Topic: are recent monitors significantly better than 5-10 year old ones? (Read 18538 times)

Lisa Nikodym · « **on:** August 15, 2015, 12:55:49 pm »

Forgive me for sounding like I just crawled out of a cave, but I am wondering whether it's time to change my monitor. I've been using a NEC 2690WUXi monitor (with SpectraView II i1 calibrator) for something longer than 5 years (maybe quite a bit longer). It was about as good as one could get at the time, and I've been very happy with it. I've read that NEC SpectraView monitors/calibrators are still extremely good. My question is, would a new one be significantly better than the old one in some way? Or has the technology not changed much in the meantime?

(I'm not particularly interested in a larger one - my current 26" is about right for photo editing, with a second monitor next to it to hold the Photoshop menus. I know that monitors can degrade in brightness over time, but I can still calibrate my old one to my optimum brightness level.)

I got thinking along these lines because, since upgrading from Windows 7 to Windows 10, Spectraview doesn't seem able to recognize my monitor type anymore and thinks it's unsupported (a generic monitor). Is it time to upgrade, or just time to debug???

Thanks,
Lisa

Czornyj · « **Reply #1 on:** August 15, 2015, 01:19:32 pm »

Try to install newer or older graphic card drivers, make sure that SpectraView II is updated to the latest versiin.

PA272W is slightly better at every respect, it only lacks AT-W (Advanced True-Wide Polarizer). EA275UHD is also worth mentioning (if you don't mind having normal gamut display)

Eric Myrvaagnes · « **Reply #2 on:** August 15, 2015, 01:32:16 pm »

Hi Lisa,

Nice to see you back. It's been a while.

I can't give a good answer to your question, since my monitors are both relative cheapos (a Dell and a Samsung), but in your situation I'd be tempted to roll back to Win 7 until they get more of the bugs out of Win 10. (I hope you cloned your Win 7 setup before upgrading to 10.)

Seeing your post I checked your website again, which I haven't done in a few years. You have a lot of beautiful stuff that I will explore soon when I have more time. I looked at a few of the fine Norway photos (my father came from there and I've been there twice). I have almost the identical shot of Trollstigen, which I found somewhat scary to drive up.

I haven't been to the Lofoten Islands, so I plan to check out those shots soon.

Best,

Eric M.

digitaldog · « **Reply #3 on:** August 15, 2015, 02:05:36 pm »

Quote from: Lisa Nikodym on August 15, 2015, 12:55:49 pm

My question is, would a new one be significantly better than the old one in some way? Or has the technology not changed much in the meantime?

Significantly? Hard to say but these are the differences from the PAxx1 which is newer than the unit you have:

- approx. 1-2dE better uniformity than former PAxx1 series
- satin diffuser vs matte difuser in PAxx1 - the image is cleaner, with less sparkling/clouding effect and more punch
- lower minimal luminance - PA241 goes down to ~90cd/m^2 while PA242 achieves ~40cd/m^2 natively
- slightly larger gamut than PAxx1
- lower power consumption
- Improved long term stability.
- Mini DisplayPort and HDMI inputs.
- Ability to update factory calibration in SpectraView.
- Stand-alone calibration using the NEC MDSVSENSOR3 (NEC custom i1d3) on the PA302W (no software needed) LED backlight.
- The backlight sensor also monitors whitepoint in addition to luminance
- GB-R LED allows more precise control of whitepoint (vs. CCFL)
- LED backlight and luminance sensor = almost instant on & stable

Dale Villeponteaux · « **Reply #4 on:** August 15, 2015, 02:20:41 pm »

I have the same problem after updating to Windows 10: Spectraview unable to communicate with any supported monitor. I have both updated my display driver
and reinstalled the latest version of Spectraview II. No joy. BTW, I have a NEC 272 with a Quadro k5200 card. It appears that Spectraview doesn't yet support Windows 10. I should add, however, this is the most trouble-free OS upgrade I've seen from Microsoft. Spectraview is the only program I regularly use that is currently disabled.

