I started out with a dual monitor setup, a 17" ViewSonic panel on the left and a 20" wide Dell 2005FPW on the right. The ViewSonic was a cheap TN panel which was OK for the text process but the Dell was based the same S-IPS screen used in the Apple 20" Cinema Display.

The Dell 2005FPW was running at 1680x1050 and the ViewSonic VA701B was at 1280x1024. Together they provided about 2960x1050, or roughly 3MP (mega-pixels) in resolution, which was more than a typical 24" such as the Dell 2405FPW at 1920x1200, or 2.3 MP. But calibrating two monitors was tedious and each monitor did not provide enough vertical resolution for the portrait orientation photos.

After owning the combo for over a year and half, I decided to take the plunge and got a 30" Dell 3007WFP. It is based on the same LG.Philips panel used in the famous 30" Apple Cinema Display but costs much less. The 3007WFP has a native resolution of 2560x1600 and requires a dual link DVI capable video card to drive it. It is about 4MP in resolution and provides a picture about the size of 16"x25". Well how often does one print pictures at 16x25? For me it would be very rarely. With this monitor, I can enjoy my pictures at that size at any time. It makes photo proofing and retouching so much easier.

The pictures of the 30" shown here may not show its true size very well because one has to sit in front a 30" monitor to truly appreciate its size. Even though it has the size of an average household TV but the resolution is so much higher. In fact it is much higher than any current HDTV can provide. The best HDTV runs at 1080p, or 1920x1080, or 2 mega-pixels. That is about half of the resolution of this display. Back in the CRT days, a 21" would be huge and heavy. The current LCD technology not only makes it possible to have this 30" display on the desktop but it also only weighs about 35 lbs.