Luminous Landscape Forum
Equipment & Techniques => Computers & Peripherals => Topic started by: praja343 on July 08, 2019, 04:56:02 pm
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I have 2013 Macbook Pro running Sierra; I print on an Epson 3880 and use a Colormunki Photo for calibrating my MacBook Pro LCD screen. Last I week I took a look at my images on a friends Eizo 32" monitor and the ease in which I could find areas in my image to improve compared to my MacBook Pro monitor was revelatory.
So I have decided to buy a monitor to connect to my MacBook and I have looked at reviews on line for possible candidates. The reviews don't necessarily include high end monitors like Spectraview, Eizo etc. Any of the reviews on LuLa are at least a year old. The online reviews recommended in that order
HP Z27,
Dell UltraSharp U2718Q,
BenQ PD3200U 32″ 4K Designer Monitor,
LG UltraFine 5K Display
My budget is $1.5K - $2.0K with the upper end a bit flexible say 15%. As you can see, I tend to keep and use my equipment for quite a few years so reliability is important. If there are good monitors in the $1K area, then I can put rest of the bucks towards a new Macbook Pro with an i9 processor which should be good for another 5 years for me.
So my questions are:
1. Which would be a good 4K monitor that my 2013 MacBook Pro can drive? I am looking for at least a 27" monitor. I would like to include Spectraview and Eizo in the mix if the budget can withstand it.
2. Are there anti glare hoods that are available for most 27-32" monitors?
3. If I can get the latest MacBook Pro i9 with a monitor, what monitor would the experts recommend (with the $1.5 - 2K range)?
4. What do the experts think about the BenQ SW271 27" 16:9 4K IPS Monitor?
5. Will the Colormunki be sufficient to profile the new monitors; will it be close enough for an advanced amateur?
Thanks in advance for your help.
PR.
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Spectraview PA series.
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I use the $1200ish Eizo CS2730, and it's excellent. It's a "real Eizo", part of their ColorEdge series (watch out for Eizo FlexScans, which are better than average business/gaming monitors, but not pro-level color displays). You don't get the built-in calibration sensor - but it is still internally calibratable, just like the more expensive CS series - just hook up a sensor to the USB port on the monitor and run Eizo's software. I'm not sure if your Colormunki will work, but a $150 Spyder will work just fine (within your budget, even with the Spyder)...
You'll get NEC Spectraview folks on here as well. I've never used one - the few I've seen at shows have looked excellent, and photographers I've talked to like them as well.
I also have an older (2013?) Dell UltraSharp, and, even though it claims to be full Adobe RGB and a color-accurate monitor, it won't calibrate terribly accurately (unlike Eizo and NEC, most Dell monitors, even the UltraSharp series, calibrate by adsjusting the output of your computer, not through an actual internal calibration table). Some Dell monitors may have true calibration, but require a Windows computer to access it (I've had Macs for many years, so Windows-only software doesn't matter to me).
BenQ is aiming at the Eizo/NEC market, and more seriously than Dell is - reviews are mixed at how well they're doing. Some reviews say "a real competitor to the big two, and cheaper", while others say "nice try".
Hoods are either included or available as an accessory for all monitors in this class. I don't have the accessory hood for my Eizo, although I may well buy it (surprisingly expensive - $150?) if I need to put the monitor someplace where glare is a real issue.
The one thing that very few of the "good" monitors are is 4K... The newer Dells are (my old one isn't), the NECs aren't, the relatively affordable Eizos aren't. For the most part, professional monitors are still running pre-Retina resolutions (1920x1200 at 24" and below, 2560x1440 at 27", 2560x1600 at 30"). The BenQ monitors are 4K, which is an advantage if they're otherwise comparable. Eizo has 4K monitors, but they're stunningly expensive - they have a 24" 4K ColorEdge for almost $3000 and 31" versions at $6000 and up. There is no 27" 4K ColorEdge, nor any version in the more affordable CS series at all.
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+1 to this.
Very happy with my two 27" PAs
Spectraview PA series.
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+1 to this.
Very happy with my two 27" PAs
+2
Super happy with my PA series 27". It replaced a 6 year old PA that got damaged during a move but was a workhorse until than. I still have an old 2690 that was on my second worstation that still functions perfectly but was replaced with a new iMac. I don't think you can go wrong with the NEC.
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On the B&H website, some reviews had comments regarding the difficulty in using the spectrometers to do the initial calibration and the involved steps for the initial set up. Can a relative novice go through the instructions and set it up with little or no problem? Here are the quotes.....
"Spectraview does not accurately calibrate
By Gene
I too had the same problems with under-performing green and grayscale deltaE over 5 on this monitor. I spent a long time trying to get this calibrated to no avail. Second monitor a little better but the same. I was really disappointed because I really liked the uniformity and everything else about the display. But I bought this as a hardware LUT calibration package and it could not calibrate the monitor accurately."
The other two reviewers also had a lot of problems in the initial set up but once resolved, they were happy. The reviews are found here .... https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1416627-REG/nec_pa271q_bk_sv_27_color_critical_desktop.html/reviews.
Did the happy users of the PAs experience any of these issues and spend a lot of time overcoming them initially?
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I've had no such issues with my PA. But some have and it's outlined here:
https://forum.luminous-landscape.com/index.php?topic=129474.0
That said, the one report isn't really all that critical but yeah, there's something going on with some of the panels (of which other companies use), NEC is aware of it, and they will swap out a display if you find such a report. It's not a bug from what I've been told.
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+3 on the NEC PA if you have the budget. My old PA241 was still fine after 9 years. I just wanted a larger display. It, btw, was a warranty replacement. NEC could not have been better when the purchased one developed a screen issue.
Lloyd
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Thanks to all for your input. It made my choice easy.
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Hi, such question. If I need to connect three monitors through a docking station and image quality is important to me. Should I choose monitors with one type of matrix, or no difference?
I think to use the docking station Dell or Targus (bestadvisor.com/best-laptop-docking-station (https://www.bestadvisor.com/best-laptop-docking-station)) Thank you in advance for your advice