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Shopping for a display: 2560 x 1440 HD vs. 4K?


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I do fine art/documentary photography, and recently bought an M1 MacBook Air that I'll use in clamshell mode most of the time, with an external display.

 

I'm drawn to the Eizo CS2740 (3840 x 2160), but I've been using a 2013 iMac (2560 x 1440), so it would be quite a change in resolution.

 

Some say 2560 x 1440 is plenty for photo editing, but I do a lot more than photo work on my Mac, and envy the clarity of the text and interface on my wife's Retina display. (the photos are nice, too)

 

Have any of you made such a transition? I assume you have to decrease the resolution through the display settings so text isn't too tiny to read, but does the clarity remain?

 

Ideas? Suggestions?

 

Thanks,

Russell

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Eizo, great (expensive), an alternative would be Sharp/NEC SpectraView. Very similar capabilities.

Not a fan of 4K displays for me, everything is too tiny GUI-wise. I'm still happy with my SpectraView PA271Q. I have a MacBook Pro, retina display, again, not at all a fan when driven to high PPI settings.

Author “Color Management for Photographers" & "Photoshop CC Color Management" (pluralsight.com)

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Eizo, great (expensive), an alternative would be Sharp/NEC SpectraView. Very similar capabilities.

Not a fan of 4K displays for me, everything is too tiny GUI-wise. I'm still happy with my SpectraView PA271Q. I have a MacBook Pro, retina display, again, not at all a fan when driven to high PPI settings.

Thanks!

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Eizo, great (expensive), an alternative would be Sharp/NEC SpectraView. Very similar capabilities.

Not a fan of 4K displays for me, everything is too tiny GUI-wise. I'm still happy with my SpectraView PA271Q. I have a MacBook Pro, retina display, again, not at all a fan when driven to high PPI settings.

Unfortunately the PA271Q has apparently been discontinued. Sharp/NEC has none in stock to ship to retailers, and B&H offered the EA271U as a "replacement" for about $580. 2560 x 1440, 78.1% Adobe RGB, etc. Not even close.

 

LGs appear to be out of stock, too. Eizo USA says shipment from Japan arriving late Feb. Expensive, yes, but less than my D6 Mark II body, and I spend a lot more time with the display than the camera. (Is that sad?)

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Author “Color Management for Photographers" & "Photoshop CC Color Management" (pluralsight.com)

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Check very carefully to find out what monitors and resolutions are actually compatible with your Air or other computers you want to use them with. I found B&H staff good about such things.

 

I use a Dell 27-inch (2560 x 1440) with my old set up (2013 Mac Pro, AMD FirePro D500 3072 MB graphics), and it's sharp enough for me. I'm sure that there are 'better' monitors, but cost and inertia keep me happy.

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I enjoy my Dell 1440p display in multiple terminal use, but for photo editing going for 1080p seems attractive. I actually bought newer Dell 1080p office IPS, but most highlights were cut to white, and display is practically unfit for photo editing. I have not tried 4K monitors, and I would not buy one without reading quality reviews on that particular model.

 

Opening that clam might be smartest move, most people would envy

Edited by hapien
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I have a Dell U2718Q with 3840 x 2160 resolution and color gamut of 99.9% sRGB. It has a ComfortView feature when working in Word, etc.

 

I bought it in 2019 and it is connected to a PC (Windows 11).

 

I just love it for photo editing (Lightroom and Photoshop). It must be discontinued by now.

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Russell,

 

I also use the NEC PA271. However, I just did a quick search, and it looks like NEC has eliminated the PA line other than 24" and 31". The latter is very expensive. I haven't looked to see whether they have any other wide-gamut lines now, but the EA line certainly isn't that, even though it comes up on their website when you search for "color critical". I wonder if this type of product is on the way out now that Sharp has bought NEC. I hope not.

 

Re JPDupre's post, I think the first decision is whether you are content with 100% sRGB or want something with a wide gamut. If you want just sRGB, there are lots of choices. The choices get much less numerous and more expensive if you want wide-gamut.

 

Dan

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Differences between PA and EA SpectraViews:

 

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 3840x2160: 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 (yuck).

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 does not.

The PA272W has a backlight sensor to keep the brightness and white point stable; the EA Series does 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

Author “Color Management for Photographers" & "Photoshop CC Color Management" (pluralsight.com)

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Sad to say, Sharp/NEC now explicitly advertises that some EA series have the Spectraview II engine, for example, the EA241F, which covers only 73.6% of Adobe RGB. See EA241F-BK-SV, 24" Full HD Business-Class Widescreen Desktop Monitor w/ Ultra-Narrow Bezel with SpectraViewII Color Calibration Solution - Highlights & Specifications | Sharp NEC Display Solutions. That page has a link to their color-critical page, which doesn't list the EA series.
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Good point. They just say:

 

The 24" NEC MultiSync EA241F with SpectraViewII

 

and they have a Spectraview logo across the top. So perhaps they mean only compatible with Spectraview software. That would make sense, but it's not clear marketing, and it makes it all the harder to find the actual color-critical monitors. As I mentioned, I used their site to select on "color critical", and that yielded mostly EA models, but if you follow their link for "color critical", it shows only P and PA models. Those should be consistent.

