IPS "upgrade" for photo work?

[jhansman]

I've been running my 22" Samsung TN display for a few years now, and it may not have that much life left in it. Colors are beginning look a bit wonky (no, have not calibrated it). Would those of you who have moved over to an IPS display who do post-production in Lightroom & Photoshop post your impressions here? Much difference? If so, how much, and are you happy with what you bought? Thanks.

 

[amenx]

Massive difference. Not a lightroom or photoshop user, but I do work with photos a bit and use them as a reference for my display calibrations w/colorimeter.

Your display is old and may have drifted off calibration over time, not to mention aging and weaker backlight output. Even a modern day decent TN should look much better let alone a good IPS. If you have a chance just walk into an PC store and look at one (despite non-optimal viewing conditions) and see the difference.

 

[geoxile]

If you do photo work I suggest buying a colorimeter.

 

[amenx]

No matter how well calibrated he can get his old TN, its still not up to standard for photo work. It most likely only has 6-bit color depth and will show banding. For any half serious photo work nothing less than an 8-bit display will do.

 

[jhansman]

I was looking at some IPS displays in BB the other day and just blown away at how brilliant they look compared to mine. Yeah, it's time to upgrade. Now, what's the budget and where to look? Dell seems to make some pretty good displays these days. I'd like to avoid a glossy screen, as I find them distracting. If I invest in a colorimeter, it'll be for a new display. Any thoughts?

 

[amenx]

Size and budget? A decent rundown of good 27" IPS/PLS/VA 1440p displays:

http://wecravegamestoo.com/forums/m...best-27-2560x1440p-monitors-ahva-ips-pls.html

 

[jhansman]

Probably not above 24", under $400, and gaming is not a factor. Don't care about ghosting, refresh rate, etc. This is for still images that reflect the colors captured. I may have to "help" my Samsung expire to get the missus to sign on; otherwise it's arm wrestling over cost. She never uses this machine (has her own laptop, tablet, phone) and can see no need for desktop setup, even though I'm working on photos every night. Sigh..marriage.

 

[Headfoot]

IPS is the de facto monitor for color sensitive photo work (until OLED comes to fruition). I dont know why you have to destroy your monitor to justify buying one... Anybody who is anywhere near remotely close to doing professional work on photos uses IPS and usually color calibrated IPS. Some of those older samsung TNs (some of the SyncMaster series 22" 1680x1050) actually had surprisingly good colors for the time and TN tech. But if its dying out thats just more reason to move over.

 

[jhansman]

Right. Thanks to all.

 

[amenx]

http://www.amazon.com/Dell-U2415-24-Inch-1920-Monitor/dp/B00NZTKOQI

review: http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/reviews/dell_u2415.htm

 

[Headfoot]

Can confirm. I use 3 dell s2415hs which are similar to that monitor and they all have very good color and viewing angles. It's got IPS glow but not any more than other typical IPS monitors

 

[Shlong]

Purchased this 25" Acer (2560x1440) and it's an IPS panel with good colors for an affordable price:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...4009728&cm_re=acer_ips-_-24-009-728-_-Product

Mines reaches 90hz refresh rate but I leave it at 85hz.

 

[CuriousMike]

I use an Asus PB278Q - it's 27", but it isn't *that* big.

Whatever you end up with, I heartily recommend IPS and > 1080p.
More pixels gives your application more room to breathe and your photos will look sharper.

 

[Micrornd]

I use 5 "ancient" NEC LCD2490WUXi's, simply because I have yet to see any thing that is an improvement (beyond their also "ancient" big brothers, LCD2690WUXi and LCD3090WQXi).

 

[pooptastic]

No matter how well calibrated he can get his old TN, its still not up to standard for photo work. It most likely only has 6-bit color depth and will show banding. For any half serious photo work nothing less than an 8-bit display will do.

Have you already been brainwashed by this new HDR Monitor stuff coming out soon?

I'm pretty sure there's plenty of people using TN monitors for photography and creating beautiful results.

 

[C1]

IPS has much ado about viewing angle. What's amazing to me is that no one seems to care about "color space" (eg, sRGB & Adobe).

Video displays are very complex and involves lots of variables. Besides color space, there are uniformity, black level, max brightness, color accuracy, etc..

If you do lots of photo & video work, there's noth'n like a fantastic display, plus it's most transferable to any CPU upgrade.

 

[Chesebert]

I just got the NEC 272w with spectraview. 10bit awesomeness.

I work with LR and PS. It's a joy, and I will keep this monitor for a long long time.

 

[postmortemIA]

Have you already been brainwashed by this new HDR Monitor stuff coming out soon?

I'm pretty sure there's plenty of people using TN monitors for photography and creating beautiful results.

HDR has nothing to do with regular IPS... Plain and simple TN monitors show 262k colors before dithering while all other panel types produce 16.7mil.

If your photo editors like to work with that reduced color set, then yes they can produce fine art when looked on TN display.

 

[mnewsham]

Have you already been brainwashed by this new HDR Monitor stuff coming out soon?

I'm pretty sure there's plenty of people using TN monitors for photography and creating beautiful results.

HDR wont work on IPS anyway, not sure why you're even bringing it up, the static contrast ratio on IPS is at max around 1000:1. HDR needs at LEAST 2500 or 3000:1 static contrast ratio, and more is better.

You wont find any IPS HDR capable monitors for many years, if ever. The first ones will be VA (or similar tech) panels, and probably some high end OLED panels.

And no professional is doing color accurate work on a TN panel, the accuracy just isn't there, even if it's calibrated.

 

[sammykhalifa]

IPS has much ado about viewing angle. What's amazing to me is that no one seems to care about "color space" (eg, sRGB & Adobe).

Video displays are very complex and involves lots of variables. Besides color space, there are uniformity, black level, max brightness, color accuracy, etc..

If you do lots of photo & video work, there's noth'n like a fantastic display, plus it's most transferable to any CPU upgrade.

Shopping for a new monitor now for mainly LightRoom. I think I want a 27inch 1440, but I'm shopping sales. Not to threadjack but any suggestions would be welcome (I'm leaning Dell or BenQ).

I understand color space (at least in the abstract) but I'm not sure how much it would help if others are viewing on their non-AdobeRGB monitors.

 

[repoman0]

If your photo editors like to work with that reduced color set, then yes they can produce fine art when looked on TN display.

A good photographer can indeed create fine art using a display with only 262k colors, whether it is displayed on TN or IPS or printed, just like a bad one can create crap on a 10 bit calibrated OLED

Nice monitors are nice to use though and can help you get closer to the results you want. Let's not pretend it's the difference between fine art and not, though.

 

[Headfoot]

how large of a color space you have depends almost entirely on what output medium you are creating content for. If you do print you need something that will be color accurate to the format you're printing for (which may require a wider color space). Digital signage will only need what level of color space the digital signs can reproduce. Many graphic artists have to support many different output formats and thats why they will usually choose the larger color space, so they dont limit themselves in the future

 

[sammykhalifa]

how large of a color space you have depends almost entirely on what output medium you are creating content for. If you do print you need something that will be color accurate to the format you're printing for (which may require a wider color space). Digital signage will only need what level of color space the digital signs can reproduce. Many graphic artists have to support many different output formats and thats why they will usually choose the larger color space, so they dont limit themselves in the future

Yeah true, I do some printing but not at any kind of professional level; and after much back and forth on the matter and what I might need in the future, I finally just pulled the trigger when I found a deal I couldn't resist.