Monitor shopping: $800, have Munki

[KirbyKrieger]

Hi.  The weakest link (by far) in my color workflow is my secondary monitor (an execrable Dell s2309w, purchased cheap).  I can spare $800 US for a replacement (as much as $1,000 if the extra spent will buy me something truly worthwhile).  I shoot full-frame w. a Sony, raw, and use Aperture + Nik to convert, store, process, and print to an Epson 3880.  I print from c. 8" to 22", always matte.  I profile my monitors with an X-rite Color Munki Photo.  I have not yet found an advantage to doing my own paper profiles on this printer, so I use the paper mfr's profiles.  My computer is an Apple 13" MacBook Pro (NVIDIA GeForce 9400M).

I always print in color (sometimes w. v. low saturation).  Color fidelity is my primary concern.  The Dell is a long/narrow 24" monitor (1920 x 1080). The size is good.  I'd rather have something more square and less rectangular.  The Dell rotates from landscape to portrait, which I like and use (I have a Neo-Flex stand).  My biggest problems with the Dell are that it is always too bright (I have brightness set to 1 out of 100) and too saturated (reds and yellows show as blown).

So far I am looking at:
•  NEC MultiSync 2490WUXi2-BK 24" Widescreen LCD Display ($703 at B&H)
•  NEC MultiSync P221W-BK-SV - LCD display - TFT - 22" - widescreen - 1680 x 1050 w. SpectraViewII Color Calibration Solution ($692 at Amazon)

I have no mfr. preference.

Thanks in advance for your recommendations.   

[digitaldog]

If you can afford the 2490, that’s an ISP display (the P221W isn’t). You have the Munki, so all you need is SpectraView II software ($99) and you are set to go.

[KirbyKrieger]

Andrew -- thanks for the informative reply.

A palmful of follow-up Q's :

. You wrote "that’s an ISP display (the P221W isn’t)".  May I assume that's a typo for "IPS" -- In-Plane Switching?

. More importantly, you recommend that I purchase and use the SpectraView II software w. the Color Munki rather than use X-Rite's own calibration software?  Makes sense, but I'm in over my head and want to be certain.

. And just to confirm, there are no other (newer) monitors in my price range better than the Nec 2490?

Cheers!  Appreciate you're sharing your expertise.

[digitaldog]

Yes (typo) and yes, you want to use the SpectraView II software NOT ColorMunki. The NEC software fully controls the process.

[KirbyKrieger]

Excellent.  Thanks for the clarifications.  Ordered one today.

For those following along, the NEC software is available here (scroll):
http://www.necdisplay.com/Products/Accessories/?product=e4319a12-a026-42c5-a43b-4c20c7062124

The current price is $89 US for the downloadable version (CD version is $99).

NEC has a full annotated list of compatible monitors, OS's, etc. on their site.

[olesonb]

Digitaldog, I’m confused. Bought a NEC2490 with Spectraview II. I also bought an Epson 7900. The prints aren’t close to the monitor. Thought of getting ColorMunki to use instead of Spectra to calibrate monitor & create custom printer profiles. Question is, why do you recommend both?? Are u saying use both to calibrate the monitor (doesn’t make sense to me), or are you saying use Spectra for monitor & Munki for printer?

[digitaldog]

Digitaldog, I’m confused. Bought a NEC2490 with Spectraview II. I also bought an Epson 7900. The prints aren’t close to the monitor. Thought of getting ColorMunki to use instead of Spectra to calibrate monitor & create custom printer profiles. Question is, why do you recommend both?? Are u saying use both to calibrate the monitor (doesn’t make sense to me), or are you saying use Spectra for monitor & Munki for printer?

Both should work just fine assuming you calibrate correctly and soft proof correctly. You need good printer profiles and proper display calibration (and a resulting profile) based on a print match for this all to work. See:
http://www.luminous-landscape.com/tutorials/why_are_my_prints_too_dark.shtml

[KirbyKrieger]

Digitaldog, I’m confused. Bought a NEC2490 with Spectraview II. I also bought an Epson 7900. The prints aren’t close to the monitor. Thought of getting ColorMunki to use instead of Spectra to calibrate monitor & create custom printer profiles. Question is, why do you recommend both?? Are u saying use both to calibrate the monitor (doesn’t make sense to me), or are you saying use Spectra for monitor & Munki for printer?

I think your confusion may come from not seeing the full context of Digitaldog's reply to my query.  "SpectraView" is both hardware and software.  Since I already owned the ColorMunki (prior to purchasing the NEC 2490), Digitaldog recommended getting the monitor and buying just the SpectraView software.  The SpectraView software accepts input from and works with the ColorMunki photo-spectrometer.  If you own both the SpectraView hardware and software, you shouldn't need the ColorMunki.

That doesn't explain why your calibration isn't working -- but I hope it helps understand the posts in this thread.

[olesonb]

Yes, that helps a lot. I had no idea that u could use Munki’s spectrometer with Spectraview software. That’s good to know. I’ll study digitaldog’s article this weekend and hopefully that will move me closer to my print target. Thanks guys.

[KirbyKrieger]

Hi.  I was asked via PM about the price I paid for the NEC 2490 WUXi2;  I'm replying here in the thought that others may have the same question, which was "How did you get it for $703 US when it's listed at $912 today (14 Nov 2010)?"

Dumb luck.  $703 was the sale price the day I checked.  I purchased it that day or the next.  I didn't even know at the time that it was special -- I certainly had no expectation that the price would rise 28%.