# New monitor



## phemark (Apr 27, 2012)

Hello,

I am looking into buying a general purpose monitor, which I would also use to edit photos, gaming and HD movies.

At the moment i have Asus G73 laptop, which has one of the best screens on a laptop, LED backlit 1080p (according to reviews), so I definitely would want something as good and probably better.

Could you advise me on:

1) the best choice for ~22-24" 1080p monitor


Question:
As my laptop only has HDMI output, am I able to connect 1200p or 1440p monitors?
If yes, then, please advise if getting 1440p screen is worth it (I saw 27" Dell is ~500-600 pound, so much more then standard 1080p)

So if yes, please advise on:
2) the best choice for 22-24" 1200p monitor

3) the best choice for 24+ 1440p+ monitor (for this, price/quality ratio is important )


Initially I wanted to spend up to ~200 pounds on it, but then I though, as I will be using it everyday, and wont be getting second monitor in the near future, and be using laptops 1080p as well, I thought that I could probably invest more into it, and spend ~500 pounds, if the difference can really be seen, and the resolution really makes a big difference.

I hope you understood my concerns, and thank you for your answers


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## SuperCrazySamurai (Apr 27, 2012)

phemark said:


> Hello,
> 
> I am looking into buying a general purpose monitor, which I would also use to edit photos, gaming and HD movies.
> 
> ...



Hi,

I use both a Dell Ultrasharp U2410(24" @ 1920 x 1200)) and a Dell Ultrasharp U2711 (27" @2560x1440). They are both IPS monitors and great for photography and gaming. Good bang for the buck and if you watch the website, they offer some pretty good deals on them around september (back to school) and christmas.

Cheers!


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## 3kramd5 (Apr 27, 2012)

I use the U2410 ultrasharps as well. They're great for the buck compared to other builders - like apple - who use the same LG IPS panel.

Note however that it's an extended gamut monitor, and out of the box may give you wonky colors unless you calibrate it, and all the software in your workflow will have to respect color profiles.


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## Jamesy (Apr 27, 2012)

I have a Dell 2312HM, 23" IPS panel that is often $200 in Canada. I like it very much for the price.


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## DavidRiesenberg (Apr 27, 2012)

I too use Dell monitors (U2410 and an older 2408). Wonderful monitors for the money but as stated before, in desperate need of calibration for color sensitive work.


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## phemark (Apr 27, 2012)

Ive read around abit, and Im looking at Dell 2410 and 2412 at the moment.
As i understand, the biggest difference between them two is the wider color gamut of 2410, but the question is if I will need it?

I will watching movies, playing games, general surfing, as well as photo editing from RAW from my newly bought 60D. If I am going to view most of the pictures I take on the computer (and send to other to view on their screens), and print only once in a while, do I need wider color gamut or will sRGB do?

(Other than that I think I 2412 will suit me well (it even has better response time)
(unless you can think of some reasons why not?))

P.S. 2412 only has DVI connection, but i could use HDMI to DVI cable to connect and get 1200p?


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## BobSanderson (Apr 27, 2012)

HP LP2475w Read the reviews and see if you like it. It is industrial strength and provides excellent consistent colors and good angles of view.


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## LuckyRosco (Apr 27, 2012)

I have the Dell U2410, it's a great choice for photo editting and gaming. I use an Ezio CG243W and a Dell U2410 at work, both monitors are color calibrated using the Xrite i1 pro. I personally can only see a slight difference between the two. So I bought the Dell when I needed a new monitor. I say get the Dell and save some money.


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## PhilDrinkwater (Apr 27, 2012)

http://tftcentral.co.uk/ is good for comparing..


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## phemark (Apr 27, 2012)

Thanks for links/ideas.

Another question:

Once I buy a monitor, I need to calibrate, right? What is the easiest way to do it? (I know there are special calibrators, but i dont want to buy it for a one time job)


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## PhilDrinkwater (Apr 27, 2012)

phemark said:


> Thanks for links/ideas.
> 
> Another question:
> 
> Once I buy a monitor, I need to calibrate, right? What is the easiest way to do it? (I know there are special calibrators, but i dont want to buy it for a one time job)


I use an x-rite i1. It works with wide gamut as well as normal monitors. Not all do, which is one of the reasons I recommend it.


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## BobSanderson (Apr 27, 2012)

PhilDrinkwater said:


> phemark said:
> 
> 
> > Thanks for links/ideas.
> ...



same here and you should really consider it.


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## phemark (Apr 27, 2012)

hmmm it costs more than half of a dell 2412... im not really sure i want to buy it for one time calibration...

is there any free/much cheaper options, that could be used to calibrate the monitor? (although i understand that it wouldnt be 100% correct)


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## Rodknee (Apr 27, 2012)

I have the HP 2475w, great monitor for all the uses you mention and has a wide range of inputs with a built in USB hub. I haven't calibrated it but there are web articles about tweaking the settings and picture and colour rendering is superb. It also ahs a 3 year guarantee. Don't know about the Dell monitors - they might have these features/quality as well.