Regards,
Dale V.

digitaldog · « **Reply #5 on:** August 15, 2015, 02:22:19 pm »

Quote from: Dale Villeponteaux on August 15, 2015, 02:20:41 pm

I have the same problem after updating to Windows 10: Spectraview unable to communicate with any supported monitor. I have both updated my display driver
and reinstalled the latest version of Spectraview II. No joy. BTW, I have a NEC 272 with a Quadro k5200 card. It appears that Spectraview doesn't yet support Windows 10. I should add, however, this is the most trouble-free OS upgrade I've seen from Microsoft. Spectraview is the only program I regularly use that is currently disabled.

Got a USB cable hooked up to the display?

Dale Villeponteaux · « **Reply #6 on:** August 15, 2015, 02:27:58 pm »

No, I'm using DisplayPort. Haven't tried any of the other ports yet since the I1profiler software works.

Thanks,
Dale

digitaldog · « **Reply #7 on:** August 15, 2015, 02:43:23 pm »

Quote from: Dale Villeponteaux on August 15, 2015, 02:27:58 pm

No, I'm using DisplayPort. Haven't tried any of the other ports yet since the I1profiler software works.

I'm suggesting you also add a USB for communication to the display.

Dale Villeponteaux · « **Reply #8 on:** August 15, 2015, 02:47:16 pm »

Sorry, I misunderstood. I'll do as you suggest.

Thanks,
Dale

Czornyj · « **Reply #9 on:** August 15, 2015, 04:25:59 pm »

Quote from: digitaldog on August 15, 2015, 02:22:19 pm

Got a USB cable hooked up to the display?

Thing is that x90 series didn't have USB yet, so it depends 100% on DDC/CI, which doesn't always work (due to drivers/OS issues).

Alan Goldhammer · « **Reply #10 on:** August 15, 2015, 05:23:37 pm »

Yes, the suggestion from NEC is to use the USB port on the monitor and hook that up to the PC but as noted above if you don't have a USB port you are out of luck until NEC update the software. Also make sure the driver for both the monitor and graphics card are correct and up to date. I'm not planning on updating to Windows 10 for a variety of reasons in addition to the fact that it's just out. I don't like the fact that it forces all updates on you including device drivers and has a wonderful key logging system that compromises privacy. But this is just me being paranoid.

Lisa Nikodym · « **Reply #11 on:** August 15, 2015, 06:45:17 pm »

Thanks for all the suggestions; you've been very helpful. Unfortunately, I don't see any USB port on my old monitor, so that's not an option. I was planning to get a new PC sometime in the next few months anyway, so I'll be stuck with Windows 10 at that point, and given the advantages of a new monitor (thanks very much, Andrew! Your knowledge on the subject is greatly appreciated) I'll probably just get a new PC and new monitor to go with it very soon.

Maybe I'll try reverting to Windows 7 in the meantime...

(And hi, Eric! It's been awhile since I've participated much here, I know. I hope you've been well. You should definitely try to get to the Lofoten Islands sometime! It's gorgeous. Of course, so were Romsdalen/Trollstigen & Geirangerfjorden, while was the last part of Norway I visited...)

Thanks,
Lisa

Alan Goldhammer · « **Reply #12 on:** August 16, 2015, 08:45:02 am »

Lisa, you don't need to automatically get Windows 10 on a new computer. Depending on where you get it you might be able to specify Windows 8.1 as the install. Microsoft is still providing full support for 8.1; you just have to ignore the popup urging upgrade to 10. Windows 10 really does not offer anything at this point in time that is useful over Windows 8.1. I moved up to 8.1 when I build my new work station and all the software is working just fine. I have an older NEN P221W which is still working just fine for my uses and the color is stable.

Chris Livsey · « **Reply #13 on:** August 17, 2015, 02:18:39 am »

Quote from: Alan Goldhammer on August 16, 2015, 08:45:02 am

Lisa, you don't need to automatically get Windows 10 on a new computer.

Most of the top end "pro" models still offer 7 as an option. A lot of bespoke software doesn't like 8 and re-writing is often very expensive or not possible. We have a legacy program, extensively validated, for producing pre-term baby IV nutrition bag work sheets, it runs on MS-DOS

We could re-write but validation and stability is paramount. Likewise we still use dot matrix printers, as does a lot of the nuclear industry, for similar reasons.

