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bradley_whit6
Participant
March 15, 2013
Question

best monitors to edit images on that wont break the bank

  • March 15, 2013
  • 5 replies
  • 59486 views

My wife is an aspiring fine arts photographer/editor- currently working of a 2008 macbook, which I know is not the best thing to be editing photos on. I have read some of the forums which talk about wide gamut and sRGD gamut but, frankly, they exceed my technical knowledge. I would like to get her a monitor that she can hook to her macbook that wont break the bank but gives her a higher quality image to work on- one more similar to what professionals will review her images on once they are submitted. I recently got her a wacom 4 tablet and she is using PS6 and LR4 as her main editing suites, if that matters. Her intentions are to submit these images as potential book covers- which means they will eventually be printed. Any suggestions?

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      5 replies

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      DaveJDSP
      Participating Frequently
      November 7, 2013

      Hi Bradley,

      Going back to your original question at the top, I encourage you to focus on your end goal - getting real paying work done. Don't waste time fooling around with hand-wringing and researching and discussing. Just get the right tool for the job and spend your time using it and getting work out the door (instead of discussing it).

      Use a reliable cost-effective tool to create your images that will allow you to see what you are doing and what your customers are seeing. Also, if this work is going to print, your customers will most likely be working in the Adobe RGB colorspace, so that is what you want to work in and see.

      Get this and be done with it: http://www.necdisplay.com/p/desktop-monitors/pa302w-bk-sv

      (or a smaller version of the same thing http://www.necdisplay.com/p/desktop-monitors/pa242w-bk-sv).

      bhphotovideo.com is an excellent source.     NEC PA242W-BK-SV

      You want a NEC monitor that ends in "2-w-bk-sv".

      It is HIGHLY cost-effective. Maybe THE most cost-effective monitor out there for doing and getting paid for real work.

      GB-R LED backlight provides 99.3% coverage of the Adobe RGB color space. Also these monitors provide built-in hardware calibration which saves time and money and aggravation beyond belief.

      Perfect? No.

      Excellent and cost-effective? Yes.

      You obviously love your wife and want to help her succeed. This will be a good and cost-effective step in that direction.

      Onward!

      Dave

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      Frankuu
      Participant
      October 31, 2013

      How about ASUS PB278Q, my brother using this one, it's great.

      F
      Frankuu
      Participant
      October 31, 2013

      See this site, http://thedigitalcamera.net/best-monitor-for-photo-editing-and-photography/ it's a good guide to buy a photograph monitor.

      Trevor.Dennis
      Community Expert
      Trevor.DennisCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      October 31, 2013

      Just to prove that I can ignor the bit about not breaking the bank as well as anyone, Tom's Hardware has just reviewd a bizarre 21:9 format display, but says it is expensive

      http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/nec-ea294wmi-monitor-review,3633.html

      http://media.bestofmicro.com/9/W/403412/original/front.jpg

      How would you use a display like this?  I guess it would be like have two monitors in one display, so lots of room to have all your panels open.

      W
      WilliamE1973
      Participant
      March 16, 2013

      For a good photo editing monitor that won't break the bank,  try the Dell U2412m.  I am not a fan of Dell but purchased this monitor a while back when I was on a tight budget after reading some good reviews.  I ultimately upgraded to a much more expensive monitor but went right back to the Dell.  I use it with my Mac and it works great.

      L
      Lundberg02
      Inspiring
      March 16, 2013

      Dells MUST be calibrated because their delta E is way off out of the box. Why limit yourself to sRGB when wide gamut will take over within your lifetime?

      Todd Shaner
      Todd Shaner
      Legend
      March 17, 2013

      Lundberg02 wrote:

      Dells MUST be calibrated because their delta E is way off out of the box.

      The OP has already been advised to purchase and use a hardware monitor calibrator, on the MacBook's display and any external display(s). Most all monitors exhibit high delta E "out-of-the-box.". Wide gamut monitors aren't any better, except for those with "factory calibrated' modes (Adobe RGB, sRGB).

      The problem with "factory calibration" is that in a few days or weeks of use the calibration will drift and increase the delta E. In addition all factory calibrated monitors are set to Luminance levels that are way too high for photo editing use (>150 cd/m2+). The only way around this is to purchase and use a hardware monitor calibrator on a scheduled basis, so there's very little benefit buying a monitor that's "spot-on" right out-of-the-box.

      That said do you have specific monitors you can recommend to the OP?

      Todd Shaner
      Todd Shaner
      Legend
      March 15, 2013

      You will want to get a monitor that is significantly bigger than the MacBook's screen size. A 24" display would be a nice size bump-up. Since the end use is for "printed" book covers, that would be CMYK offset output. The color gamut of CMYK 4-color printing can be accurately "soft-proofed on a standard sRGB gamut display inside Photoshop or Lightroom 4. A wide gamut monitor is only beneficial when processing images for 6-color or higher printer output, but even then a standard sRGB display will work well.

      One of the most important tools required for accurate display color and luminance rendering is a hardware monitor calibrator. If your wife is currently using one that's great. If not then you first order of priority should be to purchase one and calibrate the MacBook's display. When using an external display the hardware calibrator will be needed for it as well, otherwise it's pretty much a waste of time.

      You should be able to find numerous standard gamut displays that will work well with the 2008 MacBook's DVI display connector. Highest supported native resolution is 1920x1200 for the MacBook and 2560x1600 for the MacBook Pro.

      Here are some links that may be helpful:

      http://forums.adobe.com/message/4718834#4718834

      http://www.lightandmatter.org/2011/equipment-reviews/best-monitors-for-photo-editing-is-it-really-that-important/

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      bradley_whit6Author
      Participant
      March 16, 2013

      Noel and trshaner, Thank you both for your comments.

      Trshaner- great point on making sure it is calibrated and something I do not think is happening at this point. That will certainly be the first purchase. Also appreciate you drawing the distinction between the sRGB and wide gamut displays- while I still don't know the technical differences between the two I can eliminate the wide gamut display for now.

      Great links as well.

      - Brad

      Noel Carboni
      Noel Carboni
      Legend
      March 15, 2013

      Look for a monitor that does not change its response characteristics when you move your head to be at different angles relative to the monitor (in other words it shouldn't get lighter or darker as you move your head up and down).  That would generally be an IPS type display.

      With monitors I've noticed that generally speaking you get what you pay for.  Try not to skimp too too much. 

      This is a good site for reading reviews: 

      http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/

      I'm personally most fond of Dell monitors (e.g., their Ultrasharp line), though I admit to being a little unsure how PC monitors work with Mac systems (I'm a PC person).  I think the days have passed where there are Mac-only and PC-only monitors, but please don't take my word for it.

      -Noel

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