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Digital Photography by John Rettie

LCD Monitors and Wireless Networking Become Acceptable

For a change this month I am not looking at any new digital cameras. Hopefully though, within the next few weeks I will get to sample the new Kodak DCS 760 camera with its 6 megapixel CCD as well as the Nikon D1x with its 5.4 megapixel CCD. Minolta has also upped the ante at the prosumer level with the announcement of the Dimage 7, which is the first camera with a price tag of $1500, to feature a 5 megapixel CCD. By the time you read this column Sony will have announced its new DSC-S85 camera with a 4 megapixel CCD and a retail price of only $799. Suddenly its beginning to look as though cameras with “only” 3-megapixels are passé. More on these cameras in the future columns. In the meantime, this month I have revisited LCD monitors, many of which are now suitable for photographic use and I’ve also taken a look at wireless networking.

LaCie photon18blue with light hood shows the future in monitors.

LaCie photon18blue LCD Monitor
For some time computer industry pundits have been predicting that flat panel LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) monitors would replace the CRT monitors we have been using ever since computers first entered the world of photography. Of course laptop users have been using LCD screens all along, but they will be the first to tell you about the shortcomings when it comes to viewing photographic images. Until recently the major problem has been an unrealistic look to photographic images, especially when viewed at a slight angle. The images have always been too contrasty and colors shift, depending on the angle of view. On top of these problems there’s been the high cost compared to a comparable CRT monitor. The benefits have always been there—a much more compact size, improved efficiency and an easier-on- the eyes, non-flickering crisper image for text.

However there’s good news on the LCD front—prices have started to drop and, judging by the latest LCD monitor from LaCie I have been trying, their usability for photographers has become acceptable. Of course, having said that there is still a big price difference between this 18-inch LCD monitor and the equivalent LaCie 19-inch CRT monitor I have been using for the past year. As I write this the price of the photon18blue LCD monitor is $1999 compared to $599 for the conventional LaCie electron19blue CRT monitor. In a sign of the times though, the Photon monitor is already $500 less expensive than it was when it was first announced in April.

Like any modern monitor the LCD can be plugged into a Mac or a PC without any problems. It can be hooked up either as an analog device through a regular monitor port or a special cable, included with the monitor, which allows it to be used as a purely digital device with no analog to digital conversion. I tried it both ways on my PC and I could not see any difference in quality or performance. On the other hand, this new DVI (Digital Video Interface) standard is so new that I had to use a prototype DVI port adapter on my PC, so perhaps we’ll see benefits from being all digital down the road. My G4 Mac has a DVI built in as standard, so it was even easier to install.

	La Cie’s 19-inch CRT and 18-inch LCD monitor both produce good images when viewed side by side. Dina Marie Vannoni is the model traversing both monitors on Rettie’s cluttered desk.

Unlike CRT monitors, one has to use the built-in fixed resolution on a LCD monitor or it will not work at all, as I discovered by mistake. The photon18blue has a fixed resolution of 1280x1024, which is the same as the largest resolution that’s comfortable to view on the 19-inch monitor I use. Although the Photon is listed as one inch smaller in diagonal size it utilizes the whole screen, whereas the CRT does not reach right into the corners of the monitor. As I have an additional video card in my G4 Mac I was able to compare the two monitors side by side. After adjusting the colors so they would match as closely as possible, I was pleased to find that viewing photographs on the LCD screen was as good as on the CRT. The images are contrastier, but it’s a matter of opinion whether that makes them more accurate or less than the softer images portrayed on the CRT monitor. I switched back and forth and honestly felt I could live with either.

As far as text goes, it’s another story as the LCD’s crisper resolution makes reading text much easier. However there is a lag in screen redrawing when one is scrolling through a lengthy piece of text such as on a web site. It creates a blurring of the text as it scrolls, but it is more of an aesthetic than a practical problem.

The Photon monitor is only about three inches deep and it sits on a pedestal that can be adjusted for height and angle. What’s more, the monitor can also be rotated to a portrait position, which is very handy if one is working with text or portrait orientated images. A slide show of portraits sitting in the reception area of a studio would probably draw plenty of positive attention from potential clients.

