# Need great Photo editing monitor



## cpsico (Oct 24, 2012)

I am looking to buy a great photo editing monitor for still pictures, I dont know much in this area and could really use some input on what other people are using and like. I have an ati firepro v4800 graphics card and want a monitor that supports 1.07 billion colors. 
Thanks in advance


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## Marine03 (Oct 24, 2012)

Its pretty easy to find, here is a pop photography article I found from 2008 just a few moments ago... monitors havn't changed much since thing so this may give you a good starting point or you can find something on the used market... took 30 seconds to find this did I mention?

http://www.popphoto.com/gear/2008/12/which-monitor-should-i-buy


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## Waterloo (Oct 24, 2012)

This: http://www.necdisplay.com/p/desktop-monitors/pa271w-bk-sv


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## InterMurph (Oct 24, 2012)

That's the SpectraVision edition, which costs $400 or so more than the non-SpectraVision edition.

It appears that the sole difference is the calibration device. Is there any reason that a Spyder4 calibration device wouldn't work on this monitor?

Thanks.


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## symmar22 (Oct 24, 2012)

Not sure, but I think it's because the SpectraVision allows for hardware calibration, and the included software is designed for their own calibration tool (eye one). Problem with the Eye One Display 2, is that they have a tendency to die rather quickly. I had two in 5 years, both had the same calibration issue after 2.5 years, and I am not the only one who had the problem.

Since then I switched to a DTP94 calibration device.

Anyway you cannot go wrong with NEC, but I could recommend Eizo and Quato as well


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## DrDeano (Oct 24, 2012)

I picked one of these up a few weeks ago.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/816468-REG/Eizo_CG275W_BK_ColorEdge_CG275W_27_Widescreen.html

Self calibrating, hardware LUT, IPS. It's so nice knowing what white truly is and being able to actually see when highlights are blown out and what black looks like. You can't go wrong with this monitor.


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## InterMurph (Oct 24, 2012)

At $2,700, one would hope!

I've been eyeing the NEC monitor for myself. It's currently $955 (without SpectraVision) at B&H. Maybe on Black Friday it will be less expensive.


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## jimjamesjimmy (Oct 24, 2012)

get a crt if your that serious about it!


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## DrDeano (Oct 24, 2012)

InterMurph said:


> At $2,700, one would hope!



OP didn't mention budget, only requests for great monitor suggestion.

The monitor IS expensive, but consider:

Photographers spend:

1DX body - $6800
24-70 II - $2400
70-200 II IS - $2400
24mm II - $1800
35mm - $1500
50mm - $1600
85mm - $2000

Filters, accessories etc, you get the point..

In the grand scheme of things, $2700 does not seem like a whole lot when you consider how much time you can spend in post production grading your photos. Knowing what you are seeing in front of you is accurate is as important to me as knowing I have the best possible lens attached to the front of my camera.

Eizo also makes some great monitors in the Flexscan series if you're looking to save some coin.


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## leGreve (Oct 24, 2012)

+1 on Eizo... I would go any less than that. Makes no sense what so ever spending lots of money on gear, if you can't see what the heck you are doing afterwards.

The Color Edge line is awesome and definitely worth the money!

Consider also the amount of burn hours you get from a monitor.

Buying a cheap one means it will probably become unstable and uneven after a year or so.
An Eizo will stay useable for several years.


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## pierceography (Oct 24, 2012)

If you're looking for an affordable IPS display that's reasonably large with decent resolution, check this one out:

http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/productdetail.aspx?c=us&cs=04&l=en&sku=320-2676

You can frequently find it under $300. I've had it for about six months now and love it. Would I rather have a $3000 monitor? Sure... but photography is expensive enough. So a $300 IPS display works great for me!


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## cayenne (Oct 24, 2012)

I got the Dell U2711, and it is wonderful!!

They have a good price here:

http://www.amazon.com/Dell-UltraSharp-U2711-27-inch-Widescreen/dp/B0039648BO

IPS screen, tuned and configured from the factory...same screen (just non-glossy) as the one used by Apple's 27" screen.

