Luminous Landscape Forum

Equipment & Techniques => Computers & Peripherals => Topic started by: mcbroomf on April 06, 2018, 10:42:18 am

Title: WQHD vs UHD and 5K screens (2560/3840/5120) for LR and PS?
Post by: mcbroomf on April 06, 2018, 10:42:18 am
This is not so much about which specific monitor to buy (eg BenQ/NEC/Eizo) rather a question about your experience using an WQHD screen vs 4k or 5k, especially if you moved "up".

My current setup is a pair of 30" WQHD screens (both 2560 x 1600), an old NEC3090W for my main editing screen and an older HL LP3065 on the side for PS tools and general display or 2nd windows so that I don't need to switch windows forward so often.  I'm pretty comfortable with this setup, and had to be as my older PC and video card would not drive 4k, but I have a nice new PC with a video card that will support 4 screens, all 4K/5k I believe (through DP).  Also one of my screens just blacked out (thought it was the screen but it may be a dodgy dual DVI cable ... tbd) and it has given me additional reason to think about an upgrade to my main editing screen.  I have read occasional posts about the pros/cons of 4k vs WQHD, mainly how remarkable viewing images in 4k, but on the decrement side the smaller type (although scaling is OK), smaller tools, sliders etc (which I believe cannot be scaled), and the fact that at 100% mag you can no longer "peep" as much in a small spot on a large image.  I tend to do a fair amount of work at 100%, spoting, evaluation/fixing CA and checking blur, sharpness and sharpening (at 50% as well).

My main use with LR and PS is developing files for large printing (most typically large for me is 24x36 although my printer is a 44" Epson).  No games at all, but all the other usual "stuff" done on a computer which is a Win 10 machine.

So my question really is about your experience/comments of WQHD vs 4k (or 5k) monitors with LR and/or PS if you made the switch, or elected not to if you were able to evaluate both before deciding.

Thanks
Title: Re: FHD vs UHD and 5K screens (2560/3840/5120) for LR and PS?
Post by: nemophoto on April 06, 2018, 11:10:10 am
My thoughts, not unlike a TV, is that as the screen gets larger, go for the higher res because of the fine details. Essentially, at a certain point, you are just making larger/grainier pixels on which to work. Meaning, the fineness of detail is not there. In the "old days" we used to talk about dot-pitch on CRT monitors. The finer the dot pitch, the clearer the image.

Personally, I wouldn't care as much about FHD vs UHD on a 15" notebook. However, when you talk about a 24" and greater monitor, the higher resolution is noticeable. Think of it a little like a 4MP image blown up to 20x30 versus an 18MP files (I've actually done that). Recently, one of my wife's 24" Dell monitors went bad. Instead of repairing, they sent her a new (refurbished I'm sure) 25" monitor. The remaining 24" is 1920x1080. The 25" is 2560X1440. The quality of the image rendering is noticeable. If your old monitor looks good, keep it for awhile. (I have two older NEC 24" PA241. I'd love to replace those eventually, but they do just fine for now.)
Title: Re: WQHD vs UHD and 5K screens (2560/3840/5120) for LR and PS?
Post by: mcbroomf on April 06, 2018, 11:39:22 am
Yes I agree with that, although I don't intend to go (much) larger than the 30" screens I have.  I guess a 32" 4k screen is most likely if I do go up in res.
Just to see how much I might be squinting at 100% I put together a DPI table for different options;

5k 34"          163.44 dpi (soon to be released LG)
4k 32"          137.68 dpi
WQHD 30"    100.63 dpi

It burns me a little that if I want to stay with a 2560 screen the choice is now very limited (if I want good colour gamut) and more expensive that 4k

Title: Re: WQHD vs UHD and 5K screens (2560/3840/5120) for LR and PS?
Post by: smahn on April 20, 2018, 10:09:54 am
I prefer the the WQHD to 4K, and also lament the lack of choices of WQHD at ˜30" sizes.

Currently testing an HP Z30i, which is quite nice, were it not for some panel dis-uniformity. I think there's a similar Dell out there, but looks like user reviews report similar panel issues. Not sure one can find better at that size/resolution.

Lemme know if you find a good one.
Title: Re: WQHD vs UHD and 5K screens (2560/3840/5120) for LR and PS?
Post by: mcbroomf on April 20, 2018, 11:32:50 am
I was also looking at the same HP but I decided to go up to 4k and bought an 32" LG (LG32MU99W) that was announced the same time as their new 5k screen.   I just got it this week and have not yet even calibrated it but it does look pretty good, perhaps a bit less impressive that I thought it might (I mean the transition from WQHD to 4k, not this monitor).  I'm scaling text 150% (Win 10) which is fine.  The icons, sliders etc don't seem to be too small to work with.