New 27" monitor needed for iMac user - Recommendations?

[peterm10]

I have a late 2014 iMac 27 inch 5k with 24GB Ram and a 4 GHZ Quad-Core Intel Core i7, with a 3TB Fusion Drive.  I use LR, Capture One and other photo apps (no video), and have an external G-Raid 12TB Thunderbolt drive for my photos.

The system performs "ok" but can drag using LR sometimes.  My bigger issue is the monitor - there is burn in on the right side of the screen that is distracting when editing photos and doing other things.  I am thinking of either getting a second monitor to use for photo editing, or just waiting for the new iMacs with the new M chips.

If I go the monitor route (which I could use even if I eventually get a new iMac), I am thinking of getting a 27" monitor and running it from my iMac.  The Eizo ColorEdge CG279X looks really nice.  One question I have is the resolution - it's a lot lower than my iMac, but I don't hear about any complaints about the Eizo's resolution?  I have also read that 4k resolution (which the Eizo does not have) is not ideal at 27", although I am not sure I understand why.  I also looked at the BenQ although the reviews are a lot more mixed.

Thanks

Peter

[Ken Bennett]

Hi, Peter. I have two NEC 27 inch monitors. At the studio I have an older model, the NEC MultiSync 2690WU2. That was close to $1500 IIRC. At home I have a more affordable NEC EA271, which was about $600 a few years ago. They both come with the Spectraview application and a calibration puck, and both work fine with my Macbook Pro computers. I like the unreflective matte finish of the screen, the large number of ports for connecting via almost any video cable, and the calibrations are right on the money. The screen resolution is fine for Lightroom and Photoshop.

I have not tried the other brands you mention, though both get good reviews.

[digitaldog]

PA271Q.
The EAs are good too for the money, but lack some features of the PAs:
Big difference; EA doesn’t have a “SpectraView Engine” (color processor). What's that? In short it does:

1. Uniformity correction

2. Aging compensation

3. Temperature compensation

4. Orientation compensation

5. 3x 1D LUTs

6. 3D LUTs

7. Color gamut mapping

8. Gamma correction

9. Black level correction

10. Ambient light measurement and compensation

11. Backlight luminance measurement and stabilization

12. Picture-in-Picture / Picture-by-Picture

13. Color blindness simulation

14. Metamerism correction

15. Hue/Saturation/Offset adjustment

[BradSmith]

I'd suggest a different route.  Get a high quality 27" monitor (EIZO or NEC) and a new M1 powered MacMini.   All reviews have shown it to be faster by a big margin over what you're now using and that is when it is running the currently available Photoshop and/or Lightroom.  We should expect even better performance once Adobe releases native versions for M1. 
Brad

[MichaelKoerner]

The Eizo ColorEdge CG279X looks really nice.  One question I have is the resolution - it's a lot lower than my iMac, but I don't hear about any complaints about the Eizo's resolution?  I have also read that 4k resolution (which the Eizo does not have) is not ideal at 27", although I am not sure I understand why.

Text on 4K 27" monitors can appear rather small, that's why it's recommended to use 4K on 30+" displays.

+1 to Andrews suggestion of NEC PA271Q. I love mine, very good value for money. In my view, it's way cheaper, but very close to the EIZO you mentioned. Biggest difference: EIZOs communicate faster with your computer, switching between calibration modes takes about 3 seconds, on the NEC about 30s. As you don't do video, this might be of little interest to you.

I'd recommend using BasICColor display 6 (pro) for calibration, as it's a great one-stop-solution for NEC/EIZO as well as mac displays.

M1 is surely a route to go - but there seem to be better machines in Apple's pipeline, so for the moment I'd go with a new NEC.

Just my 2 cents.

[bdkphoto]

I recently updated my entire system from a old MacPro 2010 to the new Mac Mini M1. Initially I was planning on keeping my 27" NEC 2690 (purchased in 2007!?) and updating that at a later date but I decided to move forward now after realizing that it was way past its prime. I decided on the Ben Q SW270C after getting a chance to evaluate one at BH here in NYC. I am impressed with the SW270c - I did not want a 4K monitor as I do very little video work. The Palette Master Element hardware/software calibration works great (and currently works with Big Sur M1 mac). Its hard to argue with the NEC/spectraview, as I found it a great choice but the Ben Q is worthy of consideration as well, as is moving to the new M1 mac.   