The only trouble I have with it...with the current mac book pro I have, late 2011 15"...you can't hook two of these monitors to it...I'd have to go with the native apple thunderbolt to do that.

I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.

But it is beautiful...and if using with a mac...get the thunderbolt to display port adapter, you need displayport to really get the full resolution of this thing (2560 x 1440).

Great for still editing and video.

HTH,

cayenne


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## Razor2012 (Oct 24, 2012)

I picked up the Dell Ultrasharp U3011, it's a 30" monitor with a res of 2560x1600. Check out the specs on Dell's site.


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## justsomedude (Oct 24, 2012)

Razor2012 said:


> I picked up the Dell Ultrasharp U3011, it's a 30" monitor with a res of 2560x1600. Check out the specs on Dell's site.



+1 for the Dell Ultrasharps!

They are IPS panels at fair prices. I use the U2410 and couldn't be more happy. Print colors are a perfect match.


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## Razor2012 (Oct 24, 2012)

justsomedude said:


> Razor2012 said:
> 
> 
> > I picked up the Dell Ultrasharp U3011, it's a 30" monitor with a res of 2560x1600. Check out the specs on Dell's site.
> ...



Yep, they were rated I think #1 last year. At first I was wanting to get the 27", but I lucked out because when I was looking online there was a one day sale where the 30" was the same price as the 27". Done deal.


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## iso79 (Oct 24, 2012)

Dells are junk. Avoid them at all costs.


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## pierceography (Oct 24, 2012)

iso79 said:


> Dells are junk. Avoid them at all costs.



Seeing as how quite a few of us have Ultra Sharps and find them to be fantastic displays, do you care to elaborate on this?

A blanket statement of, "[product] are junk" without any actual proof or underlying reasons for your opinion isn't very helpful sentiment.

And to play devil's advocate (at least a bit), I've worked in the IT industry for quite awhile, and have had mostly negative experiences with Dell products. In fact, I'm currently typing this post on a Dell laptop (company provided) with a battery that hasn't been able to hold a charge in over a year, and a fried touch pad. Oh, and it cost over $1,700 18 months ago. So I generally don't hold Dell in a very high regard. However, I read up on the Ultra Sharps before I hesitantly bought one, and have been very happy with the purchase.


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## nitelife2 (Oct 24, 2012)

+1 for Dell Ultrasharps


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## LetTheRightLensIn (Oct 24, 2012)

cpsico said:


> I am looking to buy a great photo editing monitor for still pictures, I dont know much in this area and could really use some input on what other people are using and like. I have an ati firepro v4800 graphics card and want a monitor that supports 1.07 billion colors.
> Thanks in advance



NEC PA series 24"+ are really good, 14bit internal 3D LUT, 100% perfect sRGB emulation modes (more perfect sRGB than sRGB monitors can do, all internal so even programs with zero calibration will display 100% perfect sRGB and interal sRGB or gamma 2.2 TRC etc.) in addition to wide gamut (really nice for fall foliage, sunsets, intense tropical waters, emerald-type gems, really brilliant clothing colors, flowers, etc) and support display port input for 10bit color with you firepro and across the frame color/brightness compensation engine.

Many of the Eizo too if you want to spend 2x as much for a bit better perhaps (but not 2x better). In the US, Eizo doesn't sell any of their best low and mid tier so you need to stick to their high end stuff in the US.

Those are definitely higher tiers than the Dells and Samsungs and such.


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## pwp (Oct 25, 2012)

justsomedude said:


> Razor2012 said:
> 
> 
> > I picked up the Dell Ultrasharp U3011, it's a 30" monitor with a res of 2560x1600. Check out the specs on Dell's site.
> ...


+1 Dell U Series UltraSharp series. Forget any other Dells other than the U Series panels for your primary. They are in another universe.

I have two identical workstations set up with a Dell U3011 as a primary monitor and a Dell 20inch 2007FP as a secondary panel. This Dell is ideal next to the 30 when it's rotated to vertical as the heights match and the pixel dimensions are identical. Easy to pick up the 2007FP or identical 2007FTB on eBay for under $100.

