Topic: What to look for in a monitor (Read 2272 times)

bernie west · « **on:** April 15, 2020, 07:01:10 am »

I need to replace my current monitor. It was a cheapy (LG, couple of hundred dollars) but really decent quality for what it was. Recently I've had to get some more monitors for my work setup (non-photography) and while they are also cheapies, they are terrible monitors. One has a red colour cast that I can't seem to get rid of and no proper blacks, and the other one gets wild colour casts when you view it even slightly off centre. My current main monitor looks the same no matter what angle (within reason) you view it at.

So I need to get a new cheapie monitor (say a couple of hundred dollars) that doesn't have weird colour casts and looks consistent depending on viewing angle. And has reasonable blacks. There's a lot of terminology on monitors that I don't really understand. Are there some things I should look out for and/or avoid? IPS, LCD vs LED, backlit, other features...?

degrub · « **Reply #1 on:** April 15, 2020, 10:07:45 am »

i have had good luck with the Dell IPS based monitors for non colour critical work.
Otherwise, the NEC PA xxw series has give good results with their Spectraview colour calibration kit.

JaapD · « **Reply #2 on:** April 16, 2020, 02:08:01 am »

My suggestion: go for a monitor with an IPS panel, do not go for Benq (poor track record on color casts), and by all means calibrate your monitor.

Regards,
Jaap.

mistymoon · « **Reply #3 on:** April 17, 2020, 07:13:28 pm »

I've used two 27" NEC monitors with Spectraview II for the last five years. One died and I replaced it with an Eizo that is better in all respects. I found that with that version of the NEC, it was hard to determine really critical focus because of the coarse grain of the monitor surface.

digitaldog · « **Reply #4 on:** April 17, 2020, 08:29:05 pm »

Eizo, SpectraView; great products. But it's going to fall on deaf hears because we need to read what the OP stated:
So I need to get a new cheapie monitor (say a couple of hundred dollars).

FabienP · « **Reply #5 on:** April 18, 2020, 05:52:26 pm »

Which is why I wouldn't dismiss BenQ monitors if cheap is the main driver.

This is probably the cheapest entry to monitors with hardware LUT tables. They are supposed to have improved their QC (this was mentioned in reviews of their newer 32" monitors) for better display uniformity. Buying from a store with a liberal return policy is a safer bet should the horror due to colour cast that Frodo mentioned in another thread happen again.

Cheers,

Fabien

Ken Bennett · « **Reply #6 on:** April 19, 2020, 10:06:10 pm »

Is this new monitor for photo editing? I'm not clear on that from your initial post.

Alan Klein · « **Reply #7 on:** April 19, 2020, 11:48:41 pm »

Quote from: digitaldog on April 17, 2020, 08:29:05 pm

Eizo, SpectraView; great products. But it's going to fall on deaf hears because we need to read what the OP stated:
So I need to get a new cheapie monitor (say a couple of hundred dollars).

“The Bitterness of Poor Quality Remains Long After the Sweetness of Low Price is Forgotten”

JaapD · « **Reply #8 on:** April 21, 2020, 12:51:36 am »

Quote from: Alan Klein on April 19, 2020, 11:48:41 pm

“The Bitterness of Poor Quality Remains Long After the Sweetness of Low Price is Forgotten”

Absolutely true! Also: buy cheap ....... buy twice.

Regards,
Jaap.

FabienP · « **Reply #9 on:** April 21, 2020, 05:55:15 pm »

Quote from: JaapD on April 21, 2020, 12:51:36 am

Absolutely true! Also: buy cheap ....... buy twice.

Regards,
Jaap.

True, if you buy cheap, you can then afford a second monitor.

Cheers,

Fabien

Peter McLennan · « **Reply #10 on:** April 22, 2020, 12:43:57 am »

My very expensive 27" NEC Spectraview died and I replaced it with a $400 Acer 27" IPS panel. My pictures look just the same, both on-screen and on print.
That said, my customer service experience with NEC was excellent. It's just that the panel died and was not economically repairable.