 

I hope that this doesn't signal that Sharp is gradually cutting back on the truly color critical displays. They were in my view a very good choice, and I've been entirely satisfied with mine.

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Being able to use SpectraView software doesn't mean the panel itself uses the SpectraView engine. That is the color processing in the panel.

SpectraView is a brand and the SpectraView engine which again, isn't available on all SpectraViews of which, I provided the difference isn't found in the EA line.

"Color Critcal' is kind of a marketing buzzword.

Author “Color Management for Photographers" & "Photoshop CC Color Management" (pluralsight.com)

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Being able to use SpectraView software doesn't mean the panel itself uses the SpectraView engine. That is the color processing in the panel.

 

Got it. But as I noted, they have made it harder to see which ones have the engine, and from all appearances, very few of their monitors now do.

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Got it. But as I noted, they have made it harder to see which ones have the engine, and from all appearances, very few of their monitors now do.

 

Right and again, the EA line vs. PA line should make this a bit easier. PA does, EA doesn't. How that may change, now that NEC is part of Sharp, I can't say.

Author “Color Management for Photographers" & "Photoshop CC Color Management" (pluralsight.com)

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the EA line vs. PA line should make this a bit easier. PA does, EA doesn't. How that may change, now that NEC is part of Sharp, I can't say.

 

If only they explained the difference clearlym whgich they certainly don't, labeling the EA as "color critical" and "Spectraview II".

 

More important, it's not clear that the PA and P series will be maintained, at least in their original variety. If you go to their main monitor page, Displays | NEC LCD Sizes 32, 40, 42, 46, 52, 55, 70, 82 | NEC MultiSync Monitor | Desktop Monitor | Widescreen Computer Monitor | Direct View LED Displays | LED Walls | LED Display Module by NEC Display, and select on "PA series" near the bottom, it takes you to a page that displays 4: 24" in black or white, 27", and 31". The 27" is the PA271Q that both you and I use. B&H list that as discontinued. Searching Adorama brings up only one used one in poor condition. It leaves me concerned that Sharp may not be intending to maintain these lines. I hope that's not the case.

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If only they explained the difference clearlym whgich they certainly don't, labeling the EA as "color critical" and "Spectraview II".

AGAIN, anyone can call anything "Color Critical". I've provided the differences between the two lines and what the SpectraView engine provides in one but not the other line of displays. If you feel that is color critical, then you know which line to purchase if and when available. Some think the Spyder line of Colorimeters is color critical; I have some colorimetric data that convinced me, they are not. That doesn't stop the company and customers from feeling the instruments are 'color critical'.

I can't help anyone with a product that is both discontinued and no longer in stock anywhere. The PA I use still is able to be purchased, at least it was day before yesterday.

What Sharp may or may not do in the future, this is true for them and all other companies: Those who know don’t talk. Those who talk don't know.

Author “Color Management for Photographers" & "Photoshop CC Color Management" (pluralsight.com)

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I can't help anyone with a product that is both discontinued and no longer in stock anywhere.

 

No reason for an argument. No one was suggeting that you can. My points were simply that their current advertising makes it hard for regular people (including me) to see what is what and that the discontinuance of one of the few PA models is worrisome. That's all.

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I currently have the NEC PA242W (which is now replaced by the similar PA243W) and I love it. Not only does this support a wide color gamut but it has inputs that can handle multiple cable types. I have three computers connected to my monitor using display port, dvi, and hdmi and everything works beautifully. And it is less expensive than EIZO.
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I am perhaps in a similar boat as the OP, looking for a quality monitor upgrade. I have been using the NEC Multisync 3090 WQXi for many years, calibrating with Spectraview and the x-rite Display Pro colorimeter. Given that the PA series of NEC is increasingly unavailable, including no longer at Tiger Direct, are we perhaps left only with Eizo as a quality monitor replacement with good color calibration? I am looking at the Eizo CG2730, which states on B&H "Once connected, the display can be calibrated, to ensure improved color accuracy using the built-in color measurement device along the Digital Uniformity Equalizer (DUE), for true color representation from the center of the display all the way to the edges. To back up the color calibration capabilities of this display, EIZO has utilized their own microchip designed for precise and consistent color quality. This EIZO monitor also comes with a copy of ColorNavigator software and light protection shields." I have been very happy with my NEC monitor and Spectraview calibrations, but it is getting long in the tooth. I am curious if the EIZO setup might be a suitable quality replacement and offer the quality and ease of use I am accustomed to with NEC/Spectraview?
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