j_buck Posted December 11, 2014 Share Posted December 11, 2014 Hello, Ill narrowed down my question as much as possible, since many similar questions are floating around plus i did my reading :) I need a new monitor, becouse i get more and more important jobs lately and i cant afford to edit pictures from my laptop anymore.. ( i do alot of studio work, fashion, portraits, adds: digi, plus my personal stuff with medium format film) My question is A new an EIZO FORIS FS2434 60cm/24" Full-HD IPS Gaming Monitor mit 2xHDMI (is this the follow up from the Eizo Foris FS2333? ( I read on this forum that it should be great for editing ) Or a new NEC Multisync P242W 61,1cm W-IPS-TFT 24 Zoll Same price, both are new, the nec was i guess an promotional exponat for the shop ( its new with 12 months waranty but it has no packaging) this is why its soo affordable Thanks alot! J. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dag_fosse Posted December 11, 2014 Share Posted December 11, 2014 <p>Questions like this inevitably produce a predictable response: Spend more...easy to say when it's not your bank account.</p> <p>Between these two I'd go for the NEC. Eizos are great, I have two, but this Foris model is primarily a gaming screen.</p> <p>However. The monitor is simply the single most critical piece of hardware you have. Save everywhere else; but do get a good monitor. Spend until it really hurts. You can work with a cheap laptop and a good display, and produce better work, faster and more consistent, than someone with a state of the art workstation and a mediocre display. Good monitors are expensive, but if you care about your work it will pay for itself many times over.</p> <p>Being able to work with total confidence, knowing you can absolutely rely on what you see on screen, is worth a lot. Once there, you'll never look back.</p> <p>NEC and Eizo both produce monitors of consistently high quality, but in addition there's a secret weapon: the integrated calibration software of their higher-end models. This is what turns an already great monitor into a reference-grade display system. Both NEC Spectraview II and Eizo ColorNavigator are superb pieces of software, avaliable for the NEC P/PA series or the Eizo ColorEdges.</p> <p>The NEC P242 is a good choice, but if you stretch your budget to a PA242 (wide gamut) you won't regret. But note that it requires Spectraview II software ($100) to really shine, and you'll also need a good sensor if you don't already have one.</p> <p>A brand new Eizo model called CS240 looks like a real bargain at $830 (B&H), wide gamut and Colornavigator included. One step up, a CX241 buys you into Eizo's top line, with panel properties identical to the CG line but minus a few extra features.</p> <p>Oh, and my humble opinion: 4K is all the hype now, but the extra resolution is worth little if you can't trust what you see. Basic panel quality is infinitely more important.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dag_fosse Posted December 11, 2014 Share Posted December 11, 2014 <p>It occurred to me that you may be in Europe, in which case the NEC is a dead end. In Europe they put a firmware lock in the PAs so that they cannot be hardware calibrated with European Spectraview software. You'll have to buy the Spectraview edition of the monitor at almost 50% higher price.</p> <p>Importing US Spectraview II software works, though. </p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j_buck Posted December 11, 2014 Author Share Posted December 11, 2014 Wow, the eizo cs240 sounds awesome and the price is the max i can afford..but i could afford it! Are there any downparts or minueses on the cs240? Thanks for telling me about the euro nec firmware lock! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dag_fosse Posted December 12, 2014 Share Posted December 12, 2014 <p>The way it looks to me, the CS240 is the best "budget high-end" monitor available right now, and certainly the one with the best quality/price ratio. If it wasn't for the current 4K craze, this should be a huge hit for Eizo.</p> <p>I can't imagine any downsides. Anything with the ColorEdge name will be top quality monitors aimed specifically at photography and other color critical work.</p> <p>But make absolutely sure you get the edition that has ColorNavigator included. If you already have a calibrator, the sensor will be supported there. Best on the market is the i1 Display Pro, but the Spyder 3 and 4 are also good. Older sensors might not work so well on this wide gamut LED panel, though.