HP were set a conundrum by DreamWorks Animation who put in an request for colour critical displays for their animators to work on, but with a price tag that wasn't going to cripple the company.
As Kate Swanborg, technology executive at DreamWorks Animation told journos gathered at the HP annual conference in Berlin, the company faced real issues tracking down CRTs to do the job, having to resort sometimes to trawling on eBay, because the LCDs on the market weren't up to the job.
HP has responded with the DreamColor LP2480zx display, which is it claiming is the world's first "affordable" display delivering "a combination of true 30-bit colour - enabling a range of one billion colours - in a widescreen, LED-backlit liquid crystal display".
The display is designed for professionals and as such, is said to achieve "more than 63 times the colours available on mainstream LCD displays", which means that reds, blues and greens are deeper, blacks are four times darker and whites can be programmed for more accuracy.
It includes the HP DreamColor engine software as well as the DreamColor calibration kit. Size-wise, it is 16.7 to 20.67 x 22.24 x 10 inches and weighs 12.5kg including stand.
HP adds that this is the first model resulting from a 2-year tech collaboration between HP and DreamWorks Animation, and it is shipping now for 2299 euros.