Hi Spie. It's a very high end requirement there and I've not personally tested either of those screens but will give what advise I can in case it helps. Generally NEC and LaCie's high end screens are a very good choice for colour critical work and those models look a good starting point for sure.
One thing I think is important to think about is what kind of colour space you will be working with from the screen. Will you be using extended colour spaces and colour space aware applications? Do you think you will need to regularly work outside the sRGB colour space (72% NTSC reference) and if so, how much? One main difference between the two is the NEC is 102% NTSC coverage and the LaCie is 111% NTSC (they quote 123% but I'm pretty sure thats based on a slightly different CIE reference and the 102% is comparable to 111% here). Will come onto those a bit more in a mo.
NEC 3090
this one features an H-IPS panel ( LG.Display A-TW H-IPS (LM300WQ5)) which is generally regarded as the best choice for colour enthusiasts. Many high end screens do stick to S-PVA panels though (like the LaCie for instance) but the reason many people prefer IPS is because it is free from the off-centre contrast shift you can spot from a VA panel. As you move your line of sight away from a central point on a VA panel, the contrast changes noticeably, and you get a characteristic 'black crush' as you return to a central point. You''ll see people talk about this on smaller models as well, but same principal applies at the high end as well. IPS technology does not show this and offers wider viewing angles which is important to colour work for sure.
Sometimes IPS panels don't offer that great a black depth. Without testing the screen I couldnt tell you for sure if this one was one of them or not, since some of the newer generation of IPS panels are very good in this regard (HP LP2475W, NEC EA231WMi for instance). Just keep in mind black depth may not quite match the LaCie's Samsung S-PVA panel
Some other points:
- The screen features an Advanced True-Wide polarizer (A-TW) which helps maintain consistent black levels from angles. A nice feature which comes with some higher end IPS panels
- Their XLight Pro and ColorComp technologies are useful for ensuring colour and luminance consistency across the screen
- 12-bit LUT for improved and reliable colour gradients and grey scales. Also has a 36 bit gamma correction helping to do the same
- Hardware LUT calibration which is very effective. Comes with NEC's Spectraview software which is very thorough and I've used this on the NEC LCD2490WUXi before with very pleasing and accurate results.
- The screen features extended gamut CCFL backlighting rather than LED and so offers a colour space covering 102% of the NTSC reference. Back to my point about what kind of colour spaces and content do you think you will need?
- The screen does come with a hood if you need it, but although it comes with the SpectraView software, there is no packaged colorimeter i dont think. You will almost certainly want one if you want the best results. Something to keep in mind. I'd recommend something like the X-rite i1 Display 2 / LaCie blue Eye Pro for some top results without going mad
LaCie 730
This model is S-PVA based (Samsung LTM300DS S-PVA panel) so fundamentally quite different to the NEC 3090. The S-PVA technology will still give you excellent results when it comes to black depth, colour accuracy and viewing angles, but does suffer from the off-centre contrast shift which I talked about above. Black depth should be very good though since S-PVA is well renowned for being good in this regard. Looking at the two specs i would expect the LaCie to beat the NEC here with a lower black point
- RGB LED backlighting does offer an even wider colour space than W-CCFL with 111% NTSC coverage here. Whether you need that extra colour space is another question of course?
- LED backlighting can help deliver uniform colours and reliable panel uniformity as a whole. This is one of the advantages of the technology. To be fair though, even though the NEC uses CCFL backlighting I would be astonished if uniformity was not spot on anyway at this kind of price and at such a high end.
- There is a 14-bit gamma correction, not as much as the NEC but then to be fair I'm not sure if there would be a noticeable difference at this kind of level
- You can get two versions, with and without the Blue Eye Pro colorimeter so might be worth looking at the model with if you decide on the LaCie
- a hood is included as well
- Theres no mention of hardware LUT calibration but I would hope it is included on the 730. It is useful for giving the absolute best calibration results
For what it's worth, I think if it were my money I would buy the NEC 3090. The A-TW H-IPS panel holds the edge for me in regards to viewing angles and use in colour critical work. The LaCie is still excellent, but I just think IPS > S-PVA for this use really. I'd definitely get a colorimeter though of some sort, probably the LaCie Blue Eye Pro (which can be used with the NEC for hardware LUT calibration still and with their SpectraView software). It also appears to be £1200 cheaper than the LaCie?!
hope that helps