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## sb (Apr 27, 2012)

I just want to add Apple 27" 2560x1440 cinema LED display to the mix. It's pricey, but it's worth every penny. As far as I'm concerned there's no other monitor I'd rather have (and I'm not a Mac guy) I actually have it hooked up to a PC (no problems there) since I run all my stuff (LR, CS5 etc) on Windows 7. I thought the glossy screen would bother me, but I now understand why it's necessary. It's the equivalent of removing the AA filter from your camera sensor  I think all Dell alternatives have the regular non-glossy coating which blurs the picture slightly.

Oh and by the way - once you go 2560x1440 you dont go back to 1080p


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## Razor2012 (Apr 27, 2012)

sb said:


> I just want to add Apple 27" 2560x1440 cinema LED display to the mix. It's pricey, but it's worth every penny. As far as I'm concerned there's no other monitor I'd rather have (and I'm not a Mac guy) I actually have it hooked up to a PC (no problems there) since I run all my stuff (LR, CS5 etc) on Windows 7. I thought the glossy screen would bother me, but I now understand why it's necessary. It's the equivalent of removing the AA filter from your camera sensor  I think all Dell alternatives have the regular non-glossy coating which blurs the picture slightly.
> 
> Oh and by the way - once you go 2560x1440 you dont go back to 1080p



I have to agree with you on that one, the Apple monitors are gorgeous. Just take a look at the new iPad's screen.


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## atvinyard (Apr 27, 2012)

I have the Asus pa246q. It's a pretty good monitor and a little cheaper than the dell. 98% adobe rgb coverage. Comes factory calibrated, although not to prefessional standards, but it's not too bad out of the box. Keep in mind that if you want to do 30 bit color you need a video card capable of 30 bit color and generally only workstation cards support it. Workstation cards generally suck for gaming. I don't know why AMD and NVidea are stingy and don't enable it on their consumer cards. I wish I had known before i bought a 30 bit color monitor. If i had I would have bought a lesser monitor. If your color needs aren't super critical, I would buy a standard color gamut monitor with an IPS panel. That should still be capable of pretty accurate color, and you could spend the extra money on color calibration, and you wouldn't need to buy additional specialized hardware. 

When it comes to wide gamut and color calibration from monitor to printer, things can get very complicated and expensive very fast.


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## EYEONE (Apr 27, 2012)

Like many of the others I use a Dell U2410. It's a great IPS display. My second monitor is not a good one for photography (color reproduction is bad), it's a Westinghouse 24" (about 5 years old). I run both at 1920x1200p.


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## Jamesy (Apr 27, 2012)

+1 for calibration tools. I use a Pantone Huey Pro for my dual monitor setup which consists of my Lenovo T400 laptop and the Dell 2312HM, both at work and home. Even calibrated the laptop screen is very muddy, therefore I don't try to do any WB corrections on it, just cropping and spot removal. The Dell's once calibrated are very nice.

Careful, some calibration systems require the 'Pro' version to support dual monitors.


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## pete.koehn (Apr 27, 2012)

Like many others in this post, I use a Dell monitor, the U2211H. 

As far as calibration is concerned, I would definitely recommend it. One important thing to remember is that calibration is not a one-time thing. I have my software remind me every 2 or 3 months to recalibrate. Right now, I use the X-rite i1 Display 2 unit. It looks like it's about 160 bucks on Amazon, and it has done a good job of keeping my monitor's colors consistent.

Also, I print my photographs at a local Costco. Since the Costco printer profiles are available online at Dry Creek Photo, I am better able to predict what final prints will look like. Holding a finished print next to the proof on the monitor, and having the colors and tones match is awesome! 

Best of luck!


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## 3kramd5 (Apr 27, 2012)

phemark said:


> Thanks for links/ideas.
> 
> Another question:
> 
> Once I buy a monitor, I need to calibrate, right? What is the easiest way to do it? (I know there are special calibrators, but i dont want to buy it for a one time job)



They come calibrated for whatever environment the manufacturer thinks is appropriate. However, that likely doesn't precisely match yours. Also, LCD's degrade with time, thus the profile needs to be updated on a regular basis.

I like the ColorMunki tool that profiles monitors as well as printers (and projectors, but meh). 
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=&sku=550833&Q=&is=REG&A=details


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## NotABunny (Apr 27, 2012)

Calibration is NOT a one time job. I didn't have time to do calibration on my display for the last year, and I actually wanted to see what happens if I don't do it for a long time. I can tell that a year later, the change was dramatic (the software allows you to see the "before" and "after" image). "Dramatic" as in "holly cow, that's not possible"! (It was freakishly warm for the last year.)

In fact, if you squint, you can see slight changes from month to month.

On the other hand, if you want a general purpose monitor and don't do critical photo editing, just don't buy a hardware calibrator.

(I have a NEC 2690 WUXI2, which is like a 5D2 of displays.)


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