U3011 http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/productdetail.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=bsd&cs=04&sku=224-9949&~ck=baynoteSearch&baynote_bnrank=4&baynote_irrank=0

2007FP http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/productdetail.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=bsd&cs=04&sku=320-4687&baynote_bnrank=1&baynote_irrank=0&~ck=baynoteSearch

Why two identical workstations? All work is constantly being backed up to a NAS, and if one PC goes down, I can just slide across to the other one and keep working. It's relatively cheap business insurance. Also handy when it's busy and I have someone helping. I've run with Dell U panels for years. They are astounding value.

-PW


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## pwp (Oct 25, 2012)

pierceography said:


> iso79 said:
> 
> 
> > Dells are junk. Avoid them at all costs.
> ...



Well yes, you need to choose your Dell product from a fairly well informed position. I'd also hesitate to buy any more Dell laptops and our accounts manager has had a decent run with an entry level desktop PC which ran well once all the pre-loaded junk was stripped out of it. I build my own high performance PC's for the studio (it's a bit like Lego...) but the only Dell monitors I would consider are the U Series panels. The Dell cheapie monitors may be adequate for office work, but for photo editing...no way.

-PW


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## TommyLee (Oct 25, 2012)

I had a dell 2407 for a few yrs...it was a good product
still works great.. I calibrated it once... ..
but lost interest in chasing all that... it is close enough for me....
I just compare to the 4-5 local photo print places ...and check if it is about right

then a few months ago upgraded to a U3011...2560 x 1600
it is more accurate.. and fits well into my needs
comes with a little 'certificate' like color test...
....seems like the old days when you got a freq response curve/plot with an amplifier or a microphone... seems believable ...photos look great

anyway this monitor is just fine....
and I like the extra space..
I did run the 2407 alongside for a while as an experiment.. but that is gone now

I bought mine at FRY's...and got the same dell 3 yr exchange warranty..for ANY dead /brite pixel
I registered online for that 

and the monitor was $50 cheaper than DELL direct

I now typically re-size or crop the 5D3 shots....to the native 2560x1600 size ....
for my day to day walkabouts....

30" is fun

so...I think
the top Dell stuff is.... a little .....better..

by the way:
NONE of this... stuff .....is perfect anyway...
cameras, monitors, Windows etc..
and Guitars too..I might add....

I finally learned to just go with it....


just my experience ... with this particular monitor


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## jthomson (Oct 25, 2012)

iso79 said:


> Dells are junk. Avoid them at all costs.



I am also curious as why you would say this.
I'm another satisfied Ultrasharp user.


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## JaxPhotographer (Oct 25, 2012)

Another very solid option is the HP ZR30w. 30" IPS with low latency (7ms) for IPS panels. I have used one now for more than 6 months and find it fantastic. Calibration via Spyder4 is excellent. Only limitation is Display Port and DVI only. If you use this for work, that is fine but it doesn't have HDMI (which keeps the latency low) so if you want to use it for watching movies via an external HDMI source then choose something else. 2560x1600 resolution, 1.07B colors.

http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/us/en/sm/WF05a/382087-382087-64283-72270-3884471-4194577.html?dnr=1

Got mine from B&H. Great monitor for the price, not a high-end Eizo or NEC but for my photography work it does a great job.


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## Gothmoth (Oct 25, 2012)

the NEC SpectraView PA271 (W) is a great monitor for the price.

you won´t find a monitor around 1000 euro that is better then the NEC when it comes to image quality.

i have a few dell U27 and U24 in my shop but they all suffer form some kind of clouding or backlight bleeding. this is absolutely no problem with the NEC.
color homogeneity is therfore better with the NEC also.

but of course compared to the DELL U2711 or 2713 this comes with a higher price.


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## Razor2012 (Oct 25, 2012)

Mikael Risedal said:


> Razor2012 said:
> 
> 
> > justsomedude said:
> ...