Alan Klein · « **Reply #11 on:** April 22, 2020, 12:48:25 am »

Quote from: Peter McLennan on April 22, 2020, 12:43:57 am

My very expensive 27" NEC Spectraview died and I replaced it with a $400 Acer 27" IPS panel. My pictures look just the same, both on-screen and on print.
That said, my customer service experience with NEC was excellent. It's just that the panel died and was not economically repairable.

How long did you have it, Peter?

bernie west · « **Reply #12 on:** April 22, 2020, 07:58:31 am »

I got myself an IPS backlit HP for $200, sight unseen. It hasn't arrived yet. Could be my worst purchase yet.

texshooter · « **Reply #13 on:** May 24, 2020, 06:26:42 pm »

Why haven't BenQ, NEC, Eizo gone OLED yet? OLED/AMOLED is the future, no?

Jim Kasson · « **Reply #14 on:** May 24, 2020, 07:52:21 pm »

Quote from: texshooter on May 24, 2020, 06:26:42 pm

Why haven't BenQ, NEC, Eizo gone OLED yet? OLED/AMOLED is the future, no?

OLEDs have longevity issues. I remember looking at them in 1994 when they were lab devices, and that was the big knock on them then. Fortunately, their life and stability has improved, but the issue hasn't gone away.

Jim Kasson · « **Reply #15 on:** May 24, 2020, 07:57:02 pm »

Quote from: bernie west on April 15, 2020, 07:01:10 am

I need to replace my current monitor. It was a cheapy (LG, couple of hundred dollars) but really decent quality for what it was. Recently I've had to get some more monitors for my work setup (non-photography) and while they are also cheapies, they are terrible monitors. One has a red colour cast that I can't seem to get rid of and no proper blacks, and the other one gets wild colour casts when you view it even slightly off centre. My current main monitor looks the same no matter what angle (within reason) you view it at.

So I need to get a new cheapie monitor (say a couple of hundred dollars) that doesn't have weird colour casts and looks consistent depending on viewing angle. And has reasonable blacks. There's a lot of terminology on monitors that I don't really understand. Are there some things I should look out for and/or avoid? IPS, LCD vs LED, backlit, other features...?

What's important to me in a photo editing monitor:

Calibration tables in the monitor.
Fast warm up to stable colors (10 min to <1 Delta-E from asymptote)
Low color variation with viewing angle.
Wide gamut.
Low color variation across the screen.
Low luminance variation across the screen.

Not a recipe for a cheap monitor.

Jim

texshooter · « **Reply #16 on:** May 24, 2020, 09:27:36 pm »

If you splurge on a pro display ( e.g. Digitaldog's extolled Spectraview), make sure your GPU supports 10-bit OpenGL in Photoshop. Otherwise, you'll be stuck with only 8-bit color. I hear that Nvidia has a new driver that makes some older GPUs compatible with 10-bit, but don't quote me on that.

jrsforums · « **Reply #17 on:** May 25, 2020, 12:05:23 am »

Quote from: texshooter on May 24, 2020, 09:27:36 pm

If you splurge on a pro display ( e.g. Digitaldog's extolled Spectraview), make sure your GPU supports 10-bit OpenGL in Photoshop. Otherwise, you'll be stuck with only 8-bit color. I hear that Nvidia has a new driver that makes some older GPUs compatible with 10-bit, but don't quote me on that.

The ‘Studio’ (vs ‘Game’) driver supports 10bit. As I remember, Andrew provided a step image to show if it worked on your monitor.

geneo · « **Reply #18 on:** May 25, 2020, 11:45:24 am »

Quote from: jrsforums on May 25, 2020, 12:05:23 am

The ‘Studio’ (vs ‘Game’) driver supports 10bit. As I remember, Andrew provided a step image to show if it worked on your monitor.

Both gaming and studio Nvidia drivers support 10bit now. Been that way for over a year now.

geneo · « **Reply #19 on:** May 25, 2020, 11:53:35 am »

Another differentiating factor: higher end Eizo ColorEdge and NEC Spectraview models have coatings that eliminate light bleed, particularly when viewed at angles. They also support multiple profiles.

Author Topic: What to look for in a monitor (Read 2272 times)