million colors you can see on a screen. Most DSLRs like my Nikon D80 can only take pix up to 12-bits. Even the newest lines of Nikon like the D300 can get 14-bits. So just imagine getting all those colors visible to our eyes but never seen on our typical monitors.

So I continued to look around and asked from graphic designers and professionals what they prepare to use…and seems like a lot of people actually like Dell Ultrasharp monitors or Apple Cinema monitors as a more cost effective solution for color sensitive work. Of course, I’ve never been an Apple fan nor do I want to be..nothing against them cuz they do know how to design and market their products well, but I’m just not an Apple guy. I know apple screens can be used with a PC, but I think it’ll just look weird using a PC with an Apple screen just cuz the colors will be harder to match and the fact that I just don’t like mixing the two.
So in the end, I decided to go with Dell because of price and quality.

This is getting long, so to cut to the end of the story, I had my mind set on buying the Dell 24, but it was still just above what I would like to pay for. Surprisingly though, over this weekend there was an online coupon good for 20% (with only 100 redemptions), I took this as my chance to act upon it. The monitor was $679 ($ 60 off over weekend without 20%, $100 off right now)..and with 20% I saved almost $140 bucks. It was definitely a good deal, and I would highly recommend this one..if you’re a techy person, you can read on as I talk about stuff on LCDs and the features of my new toy…if you’re not, I leave you with some pix I took..

Here’s my setup..

Something to know when it comes to buying a new monitor is actually something that the manufacturer usually don’t tell you. There are 3 common types of LCD monitors, and how good they are depends on the type. The three are TN, S-PVA, and S-IPS. TN are usually the cheapest type of monitors, and most low end monitors are TN monitors. They do not have accuract color representation, and they can only display a very small color space, namely sRGB. S-PVA and S-IPS monitors are the better types of monitors, and these are what you want to get if you want a good monitor. My Dell 24in Ultrasharp 2408WFP is, I believe S-PVA. Some people claim it’s S-IPS, but I’m not 100% sure..it’s one them. Some people claim S-IPS are the best, but then Eizo, the baller of all LCDs, use S-PVA…so there are some disclaimers.

All Apple HD Cinema screens use H-IPS, which is pretty similar to S-IPS, but it’s their “own” type of LCD. The quality is comparable to S-PVA and S-IPS, and that is why they look so much nicer..and also why they cost so much more..

So how do you know if you have a TN or a S-PVA/S-IPS monitor? Well, it’s hard to find distinctions between S-PVA and S-IPS, but it’s easy to tell if it’s TN or not. TN monitors usually have a smaller viewing angle. If it is 160/160 degree, it is most likely TN. If you have 170/170 or higher (like my dell is 178/178), then it’s either S-PVA or S-IPS or H-IPS (for Apple).

Another thing to know is, a fast response does not mean a good monitor. For gaming, it’s important, but for color accuracy, that may not always be the case. Contrast ratio is important, but anything from 500 and up might actually be good enough depending on the monitor type.

Color gamut is important when it comes to accurate color representation. My dell supports up to 110% typical of the color gamut, which is pretty decent compare to most monitors. Of course, my monitor is still not accurate until I have proper calibration. If you get the newest Dell 30in, they have a very high color accuracy, but it also comes at a cost of almost $2000. Most common color spaces are sRGB, Adobe 98, and ProPhoto. sRGB is the most common and it’s what the web uses as the standard color space. Adobe 98 is a much wider color space and can represent much more colors in the spectrum than sRGB. ProPhoto is even larger than Adobe 98, but because most printers and sources cannot support that high of a color space right now, it’s often not used.

Apple 30in, as well as the Dell 30in, can both support within 95% of the Adobe 98 color space spectrum. So if you really want a good screen, those are good. NEC also makes very high quality LCDs, some of which are even better than Apple monitors. LaCie is another good brand (they’re the higher lines of NEC) that make professional LCDs..but NEC and LaCie high end monitors also comes at a great cost. Expect to pay over $1000 for a 24inch..

Lastly, a quick overview of my Dell 2408WFP..from the pictures, you can see it has a lot of functions. You can tilt it vertically also. So it has 2 DVI (HDCP) inputs, 1 VGA, 1 HDMI, 1 Composite, 1 Component, Audio out, 4 USB ports, 9 in 2 card reader, and optional speaker power output. It also has 1 new Display Port, which will be the next generation adapter that even DVI will eventually succumb to. DisplayPort is much smaller and looks similar to the HDMI adapters, but it offers HDCP and 2-way communication…and also has audio. I don’t know much details as there aren’t many devices with DisplayPort output, but I think it’s useful in the future.

If any of you are looking into getting an LCD screen, I hope these information will be helpful…now back to testing my screen with movies..hah

I’m DONE!!! well…not really, but I’m done taking the LAST FINAL!!…hopefully for the rest of my life!! woohoo=)

now I just gotta get cracking on my research and finish all the simulations…sigh…summer is coming by quickly …eek..:P

Having been designing many logos lately for a client got me into thinking new ideas for the logo of my own. As some of you have seen, I have already changed through a few logos of my own for my photography, named as JLExpressions. That’s going to be my identity and will be used exclusively for all my photography stuff from now on..so I had come up with a few logos which I liked, but I wanted to make one that gives more of a unique marking or imprint…not that my other logo designs were not unique, but a special imprint or seal like logo seem to be nice and professional. So here is my new set of logo marking/imprint….what do you guys think?

This weekend went by quickly, but it was fun and exciting for two really cool people that I had just met..so here is again.. CONGRATULATIONS ANITA AND MICHAEL! The honor was mine to have the privilege to shoot for the most memorable day of your life =)

I was really excited about how the photos turned out, so I already worked on some proofs to show you guys…