As per your link, Dell is in that list of recommended graphics/photography monitors and is in 4 of the 9 spots.


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## RLPhoto (Oct 25, 2012)

Dell Ultrasharp series. Good stuff. 8)


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## symmar22 (Oct 25, 2012)

jthomson said:


> iso79 said:
> 
> 
> > Dells are junk. Avoid them at all costs.
> ...



Would not call them junk, they are good value IPS panel, if you do not want to spend a fortune on a super pro monitor, then why not ?

I work both a Dell 2709W (PVA) and a NEC NEC PA271W (IPS). The most obvious difference is the resolution (1920 vs 2560); yes the electronics and colour fidelity are better on the NEC, but I got the DELL for 500 Euro while the NEC is 1000 Euro, so for the price, it's very decent. Though the finer pitch on the NEC shows more appealing images, the 16/9 format is clearly a step back from the 16/10 of the DELL.

If you have space on your desk, and are on a budget, the DELL 30 inches might be an option. If you want absolute professional quality, then go for a NEC spectraView 30 inches or the Quato Intelli Proof 300 excellence.

IMO, 16/9 format is not a good ratio for photography, hence I am advising 30 inches screens for a more comfortable 16/10. My next screen will be for sure a 30 inches.


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## Razor2012 (Oct 25, 2012)

symmar22 said:


> jthomson said:
> 
> 
> > iso79 said:
> ...



30" is sure a nice viewing size and for the same price as the 27", I couldn't go wrong.


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## etg9 (Oct 25, 2012)

another happy Dell U2711 owner. Great monitor for the price. the 30" is great for photo work but isn't my favorite to game on or web surf. 

The NEC monitors people have mentioned (PA271W) are a little nicer (not that much) and cost a little bit more, maybe justified for some. I've never owned one but worked on them enough to know they work well enough. 

The Eizo stuff is a step up from there and can be color corrected easily if you need that. The money for me just didn't line up for these monitors as a serious hobbyist. However, if I were a professional who needed this as a real everyday tool this would be the monitor to buy.


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## life (Oct 25, 2012)

I spent a lot of time researching this.

Buy an NEC.
Best combo of money and quality.
Also, LaCie monitors are just rebranded NEC's at higher prices.

I have a 2690WUXi2
A 26" high colour gamut monitor

Expect to pay about $1000-1400 for the monitor.

Anything more in my opinion is overkill (like Eizos)
Also, I have a second monitor, a Dell Ultrasharp. And you can really tell where the extra thousand dollars went when you compare them. Dell's are NOT good enough for critical professional work. Way too red, too contrasty, and not clean and sharp enough. and that's AFTER they have been calibrated.

Oh, and you will need to buy a calibrator too.
I have an i1 Display Pro 
http://www.xrite.com/product_overview.aspx?ID=1454
about $300-350

and then, you will be set up properly.


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## Razor2012 (Oct 25, 2012)

I agree, if a person made a living off of pro graphics then yes. But for a grand it was all I needed at the time.


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## jcollett (Oct 25, 2012)

If you do not have loads of money, but still need a larger, color accurate monitor, you can do much worse than this gem. Challenge is to get it while in stock. Microcenter ususally sells out of this monitor within a few days of receiving shipment. It is only $400! I love my Auria. Just make sure to also buy a calibrator to for accurate colors.

http://www.microcenter.com/product/384780/EQ276W_27_IPS_LED_Monitor

The panel contained within this monitor can also be found in some Korean made monitors sold on eBay. I haven't tried them but have heard more good things than bad.

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=27+inch+ips&_sacat=0&_odkw=ips&_osacat=0&_from=R40


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## cayenne (Oct 25, 2012)

JaxPhotographer said:


> Another very solid option is the HP ZR30w. 30" IPS with low latency (7ms) for IPS panels. I have used one now for more than 6 months and find it fantastic. Calibration via Spyder4 is excellent. Only limitation is Display Port and DVI only. If you use this for work, that is fine but it doesn't have HDMI (which keeps the latency low) so if you want to use it for watching movies via an external HDMI source then choose something else. 2560x1600 resolution, 1.07B colors.
> 
> http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/us/en/sm/WF05a/382087-382087-64283-72270-3884471-4194577.html?dnr=1
> 
> Got mine from B&H. Great monitor for the price, not a high-end Eizo or NEC but for my photography work it does a great job.