In summary, last time I tried an LCD monitor a couple of years ago I was sorely disappointed at the quality of the image. It was so far from acceptable that I said I’d not even buy a LCD monitor even if it was the same price. Now I’d say that I would definitely buy a good LCD such as this LaCie photon18blue if it were closer in price to a CRT monitor. However, if you are cramped for real estate or want to portray an upscale image in your studio then this monitor would be worthwhile despite the price difference. Many in the computer industry predict that the price of LCD monitors will drop much further in the next few years and that it’s likely most of us will be buying LCD monitors in the future instead of CRT monitors. Based on the performance of the LaCie Photon, I don’t doubt that this prediction will come true. For me, price is really the only deterrent to buying one today.

The Linksys Wireless Access Point Router transfers data via the PC card that fits into a laptop or a desktop via an adaptor..

Linksys Wireless Networking
It seems networking several computers together has become an absolute necessity in most homes let alone studios or offices. If the computers are close by it’s not a particularly big deal to set up an Ethernet network by stringing cables and plugging in a hub. However, in a home or office where computers might be spread through several rooms it can be a pain. It’s also irksome for users of laptop computers to have to be tethered to a cable in order to access a network or get on the Internet. The answer is obvious—go wireless.

Until recently, wireless networks, not to be confused with mobile phone systems, have been lacking in speed, which has made them frustrating to use. However, the newest wireless network systems, that conform to a protocol standard called IEEE 802.11b, offer a decent transfer speed of 11 MBs per second, which makes them a practical alternative to wired systems. I have recently tried out a Linksys wireless base station and an adaptor for a laptop computer. The Linksys base station/router costs about $270, while each wireless network PC card costs around $140 and a PCI card adapter costs $46.

The Linksys EtherFast Wireless AP + Cable/DSL Router (model BEFW11S4) is actually more than just a wireless base station as it also acts as a router for hooking up to a cable modem or a DSL line as well as offering four ports for linking computers or peripherals by wire. This three-in-one unit is ideal for use in an office with a DSL Internet connection or in a home with a cable or DSL modem connection. In the vast majority of cases a primary computer will be near enough to the router that it can be plugged in via Ethernet cable. Then wireless connections can be used for laptop computers and desktops located further away from the router. Linksys claims that a computer can be accessed up to 300 feet away in a building and up to three times further out doors in an unrestricted area. I found it was possible to use my laptop when it was three rooms away from the router in my house. The signal had to go through about five walls, albeit skinny ones made from sheetrock. The transfer speed falls off as you get further away from the receiver, but it was not noticeable when connecting to the Internet, which is notoriously inconsistent anyway.

Installing the router was a breeze. As I had already been using another cable modem router I only had to switch two cables and then enter one unique identifying number for the ISP and I was online within seconds. Setting one up from scratch is no more difficult, although one has to reset the Internet connections in the computer that used to be hooked directly to the cable modem. As far as the ISP is concerned, the router becomes the “computer.” The Linksys router then routes the Internet connections automatically to each of the computers. An added benefit is that the router acts as a firewall to prevent hackers from getting into the networked computers. As an aside, my son had trouble playing some online games because of this firewall protection, which might not be a bad thing from a parent’s perspective!
Although there are two antennas on the router, no protruding antenna is required on a laptop. Instead, all the circuitry and integrated antenna are included on the wireless network PC card that slides into a vacant slot on the laptop and protrudes less than an inch. The same card can also be used on a desktop computer by way of a PCI card adaptor that accepts the PC Card. It’s an ingenious way of utilizing the same PC card for laptops and desktop computers.

It took a few attempts to get my laptop connected, but in all fairness I think a lot of that was due to some old settings I had on the computer from a previous job where it was configured for access to a private local area network system. Anyway, as is so often the case with Windows, a few reboots and reinstallation of the PC card driver solved the problem and I was able to access the Internet around the house and outdoors without being tethered to a cable. It’s certainly useful if you need to move around and access the Internet or local network without using Ethernet cables. Users of Apple laptops are fortunate as Apple has had a compatible system called AirPort on the market for some time. Because the Airport system is fully integrated into the Mac OS, it works more smoothly although it is still an option that costs additional money.

John Rettie is a photojournalist who resides in Santa Barbara, CA. He has been using a camera as a professional for 31 years, a computer for 21 years, and has combined his knowledge of both for the past eight years. Readers can contact him by e-mail at john@johnrettie.com or by snail-mail in care of Rangefinder.