Shopping for an editing monitor

Hey all,

 

I'm a semi-pro photographer who is looking to upgrade their monitor. I've delved into the rabbit hole and am a bit overwhelmed. My budget is about $400 or less. I'm coming across a lot of suggestions for the Dell U2415 and U2413 and the Asus PA248Q and even these are hard to choose between, especially since the 2413 has a larger gamut albeit, heftier price. These are all fairly old models by now, and I feel like technology moves so fast with things like this that surely I might be able to get a better value with something fresher to the market? Maybe not? Anyway, please do let me know. I'm not doing print work, but having expanded gamut never hurts and may help me in the future if I send something out to print. Thanks so much!

 

Side note: I'm also a gamer, so performance for gaming is a consideration, but far down on the totem pole compared to my editing.

I have a Dell Ultra Sharp U2312HM about 4 years old now, maybe 5 years old. It is a very sharp monitor that delivers very fine detail.

Calibrated with Windows 10 built in monitor calibration all sites and photos viewed on the web look correct, photos printed on Epson 2200 photo or XP-610 are off a few shades. When the Spyder 4 was still comparable with windows the calibration looked good on the web and photos printed were within a half shade of the monitor image.

I got an X Rite i1 display pro and it produces a calibration that is very high contrast for web and most photos, newer updates in the software produced less crontrasty settings but still not correct. I have not used it in some time as I'm not doing any critical work or printing.

The problem may be with the Dell XPS 8500 and video card, never took the time to work it out.

The monitor looks as good today as it did out of the box. I do not do any gaming.

I like the Dell UltraSharps, but they are not wide gamut, if that is important to you. Many people think it is, but for most of us plebs it is not very. My Ultrasharp is perfectly calibrated to my printer by my eyes via a Datacolor Spyder.

"My Ultrasharp is perfectly calibrated to my printer by my eyes via a Datacolor Spyder."

 

Where's Andrew Rodney when we need him?

Omar, I have had a pair of the 248Q monitors for nearly two years now--and have had absolutely no issues with them. When I got them, a Color Monki was bought as well. The out-of-box profile was so close to what the calibration recommendations were (albeit dimmer) that I kept them. Both monitors have maintained their calibrations the entire time I have had them--unlike the other two Hanns-G general application (yes, I am running 4 monitors plus a 37" flatscreen off my workstation) which need touched up every 6 months or so.

 

Sometime early next year I will likely replace both Hanns with the matching Asus monitors while they are still available. These seem based on my experience a great value proposition for photo editing and proofing at the price point. Greater gamut is a great thing--but at the end of it all the practical limitation is what the printer is capable of... :cool:

Spyder 5

 

Re: Monitor Calibration Issues Spyder 5: Pro Digital Talk Forum: Digital Photography Review

Edited October 15, 2017 by digitaldog

Spyder 5

 

Re: Monitor Calibration Issues Spyder 5: Pro Digital Talk Forum: Digital Photography Review

 

And? If you read product reviews on seller sites, there are quite a few 'questions' on the Spyder line. Not so much the Color Munki.

 

More to this?

And?

More to this?

And nothing more than the actual colorimetric data of several devices compared to a known, color reference device.

Oh, the device I think you're speaking of is called the ColorMunki (Display or Photo; vastly different kinds of instruments!).

http://digitaldog.net/files/badspyder.jpg

Edited October 15, 2017 by digitaldog

Attitude much? :p

Attitude much? :p

Data doesn’t need attitude.

How about suggestions for a 4k monitor to connect to my MacBook Pro for photo work? I'm just starting my homework and the Dell U2718Q seems like a good deal for the price and the upcoming BenQ SW271 seems pretty nice, although considerably more expensive. Any comments or other monitors to consider?

 

And here's a basic question: Will text on documents and emails and so on be too small on a 27 inch monitor at 4k or does the Mac have a way to increase text size while keeping photographs sharp? (I suspect it does.) How well does it work? Can you get non-photo work done on the monitor?

 

Many thanks.

 

Cheers,

Dave

 

PS Almost forgot, this being PhotoNet, somebody will observe that "too small" is subjective, but the rest of you will know exactly what I mean. Let me clarify it to "too small for 61-year-old eyes."

Edited October 22, 2017 by Dave410

(...)And here's a basic question: Will text on documents and emails and so on be too small on a 27 inch monitor at 4k or does the Mac have a way to increase text size while keeping photographs sharp? (I suspect it does.) How well does it work? Can you get non-photo work done on the monitor?(...)

PS Almost forgot, this being PhotoNet, somebody will observe that "too small" is subjective, but the rest of you will know exactly what I mean. Let me clarify it to "too small for 61-year-old eyes."

 

Most applications have a way to set font size in the app's preferences and/or have a zoom function that let's you change it while inside a particular document.

In Apple Mail, there is an app preference for font size. In Microsoft Office and similar apps, there is a zoom function on the page being read. Browsers also allow custom settings, either in the prefs or with zoom function on a particular page (in Firefox this can be accessed with ctrl and turning the mouse scroll wheel).

 

In the worst case (and least convenient) scenario where no convenient pref or zoom is available, you can temporarily change the screen resolution in the system's prefs, but that affects EVERYTHING is may not be desirable.

Many thanks, DrBen.

And I have used Dell U2515H it's a fairy cheap one, emmmmm, not so smooth. but it can be the most budget one of your requirment.

I don't like the Dell series of products. I recently bought the ASUS PA329Q, which has a screen size of 32 ", resolution and panel type of 3840 × 2160 (4K) and IPS (Matte), and I am very satisfied with its high performance. Guy, if If you are interested, you can look at it.

If you'd like advice on that then please send me a personal message.

I highly recommend you take a look at this article: Best Monitor for Photo Editing and Photography (February 2018) - PC4U, this is really a good choice.

I highly recommend you take a look at this article: Best Monitor for Photo Editing and Photography (February 2018) - PC4U, this is really a good choice.

Ah, not so much as a lot is technically nonsensical. Case in point:

Usually, this gamut only benefits those people who perform color-critical work that are often reproduced on CMYK presses or fine-art printers, requiring a much larger color gamut.