Curious to hear your description of HDMI vs Displayport.

I thought that Displayport was the latest and greatest of the connection types...that it was HDMI on steroids so to speak.

Is it really true that you'd want HDMI over Displayport? I thought DP had the higher bandwidth, etc.

I found for my Dell U2711....on my MBP laptop...the only way I could get the full resolution was to use displayport....not HDMI.

I believe I found the same was true when hooking same monitor to a higher end lenovo laptop (different work) to it...had to use DP to get full resolution.

Thoughts?

C


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## MaxPower (Oct 25, 2012)

I can only repeated it.

DELL 3011U

Have this and two last generation Eizo 21".

With Dell you get more bank for the buck


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## JaxPhotographer (Oct 25, 2012)

> Curious to hear your description of HDMI vs Displayport.
> 
> I thought that Displayport was the latest and greatest of the connection types...that it was HDMI on steroids so to speak.
> 
> ...



You are correct with wanting DP for 2560x1600. I personally didn't care about HDMI on the monitor and actually preferred not having it so that the latency is better. I only mentioned it in case the OP had more uses for the monitor in mind than just photography/graphics work.


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## Canon-F1 (Oct 25, 2012)

i switched from DELL 2711 to a NEC 271.

my own experience, supported by many user reviews i read, is that DELL monitors have problems with light bleeding on the edges.

also take an image (long exposure) of a complete black image on a DELL monitor (in a dark room of course).
you will see how uneven the light is. and it gets WORSE when the monitor ages.

do the same with a NEC monitor.
my NEC shows an absolutely even black image.

that´s an problem with DELL monitors... and no profiling and calibrating can fix that.


DELL has a good price.. but NEC has the better quality for a still good price.


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## LetTheRightLensIn (Oct 25, 2012)

etg9 said:


> another happy Dell U2711 owner. Great monitor for the price. the 30" is great for photo work but isn't my favorite to game on or web surf.
> 
> The NEC monitors people have mentioned (PA271W) are a little nicer (not that much) and cost a little bit more, maybe justified for some. I've never owned one but worked on them enough to know they work well enough.
> 
> The Eizo stuff is a step up from there and can be color corrected easily if you need that. The money for me just didn't line up for these monitors as a serious hobbyist. However, if I were a professional who needed this as a real everyday tool this would be the monitor to buy.



The NEC PA do have the 14bit 3D internal LUT so they can be calibrated to a perfect sRGB though and the tone response curve can also be internally calibrated for that mode and wide gamut modes so you don't give up any shades, it's all done 14bit internally.


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## Patrick (Oct 25, 2012)

Another +1 for the Dell Ultrasharp series - I've a 24" 1920 x 1200 Ultrasharp and it's the best monitor I've ever used.


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## Razor2012 (Oct 25, 2012)

I have to admit the Retina screen on my Macbook Pro 15" is incredible.


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## stewy (Oct 25, 2012)

When it comes to Dell, one should understand that their monitors and their computers (PCs) are two very different things. I don't like dell computers. I use to have one in college, and I use them at work. I'm not a fan. However, I do own a Dell Ultrasharp monitor. I got the 2407 WFP (wide gamut) monitor some years ago when I, after doing lots of web development, realized that colors actually mattered. Since then I picked up photography. I still use this monitor today and its very good.

If you are serious about your colors, then a Dell Ultrasharp IPS display will give you great results. My only gripe with my monitor is at the very end of the dark spectrum. If you are working with details in the very dark shadows, and this work is super important (or you just demand the best), then you'll want to get a better monitor. Anything else and this monitor is great.

I plan to get a new monitor, probably by the end of next year. At that time I'll get a NEC or Eizo. The only reason why I don't upgrade now is because the photography that I'm currently doing is for myself. That won't stay the same come the end of next year.