Alan Goldhammer · « **Reply #14 on:** August 17, 2015, 12:41:17 pm »

Quote from: Chris Livsey on August 17, 2015, 02:18:39 am

Most of the top end "pro" models still offer 7 as an option. A lot of bespoke software doesn't like 8 and re-writing is often very expensive or not possible. We have a legacy program, extensively validated, for producing pre-term baby IV nutrition bag work sheets, it runs on MS-DOS We could re-write but validation and stability is paramount. Likewise we still use dot matrix printers, as does a lot of the nuclear industry, for similar reasons.

As long as OEM Windows 7 disks are available this is an option for sure. The trouble is the OS is tied to your motherboard and if you have a board failure you are out of luck as you cannot install it on a new board or update the system to a new board (I realize that you can probably find a MSFT help operator who will violate company policy and allow you to do so). I agree with the point about computer validation though that's more important for those in regulated industries (I spent my working career in the pharma industry where there are still lots of legacy systems running Windows XP). For photo software and the things that this group is concerned about either Win 7 or 8.1 are fine choices at present. I don't believe there are any software or hardware (e.g., drivers) issues to worry about.

Lisa Nikodym · « **Reply #15 on:** August 18, 2015, 12:11:04 pm »

Since a newer monitor sounds like it has significant advantages over my older one, I went ahead and sprung for a newer (and larger) NEC with Spectraview along with a new PC (Windows 10, which my husband has been using on his PC for awhile and doesn't mind) to go with it, since it was about five years old too and starting to get annoyingly slow. Then there should be no compatibility problems, especially since the new monitor will also have a USB port.

Thanks for all your very useful info here!

Lisa

Pictus · « **Reply #16 on:** August 25, 2015, 02:05:04 pm »

Now we have 4K monitors...

Onslow · « **Reply #17 on:** August 26, 2015, 12:07:11 am »

Hi Lisa, I have almost the same NEC monitor as you as well as an Eizo CG277 bought last yr. The difference between the NEC and Eizo is stark. I have no reason to suspect that a new NEC wouldn't give the same difference. The monitor is regularly calibrated btw.

I have just updated to Windows 10. I run a Quadro k2200 video card. I also use Spectraview ii 1.1.20 with no issues communicating or calibrating it using my i1 Photo Pro2. I also have no USB into the NEC. The NEC is connected via the DVI port on the monitor and video card.

I did have an issue with blurriness on the Eizo occasionally occurring but after talking with NVidia support, I change the cable into the card from Displayport #2 to DisplayPort #1. This seems to have cured the problem.

All of the software is as up to date as I can find re my drivers.

My gear is below
Display Adapters: Leadtek NVIDIA Quadro K2200 4 Gb Workstation Card
Display Adaptor Driver: 353.82
Monitors: 2x; NEC MultiSync LCD2690WUXi2 1920 x 1200 via Dvi, Eizo CG277 2560 x 1440 via Displayport,
Calibrator X-Rite i1 Photo Pro2

Lisa Nikodym · « **Reply #18 on:** August 31, 2015, 08:07:06 pm »

I ended up getting the top-of-the-line 32" UHD NEC with SpectraView. The sharpness of everything on the monitor is spectacular compared with my old NEC. The color accuracy is fine, of course, but it's the UHD makes everything look incredibly sharp.

On the downside, getting the UHD monitor meant that I had to upgrade from Photoshop CS5 to CC in order to make Photoshop's UI use a readable-sized font....

Lisa

Lightsmith · « **Reply #19 on:** September 08, 2015, 05:23:26 pm »

You switched from Windows 7 to Windows 10 and now because of an application that no longer works properly you are thinking of buying a new monitor? That makes the Windows 10 OS a $1000 purchase for what tangible benefit? I would go back to Windows 7 and keep your current monitor.

Author Topic: are recent monitors significantly better than 5-10 year old ones? (Read 18538 times)