LR/PS look different on screen but same on export

Get an NEC SpectraView, maybe the EA budget series. If those products are above your budget, raise it! :)

OK. Close to a decision. Sort of.

 

24

Dell U24XXX - 200-300 (a few different models)

Dell U2515H - 300 (2560x1440, bad idea on this size screen?)

NEC EA245WMi - 320

 

27

Dell U2717D - 430 (2560x1440)

NEC EA273WMi - 310 (1920x1080, bad idea on this size screen?)

NEC EA275WMi - 420 (2560x1440)

 

I've decided on staying down this end of the market for now, financially it has to be done. £500 would be the maximum, but it seems to jump from these prices to around £700-800 for the next step up.

 

I've never used a 27" screen before, but I like the idea of more real estate, so I'm thinking it could be a good idea to try it with a cheaper screen while I'm in this situation, then when it comes to upgrading to a proper screen and spending serious money, I can be confident in my choice of size. Especially as at this end of the market, there's less of a gap between 24 and 27.

 

Dell vs NEC - as good as equal price wise and I can guess which ones you would recommend, but why?

 

I generally get the impression, 1080 is best for 24 and 1440 is best for 27 and I imagine it would keep the scaling of items on the screen to a more similar ratio. Would you agree?

Dell vs NEC - as good as equal price wise and I can guess which ones you would recommend, but why?

I can tell you want to expect from a SpectraView (and the EA budget version differs):

Now facts about some of the differences between PA272W and EA UHD SpectraViews (27"):

 

PA has wider color gamut (Approx. Adobe RGB vs. sRGB for EA) but it can also emulate sRGB so best of both worlds.

 

PA resolution is 2560x1440, EA is 2840x2160: Higher is better, necessary?

 

PA has GB-R LED, EA has LED: GB-R LED is the better technology.

 

PA supports MulitProfiler, EA does not.

 

PA with SpectraView ships with X-rite Colorimeter, EA uses Spyder 5

 

PA has four year warranty, EA has 3 years.

 

PA connectivity: regular and Mini DisplayPort with 10-bit support, 10-bit HDMI, a DVI-D input as well as a USB hub

 

EA connectivity: DisplayPort, HDMI, or a DVI-D port

 

PA uses a 14-bit, 3D Lookup Table, EA?

 

PA supports GammaComp and ColorComp technology, EA doesn't.

More differences in the two (PA vs. EA):

 

On the USB side, the PA272W has a 2 port KVM switch while the EA Series do not.

 

The PA272W has a backlight sensor to keep the brightness and white point stable; the EA Series do not.

 

The Picture Modes on the PA272W are infinitely customizable (with or without MultiProfiler), the EA Series are limited

 

The uniformity control on the PA272W is 5 levels (4 + off), the EA is on or off.

 

ColorComp = Uniformity control (on/off on EA, more advanced control on P/PA)

 

No 3D LUT on any EA model (only P and PA).

 

GammComp I'm told is outdated terminology.

 

Now a 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

 

The more expensive line:

1. Nearly all if not all current SpectraView displays are wide gamut, Apple's and most other's are not (sRGB like gamut) with the exception of the new iMac P3 displays. But SpectraView can emulate sRGB with a push of a button. The new P3 iMac cannot. Best of both worlds!

2. SpectraView uses a high bit internal processing path (at least 10-bit) with internal 3D LUTs, many other's do not. These high bit LUTs allow precise adjustments to be made to the display’s Tone Response Curve without reducing the number of displayable colors or introducing color banding artifacts.

3. Newer NEC SpectraView's use GBr LED which produce far more precise control of White Point, run cooler, use less energy, run far longer than CCFL.

4. SpectraView has 3-4 year on site warranty.

5. SpectraView panels are hand selected from the manufacturer line (pick of the litter).

6. SpectraView has electric technologies like ColorComp, which adjusts and improves screen (brightness) uniformity using individually measured matrices for each display at the factory. All done high bit with compensation for operating time and temperature.

7. SpectraView has electric technologies like GammaComp, to adjust the monitor's internal 10-bit gamma Look-Up-Table, allowing various custom display gamma or Tone-Response-Curves to be achieved. Apple and many other's don't have anything like this.

8. SpectraView is a smart display system that integrates custom software for calibration including multiple target calibration's which can be loaded to adjust the display while loading the associated ICC profile, Apple (and few other products aside from Eizo) cannot do this. To quote from the manual: “SpectraView communicates with the display monitors using Display Data Channel - Command Interface (DDC/CI) which is a two-way communications link between the video graphics adapter and display monitor using the normal video signal cable. No extra cables are necessary. All adjustments to the monitor settings are done automatically using this communications link. It is not necessary to manually configure the monitor as all of the necessary settings are made by the software“. Apple and other's has nothing like this, nor can 3rd party software you have to pay for extra do this. This is an attribute built from the ground up in SpectraView to serve as a 'reference display system' ala Barco, PressView, Sony Artisan of the past.

9. SpectraView will bundle a custom mated Colorimeter with their software for calibration. The price you pay for software and colorimeter with the SpectraView, depending on what country you live in costs significantly less than buying the hardware and software for a non SpectraView. And that extra money will not provide a fraction of the capabilities outlined.

10. SpectraView PA series offer the ability to calibrate WITHOUT a Colorimeter with the FREE Multiprofiler software since each panel is measured with a very expensive spectroradiometer and that data is embedded in a chip in the panel. It can update the calibration as the unit ages to ensure calibration.

11. SpectraView can emulate with a single click other behaviors, again on the fly, so it can simulate a non wide gamut display (sRGB) among other standardized behaviors (Broadcast Video DICOM, etc)

12. SpectraView has internal electronic control over contrast ratio, few others can provide this control over black. Real useful for soft proofing on media that has differing contrast ratio's (matt vs. glossy papers).

13. SpectraView has Network support (Windows only).

14. SpectraView has provisions to lock the display controls so no accidental alteration to behavior by mistake.

15. SpectraView displays allow the user to raise and lower the display for best viewing position AND it can be rotated 90 degrees for Portrait.

16. Several SpectraView's support Picture in Picture (you can have two differing calibration's per picture).

There's also the wide gamut Dell UP2516D (£350) and UP2716D (£420) - but most people seem to advise against wide gamut at this end of the market.

Oh how I would like a Spectraview - but right now I just can't - and I can't live with this monitor a moment more!

* a PA spectraview that is

Oh how I would like a Spectraview - but right now I just can't - and I can't live with this monitor a moment more!

Then my work here is done. :)

Cheers mate :)

Ended up going for the Dell U2515H. The right balance of all my considerations to get by for now and then to use as a second screen or studio display screen when I can afford to upgrade to a proper one ;-)