HP ZR24w or Dell U2412M | Photography and Video

[alfa147x]

HP ZR24w or Dell U2412M
They both now are around $300 and I'm planning on buying two for my hackintosh.

Which one should I go with? I use my MacBook Pro mostly for both just because the color looks amazing compared to the $90 19 inch monitor I use on my hackintosh now. I plan on using it for photography (Aperture, Photoshop, ect..) and video work (Final Cut X, Motion, ect...)

I would add a poll but I rather get some better responses.
Oh the room that they are going in is normally extremely dark. I have blackout curtains up

Thanks for the help!
Alfa

 

[Chinoman]

I feel like the ZR24w has a nicer panel (S-IPS as opposed to e-IPS) and has been in the market a reasonably long time so you can get a better idea as to its reliability. The U2412M seems more like an enlarged U2311h with LED lighting than anything, to me at least.

People have said that the ZR24w is comparable to the U2410 as they're both on S-IPS panel tech. You may get what you're looking for in the HP. I say go for the ZR24w.

 

[Martimus]

I have the ZR24w, and I couldn't be happier. Although I don't do photo work on it at all.

I will link a review to the monitor that compares it to the 2410 so you can make a better informed decision.
http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/reviews/hp_zr24w.htm

 

[LokutusofBorg]

If you want wide gamut for Photoshop and other apps that *use* it, and you know how to calibrate, then the ZR24w is probably for you.

If you don't care about wide color gamut, or you *really* want a low power monitor, then the U2412M is for you. The U2412M uses less than half the power of the ZR24w.

 

[stahlhart]

If you want wide gamut for Photoshop and other apps that *use* it, and you know how to calibrate, then the ZR24w is probably for you.

I thought that the ZR24w is standard gamut, and the Dells are wide... (?)

 

[Coolking23]

sRGB colour support - Obviously the ZR24W has a good edge here since it's a standard gamut screen anyway. If you are wanting to work only in the sRGB colour space, the standard backlighting here is probably more suited. The Dell does feature a fairly decent sRGB emulation mode at least, and the LP2475W's emulation doesn't seem to work at all!

I'd go for the HP.

 

[roedtogsvart]

I have the ZR24W and would 100% recommend it.

 

[GTaudiophile]

For a while I thought I NEEDED wide-gammut support for adobeRGB until I started reading articles like this:

http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/adobe-rgb.htm

To me, sRGB coverage is more important.

I would say the HP has a slight advantage on sRGB support, something like 97% vs. 95.8% coverage for the DELL. The DELL offers a lower price point, better power efficiency, lower input lag, and better black depth and contrast ratio.

The ZR24w uses a CCFL backlight with an 8-bit s-IPS panel. The U2412M uses an LED backlight with an 6-bit e-IPS panel.

 

[alfa147x]

For a while I thought I NEEDED wide-gammut support for adobeRGB until I started reading articles like this:

http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/adobe-rgb.htm

To me, sRGB coverage is more important.

I would say the HP has a slight advantage on sRGB support, something like 97% vs. 95.8% coverage for the DELL. The DELL offers a lower price point, better power efficiency, lower input lag, and better black depth and contrast ratio.

The ZR24w uses a CCFL backlight with an 8-bit s-IPS panel. The U2412M uses an LED backlight with an 6-bit e-IPS panel.

I might go with the Dell. I just hate giving my money to them due to past experiences. I ALMOST ordered 2 of them last night but then they told me it wont ship out for another week and a half. That's what they said about my Dell Streak which ended up taking over a month :\

 

[GTaudiophile]

I might go with the Dell. I just hate giving my money to them due to past experiences. I ALMOST ordered 2 of them last night but then they told me it wont ship out for another week and a half. That's what they said about my Dell Streak which ended up taking over a month :\

I received my 2412M within 4 days of ordering. I think I ordered Monday night and it arrived yesterday. I am very pleased with it.

The sale price did create a deluge of orders!

The HP (according to TFTcentral) needs to be calibrated to achieve optimal performance, so I would have most likely needed to budget another $100 for a decent one. But I suppose a TRUE, DIE-HARD photog would need this anyway. But for what? What additional margin of improvement? The DELL just seemed like the easier route for only $330. Besides, DELL offers great return and warranty policies (in my experience).

 

[GTaudiophile]

Oh, I am a Canon 5DII shooter, so I take things seriously...but I have long given up on pixel-peeping and spending 50% more on 3-4% of improvement.

I would rather continue to invest in L glass.

 

[alfa147x]

Oh, I am a Canon 5DII shooter, so I take things seriously...but I have long given up on pixel-peeping and spending 50% more on 3-4% of improvement.

I would rather continue to invest in L glass.

Good point. I'll order be ordering the Dell. Now I can't decide if I want one or two :biggrin:

I'm looking at buying the 24 - 70 L soon :sneaky: possibly....

 

[bryanW1995]

Oh, I am a Canon 5DII shooter, so I take things seriously...but I have long given up on pixel-peeping and spending 50% more on 3-4% of improvement.

I would rather continue to invest in L glass.

My wife also has a 5d mark 2. She has a 70/200 L series and another L series for closer shots (24-70 maybe?), plus a prime 50 cheapie (only 1.8). Right now she's using a 4 year old laptop to edit/print/etc. How much of a difference would either the 2412m or zr24w be over, say, my old 2209wa? She does tons of scrapbooking and probably spends about 2 hrs/day doctoring/editing photos right now.

 

[GTaudiophile]

My wife also has a 5d mark 2. She has a 70/200 L series and another L series for closer shots (24-70 maybe?), plus a prime 50 cheapie (only 1.8). Right now she's using a 4 year old laptop to edit/print/etc. How much of a difference would either the 2412m or zr24w be over, say, my old 2209wa? She does tons of scrapbooking and probably spends about 2 hrs/day doctoring/editing photos right now.

Well, let me put it this way. I can already tell that this DELL U2412M is leaps and bounds better than my DELL FP2001 in terms of color rendition and accuracy. At least seemingly so. If a monitor portrays an image in a certain way, perhaps an inaccurate one, I may spend unnecessary time editing a photo to where I think it should be, bumping saturation, etc. only to have the printed work be over-edited in a way. You don't want to fight your monitor to attain accuracy.

 

[LokutusofBorg]

I thought that the ZR24w is standard gamut, and the Dells are wide... (?)

You're right. My bad. The 2475 is HP's wide gamut monitor.

 

[bryanW1995]

Well, let me put it this way. I can already tell that this DELL U2412M is leaps and bounds better than my DELL FP2001 in terms of color rendition and accuracy. At least seemingly so. If a monitor portrays an image in a certain way, perhaps an inaccurate one, I may spend unnecessary time editing a photo to where I think it should be, bumping saturation, etc. only to have the printed work be over-edited in a way. You don't want to fight your monitor to attain accuracy.

Yeah, she complains about that all the time. I'm thinking about giving her my 2209wa and buying either a 2412M or zr24w for gaming.