Choosing the monitor.

[cuehello]

Hello to everyone.

Just joined this forum because I have some problem choosing the right monitor because a lot of opinions on the Internet can't make the right decision.
People complain about monitors dirty screen look / grainy and sparkles even on high end monitors.

My best option in my country is the DELL monitors due to their cost is somewhat the same as in the USA otherwise for the EIZO and the NEC monitors I can't get them here maybe NEC but I need to order it and need to wait for some unreal pricing of the monitor because none here actually buy this high end monitors but If the DELL is really that bad I would have to somehow get NEC.
Because I want to buy 2 monitors U2711 x 2 costs same as one NEC monitor and that's due to quality control of their products.

My question and only concern are the 2 following things

   1. Is that the AG Coating is it really that exposed or you can actually only "see" it only when there is sun coming and how bad is that Dirty screen look that even NEC and EIZO seem to have it.

   2. How is the text readability due to the small dot pitch.


This is a customer review for the 30 inch monitor from the Dell.
I have read alot of reviews about this monitor and about how people hate the anti-glare coating. It looks like people don't understand what that is designed to do. If you are in a room with glare and you have a monitor with a anti-glare coating instead of seeing the glare you see its dissipated effect and the sparkle on the screen. What this means is you need to adjust the lighting or turn the monitor so that the glare is gone. YOU CAN NOT SEE the anti-glare coating when there is no glare in the room reflecting off the screen.

If this is true then I don't got problems with the monitor since I can control the light in my room
I've been banging my head with this issue for a while now and after a lot of time spent reading countless reviews and people whining on the Internet I decided to ask some people who actually have this monitor or know how the monitor actually behaves on daily work flows since I spend more than 10-14 hours per day in front of the PC.


Some Notes
I sit 75-80 cm from the monitor also I've read somewhere that
I spend more than 10-14 hours per day in front of the computer.

I use the computer for :
Web Design
Graphic design
Photography and Video

For the calibration I think I would go with the I1Display Pro if anyone has any better choice for that one please also say

Hopefully some of the cool peeps here will help !

[Steve Weldon]

What country are you in?

And no, small dot pitch is not an issue with text readability because you can adjust the global DPI which helps with all but a few programs.. (like Adobe CS5..  just no excuse..)

My inclination is if color management is important to you, spend what's necessary for the NEC.  If not, the Dell is a decent monitor.

[PierreVandevenne]

My main monitor is now a PA271 (only about 25% more than the Dell around here). I am reasonably happy with it although my favourite monitor for general purpose stuff remains the classical 30" Samsung. I've seen the NEC and the Dell side by side and, based on the image quality only, I wouldn't pay more for the NEC: the differences are relatively minor and unless you take specific files with lots of blue/yellow it is hard to see the difference when the calibration was done on both under the same lighting. I dislike the appearance of the coating on both monitors and even though I had been sent a used one by NEC when I unpacked mine. That being said, the coating isn't an issue when the monitor is in use (I most often use mine at 50 cd/m2 which appears to be the minimum recommended). So why did I buy the NEC? Part nostalgy since my first decent monitor was a NEC Multisync 3D in 1990 (still works today!) and part a relative confidence that NEC uses high quality components in its pro monitors while Dell is a bit less consistent imho.

I've said above I liked the 30" Samsung better for general purposes, so why am I not using it as main monitor? Mostly because I have begun to suffer a bit from the neck, and the wide 27" format is much more comfortable.

[David Sutton]

The Dell monitor I had worked fine, but it isn't in the same league as the NEC. The Spectraview sensor and software works fine out-of-the-box, no more messing about with 3rd party calibration. Having both screens match exactly is an unexpected bonus.
When I lost my monitors in a seismic event earlier in the year I really bit the bullet and ordered a PA271 and 241 from B&H. Overseas shipping was US$578.27 but at the time the $US was low so the exchange rate was quite good. It arrived in about four days. I suggest bigger is not always better and that this 27 inch monitor will do the job better than a 30 inch one.
I've never thought about the anti-glare coating. There are no reflections off the screens.
I use the 24 inch monitor for reading as text on the 27 inch is a fraction small for my eyes.
These are the best monitors I've seen for the price, and on a par with Eizo. If you go the route of buying from B&H, be aware they often have them on special, but you won't find out until you click “add to cart”. Don't mess around with 3rd party calibration, get the Spectraview solution. The 27 inch may be better for your needs.

[cuehello]

I'd like to thank you for your replies guys really appreciate it.

@Steve Weldon
I'm located in Macedonia , Europe

Yeah I thought so I decided to check it myself since a friend of mine haves an Imac with the resolution of 2560x1440 and same dot pitch of 0.2335 and it looked fine to me I think I wont have to adjust the DPI but thanks for the tip.

Color Management is important to me, and your right about the NEC being better but that's out of the box I've read that after calibration if you put the monitors one next to another you won't notice any change. At least in all the reviews they are saying the same but of course always ask the people who actually used the monitor is the best.

@PierreVandevenne

Thanks for your honest reply. As I said in my post "NEC monitor and that's due to quality control of their products." I would really get one if it weren't that much expensive just because of no need to use 3rd party calibrator but I guess I'm gonna have to go with the dell anyway

@David Sutton

The reason why I don't want to do the same you did shipping overseas first is the cost 1 monitor it's going to cost like 3 dells

And second is the warranty if something doesn't work right I would need to ship it off to get another one and that will not be cheap.

I know from what I read that calibration with 3rd party devices can sometimes be a pain in the ass but I don't have any other realistic choice in my situation.


About the calibration of the monitors what device do you guys recommend from your own experience or just one that works best with this monitor?

[mediumcool]

About the calibration of the monitors what device do you guys recommend from your own experience or just one that works best with this monitor?[/b]

The Spyder3 (always available on eBay) is a good bet for a budget unit—faster and more precise than the Spyder2, which is still better than doing it manually); they test reasonably well against much more expensive units (check out Keith Cooper’s site for his colour management reviews). The upper-end Spyder models have progressively better software.

Good luck!

[schrodingerscat]

Regardless of brand, try and get a monitor that has an IPS TFT panel. Most high end monitors use these as they are best for critical work. Dell has several (http://www.dell.com/content/topics/topic.aspx/global/products/monitors/includes/en/ultrasharpmonitor_ips?c=us&l=en&cs=04). Also research a prospect's backlight illumination uniformity.

And do use a hardware calibrator. Like a quality monitor, well worth the investment. Especially if printing.