[PeterAit]

I cannot say enough good things about my 2 NEC monitors - 2690WUX1 (26") and PA301W (30"). I would buy them again in a flash. They calibrate beautifully with the NEC software and have been rock-reliable for some 10 years. Matching prints to the screen has never been an issue.

[midix]

PA271Q.
In short it does:
...

In addition to the things said, PA271Q also have reduced IPS glow and its backlight uniformity is top notch. Eizo CG series (not CS) also have similar IPS glow reduction film applied, and some people claim it's even better than the one on PA271Q.

Also, PA271Q can be used in dark environments because of its low minimum brightness. Although such mode is not recommended for color-critical tasks, still it can be handy when using the monitor for some other tasks (which might be a more demanded use case lately because of more people working from home).

MultiProfiler with its 3D LUT customization wizard is just mind-blowing. You can export a reference image and tweak it in a photo editor to emulate whatever color characteristics you want, and then upload it back to PA271Q where it will get stored as a new custom profile. I'm not sure how many people would actually use it but it was a life saver for me.

[Jitchaku]

I am in the same boat currently and think I am going to go with the NEC PA271Q. Its specs and the research I've done indicate that it is virtually identical to the CG2730/279X for purposes relating specifically to still photo processing (if my info is good they all literally use the same panel). I found the reputation of the Eizos + the built-in calibrator to have me swaying their direction, but upon finding out that the 2730 still benefits from a dedicated puck and the PA271Q being $1k cheaper than the 279X...........

Also you don't necessarily want and/or need max resolution for editing. You want accuracy and to be able to clearly see fine detail at 100% (harder on higher res monitors because an image at 100% will be smaller).

I am curious if anyone can recommend a compatible hood for the PA271Q? And if there is any reason to opt for the model that comes bundled with the NEC branded calibrator puck vs. going for the standard Xrite separately (prices are basically identical)?

[MichaelKoerner]

I am curious if anyone can recommend a compatible hood for the PA271Q?

I made mine from 5 mm black Kapa Graph foamboard, fixed with velcro. Perfect and cheap.

And if there is any reason to opt for the model that comes bundled with the NEC branded calibrator puck vs. going for the standard Xrite separately (prices are basically identical)?

I don't own a NEC branded puck, but AFAIK it's only advantage is that you xan use it to recalibrate the monitor without any additional software, just using the on screen display.

If price was the same, I'd go for the i1Display Pro, as it surely works with any third party software. Perhaps the NEC branded puck does as well, but who knows....

[budjames]

I think that you might be better served upgrading your iMac rather than add a second monitor to a system already compromised by age.

I purchased an iMac 27" i9 late 2019 unit and it outperforms my $6,000 2017 iMac Pro for half the cost. Supposedly, Apple will be refreshing the iMac with the Apple-made M1X processor to replace Intel processors. This should be a rocking system. I'm considering replacing my iMacPro with this system after it comes out and I see some reviews.

CaptureOne Pro has been my image processor of choice for the past 4 years. The latest version 21, works great on both of my iMacs.

Both units are hard wire connected to my 10GBe LAN. The iMacPro has an internal 10GBe ethernet connection. For the iMac, I purchased the SonnetTech external Thunderbolt 2 10GBe ethernet adapter. Read and write speeds to my DiskStation DS-1819+ on my 10GBe LAN average between 550 to 700 MB/S for real-time back ups of my image library. The DiskStation has a 10GBe ethernet adapter card installed.

For my iMac 27" i9, I have the Apple-approved LG 27" monitor attached and it works great. Both the iMac and LG monitors calibrate very well with my 6 year old ColorMunki.

Regards,
Bud James

Please check out my fine art and travel photography at www.budjames.photography or on Instagram at www.instagram.com/budjamesphoto