</p> <p>Yes, the NEC policy in Europe is ridiculous, I've no idea what they're thinking. It's like pulling up the ladder and making sure the entrance fee is too high for anybody. There's no entry level, only the full package or nothing.</p> <p>I've gone through a steady succession of monitors over the years, never quite satisfied. Now I use a CG246 at work and a CX240 at home, and these two finally put my quest to an end. I should have done it a long time ago.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digitaldog Posted December 12, 2014 Share Posted December 12, 2014 <blockquote> <p>Yes, the NEC policy in Europe is ridiculous, I've no idea what they're thinking.</p> </blockquote> <p>Yes but I think it’s slowly changing. I just read they now offer SpectraView there as they do here in the US. </p> Author “Color Management for Photographers" & "Photoshop CC Color Management" (pluralsight.com) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j_buck Posted December 12, 2014 Author Share Posted December 12, 2014 But from all the reading now i think the cs240 is the best option for me.. They go for about 700$ in europe with color navigator.. But i guess its totaly worth it!:) Thanks soo much for this advice! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dag_fosse Posted December 12, 2014 Share Posted December 12, 2014 <blockquote> <p>Yes but I think it’s slowly changing. I just read they now offer SpectraView there as they do here in the US.</p> </blockquote> <p>Yes, I saw that too. But so far it applies only to some newly introduced models, and there is still no explicit mention of Spectraview II on the site. Will they, in time, reorganize the existing line-up and adjust prices? And will they get rid of the idiotic PA firmware lock? Let's hope.</p> <p>Just for everybody's information, here's the PA242 situation in Europe. Norwegian prices converted to USD:</p> <ul> <li>Regular PA242, firmware lock = $1260 current exchange rate. I repeat, that's $1260 for a monitor that <em>cannot be hardware calibrated</em>.</li> <li>Spectraview 242, BasICColor/Spectraview software but no sensor = $1576. That's over $300 for the software, which they cannot maintain if they start offering the US software (which, BTW, is light-years better).</li> <li>Spectraview Reference 242, BasICColor/Spectraview software but still no sensor = $2094. I've searched the website to find out exactly what the "reference" tag buys you, but all I can come up with is a hood.</li> </ul> <p>Actually the Spectraview 242 edition is the only one that makes sense. The price is almost exactly the same as an Eizo CX241, and they seem to be very similar all in all.</p> <p>The PA242 is just a dead end. And the Spectraview Reference 242 costs <em>exactly</em> the same as the Eizo CG247, but lacks all the features that would justify the extra cost. No wonder Eizo has a firm grip on the pro market in Europe.</p> <p>It's a shame, because it would be nice to have a choice.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digitaldog Posted December 12, 2014 Share Posted December 12, 2014 <blockquote> <p>Let's hope.</p> </blockquote> <p>Well it is getting better so yes, let’s hope. In the old days, you couldn’t even download SpectraView, you had to buy it and wait for a CD. There was a time when NEC didn’t have enough burned and we had to wait like weeks to get the darn software. Now you can buy and download as if this really is the 21st century. So let’s hold out hope. But yes, those in Europe have (had?) a bum rap. </p> Author “Color Management for Photographers" & "Photoshop CC Color Management" (pluralsight.com) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dag_fosse Posted December 12, 2014 Share Posted December 12, 2014 <blockquote> <p>i think the cs240 is the best option for me</p> </blockquote> <p>I think so too. I can't think of a better deal right now.</p> <p>And coming from a laptop...it'll be a whole new world. Take your time finding your way around ColorNavigator, it's an extremely powerful tool.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j_buck Posted December 14, 2014 Author Share Posted December 14, 2014 Just maybe a silly question, but are there any special considerations, or possible problems/issues, if ill use the eizo with a laptop? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dag_fosse Posted December 15, 2014 Share Posted December 15, 2014 <p>Shouldn't be any problems as such, lots of people do that. The one thing you need to keep an eye on is that the correct display profile is loaded for each display. The operating system normally keeps track of this and it should not be an issue.