Of course, I use a tool (xRite) to calibrate my monitor, plus calibrate my camera for Lightroom and Photoshop, etc.


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## cocopop05 (Oct 25, 2012)

I would definitely consider the HP Dreamcolor LP2480zx. It may only be 1920x1200 but offers a colour pallette of over 1 billion colours and has calibration cabilities to allow your display to accurately be in the colour space you require. It can also be calibrated to match hard copy output. Check out reviews via Google, it has received top reviews and is way cheaper than Eizo displays.


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## LetTheRightLensIn (Oct 26, 2012)

Mikael Risedal said:


> And for fun I did a test on my new mac book pro Retina
> not bad as you can se, I lowered however the Candella value to 130.



The resolution on those is so awesome. I can't wait until NEC comes out with some 6k 24-27" displays (well maybe I can a bit since I don't think I could afford one now ;D but....).

I wonder how it does on sRGB gamut matching, saturation and primary luminosity curves though. I've seen plenty a regular old monitor these days test fine enough for a basic color test like that and then not do so well on those other points. How does it plot using say ColorimetreHCFR?


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## LetTheRightLensIn (Oct 26, 2012)

www.prad.de tends to have the highest quality monitor reviews, the guy doing is a lot more knowledgeable than most of the guys at the other testing sites


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## LetTheRightLensIn (Oct 26, 2012)

Not that someone using the monitor purely for photography necessarily needs a perfect sRGB emulation mode if they intend to use only color-managed programs and browsers and just keep it in wide gamut mode, but if you also want to use sRGB mode for IE or Chrome browsing or for TV or games or to view sRGB images with least banding, etc. here are some measurements showing how the internal adjustments let a NEC PA get sRGB down very well:

perfect saturation tracking curves and hue curves along saturation curves:





perfect primary luminance tracking curves:




perfect alignment and coverage of sRGB max saturation gamut slice:




the primary numerical values, perfect as also shown on the chart above:




excellent TRC tracking on brightest few values:




excellent color-temp tracking until below 10% (the probe doesn't read well there down below 15% anyway):




and the above in numerical form:




a pretty solid automatic instant self-calibration to gamma 2.2 (for movies and tv):




this one shows how the actual sRGB TRC looks (it is NOT a straight line at gamma 2.2) so sRGB images viewed in non-managed programs such as IE and Chrome make things look correct and not with overly-darkened shadows and altered highlight curve:




the very darkest few tones are a touch too dark but most monitor's do not get this perfect either:


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## NotABunny (Oct 29, 2012)

Waterloo said:


> This: http://www.necdisplay.com/p/desktop-monitors/pa271w-bk-sv



If you are getting the NEC, get the SpectraView because their software does *hardware* calibration, as in 10-bit color calibration in the hardware of the display. Anything else will do only 8-bit as a OS color profile.

I have the NEC 2690WUXi2.


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## benalmeer (Jan 21, 2013)

Pixia is the English version of a popular Japanese painting and retouching software for full color graphics. It supports mask, layer and many other editing functions. You can use your own customized brush tips and even use an image file as a brush tip to create unique effects.
Regard's,
Ben Almeer,
Click here for full article


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## Pixelsign (Jan 21, 2013)

if I had the money, I'd buy an EIZO


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## scottkinfw (Jan 22, 2013)

I purchased NEC MultiSync PA271W on sale for ~ 800.00 or so. It is very good and I can calibrate it, unlike my iMac, which is way too bright.

sek


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## scottkinfw (Jan 22, 2013)

Do you know if the i1 Profiler will do the same thing, as well, not as well, etc?

Thanks

sek

sek





NotABunny said:


> Waterloo said:
> 
> 
> > This: http://www.necdisplay.com/p/desktop-monitors/pa271w-bk-sv
> ...


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## renjamolin (Mar 12, 2013)

I would recommend you try checking the ASUS PA246Q 24-Inch Professional Super-IPS Full-HD LCD Monitor. For me, i consider it to be the top monitor for photo editing.


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