</p> <p>However, if you frequently disconnect the laptop that could trip it up. It's probably safer to set the Eizo as secondary display in the OS.</p> <p>You can check this (in Windows) under Control Panel > Color Management > Devices. If you suspect the wrong profile, ColorNavigator can again set it straight, because when you change calibration target from the list in the main window, it will also load the corresponding (and correct) profile on the fly:</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dag_fosse Posted December 15, 2014 Share Posted December 15, 2014 <p>That didn't display too well, let's see if a crop from the colornavigator main window does better:</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dag_fosse Posted December 15, 2014 Share Posted December 15, 2014 <p>Well, you'll have to click on them. They were both below 700 pixels and 100kB, so I don't know why they wouldn't display.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
q.g._de_bakker Posted December 15, 2014 Share Posted December 15, 2014 They are embedded as hyperlinks instead of using image tags, Dag.<br>Here they are:<br><br> <img src="http://static.photo.net/attachments/bboard/00d/00d0f3-553243584.png" /><br><br> <img src="http://static.photo.net/attachments/bboard/00d/00d0f4-553243684.png" /><br><br>Thanks for the info. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dag_fosse Posted December 16, 2014 Share Posted December 16, 2014 <p>Thank you!</p> <p>(Haven't been around this forum very long).</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j_buck Posted December 25, 2014 Author Share Posted December 25, 2014 I finaly got the cs240 :)) Its great, but its something i dont understand, since this is my first interaction with a monitor as such. Atm i dont have a color calibrator and it will take me a while before i can get one. So, should i install the color navi. software even if i dont have a calibrator? And at mode button on the monitor i can choose between Custom, paper, adobe rgb, srgb and cal3. Wich one to choose? As far as i heard, the cs should be factory precalibrated. Thanks again! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digitaldog Posted December 25, 2014 Share Posted December 25, 2014 <p>Without the instrument, the software isn’t going to do anything useful for you but you can install it. </p> Author “Color Management for Photographers" & "Photoshop CC Color Management" (pluralsight.com) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j_buck Posted December 26, 2014 Author Share Posted December 26, 2014 Thanks, but sorry for my ignorance, but: Wich from the 4 availables modes from eizo factory presets ( .... Cusom, Adobe rgb, s rgb, cal, ) should i use before i get the calibrator? :) Happy holidays everyone! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digitaldog Posted December 26, 2014 Share Posted December 26, 2014 <blockquote> <p>Wich from the 4 availables modes from eizo factory presets ( .... Cusom, Adobe rgb, s rgb, cal, ) should i use before i get the calibrator? :)</p> </blockquote> <p>What’s the goal here? IF you want to match a print next to the display, you’ll probably need to wait on the calibrator. IF you want to target a generic sRGB behavior in the meantime, pick that. If you want a wide gamut behavior but not necessarily set to match something else, pick Adobe RGB (1998). </p> Author “Color Management for Photographers" & "Photoshop CC Color Management" (pluralsight.com) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j_buck Posted December 26, 2014 Author Share Posted December 26, 2014 I want to target something "neutral". Something that would look similar on most monitors, screens, tablests. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digitaldog Posted December 26, 2014 Share Posted December 26, 2014 <blockquote> <p>I want to target something "neutral". Something that would look similar on most monitors, screens, tablests</p> </blockquote> <p>No such thing really. Everyone’s system that isn’t calibrated is different. That said, sRGB is going to be the closest target for hitting the side of this very large barn. Especially with tablets/phone’s who’s manufacturer’s attempt to target to sRGB. </p> Author “Color Management for Photographers" & "Photoshop CC Color Management" (pluralsight.com) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j_buck Posted December 26, 2014 Author Share Posted December 26, 2014 Thanks alot! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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