Photo-editing monitor recommendations

GusSmed

Senior member
Feb 11, 2003
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I've been running a pair of Dell U1905fp's since March of 2005. I've been pretty happy with them for both general work and for gaming, and I really appreciate the advantages of paired monitors with small bezels. When need be I have two work spaces (which a single large monitor won't give me), and the relatively thin bezel means it can feel like one large work space when I need that.

I sometimes use them for photo editing, both conventional and for astrophotography. A couple of times people have commented on things I didn't see on my monitors, particularly my astronomy images since they involve a lot of complicated post-processing and there's sometimes leftover noise or background gradient. I started noticing that there were things, specifically relatively dark noisy backgrounds, which were readily visible to other people, but only visible to me if I deliberately look at the monitors from a steep angle, say 60 degrees or so. It's now my standard operating procedure to use this off-angle view to see if I can spot anything now.

It bugs me. For that matter, sometimes there are things that are not noise that are only visible at this angle, like the faint red background nebulosity near the Running Man nebula in a recent photo.
m42800x533.jpg


I was under the impression that the 1905fp was an IPS panel, but I gather it's PVA. One thing that started me down the road of thinking about new monitors was the relatively cheap 24" monitors from Dell and HP, but since they're e-IPS, I gather they're really not suitable for the sort of serious post-processing I do because the color accuracy and gamut do not compare with a real 8 bit IPS panel.

I should probably buy a color calibration kit like the Spyder 3, but I suspect it won't address the problems I've mentioned above.

What monitors (again, I'd want matched dual monitors) would you recommend? Would I actually see any improvement, or is this a frivolous waste of money? I spent $900 on my current pair ($450 each), so I guess that's my ballpark, though I'd much rather spend less.
 

LR6

Member
Sep 27, 2004
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First of all, that is an incredibly awesome photo.

Second, since you are into a very niche form of Photography it is hard to say for sure. My best guess would be Dell u2410 along with the spyder calibrator. Keep in mind that the Spyder3Express is only meant for a single monitor and you need to step up to the next model to have dual monitor support.

Dell recently had a sell on the U2410 for $450, so you might can call them and get that price. I was able to call and get them to match the black friday price of $299 on my new U2412m several days after it went back up to $399.
 

BrightCandle

Diamond Member
Mar 15, 2007
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Second on a Dell U2410 and a spyder calibrator. Your their target audience for this sort of product.
 

cantholdanymore

Senior member
Mar 20, 2011
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I have the Asus PA246Q and it is a great monitor and it comes pre-calibrated from factory. I've never seen the Dell U2410 but looking at the specs they look similar, the only issue I have with the Dell is that it doesn't specifically mention that billions of colors are supported only with 10bit. When I researched for this monitor it was the most affordable monitor with 10bit color support. From here you need to go with NEC PA series or maybe an eizo.
BTW your picture is great, I have the nasa astronomic picture of the day as my desktop background so I get a surprise every morning when I turn on my pc.
 
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DarkRogue

Golden Member
Dec 25, 2007
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I use a NEC 2490WUXi (not version 2) for photo editing and I love it. Pair it with the Spectraview kit (which is basically a tweaked X-Rite EyeOne Display2) and the monitor calibrates itself in a few minutes. I opted for the 2490 over the 2690 because I wanted to stick to sRGB, as most of my work is for the web.

This one has been discontinued, and I heard mixed reviews about the version 2 that replaced it, so if I were in the market for a new LCD or to upgrade this one, I'd look at the PA241W. It's wide-gamut, but I believe it does have a properly functioning sRGB gamut emulation that can be calibrated. (I think. I haven't researched this in a while, so I don't remember.) It seems NEC does have a P241W (minus the 'A') which is a standard gamut/sRGB panel.

It's expensive, but considering how many years it will last you, and if you like doing a lot of photo editing, it's worth it simply for the peace of mind knowing you're able to see all the details.
 

GusSmed

Senior member
Feb 11, 2003
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I appreciate the responses. I'm primarily inclined to the Asus PA246Q right now, since it's a P-IPS panel, and isn't $900 per monitor. The "factory calibrated" probably doesn't mean that much, though. I looked as Asus's page, and they're defining "factory calibrated" as dE < 5. That's certainly better than average, but not the dE < 2 that Anandtech generally gets after calibrating a monitor.
 

DarkRogue

Golden Member
Dec 25, 2007
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Well, just remember that all monitors will drift as time goes on, so regardless of whether it came factory calibrated or not, no matter how accurate, it will need to be recalibrated again later on, and you'll need to factor in the cost of a calibration device.

I usually calibrate about once a month, or before starting a large round of photo editing.

In that respect, the NEC's are a very good deal as it comes with a modified version of the i1d2 tuned to NEC's monitors, as well as software that automates the whole process. Otherwise, the i1d2 is usually around $150-200 standalone. There is the Spyder too, but at the time, the i1d2 was better. Not sure if that's changed now, as I've been happy with the results and I left it at that.

However, I understand not everyone has $900+ to spend on a monitor. I didn't want to pay that much either. My only recommendation then is to look at an i1d2 or comparable calibration device for whichever monitor you decide to go with.

In reference to the astronomy image in the OP (awesome image, btw) a wide gamut monitor may allow you to see more details in terms of color, but wide gamut comes with its own set of headaches, and the web is "usually" sRGB.
 

Throckmorton

Lifer
Aug 23, 2007
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Do what I do. Use a 32" 1080P TV. IPS with good color and a nice clear antireflective coating. Monitors are overpriced for what you get. They force you to choose between IPS and a glossy coating (TV style clean matte ones are never available).
 
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Throckmorton

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Aug 23, 2007
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blastingcap

Diamond Member
Sep 16, 2010
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try a i1display 2 rather than spyder. dunno bout spyders but the i1d2 can do multiple monitors (hardware calibrated) and is cheaper. 75 bucks new on ebay or less (like $35 less) if you buy just the hardware used and d/l the software free online.

also, the high end 6-bit e-IPS panels w/ afrc are very hard to tell apart from 8-bit panels at standard viewing distances, for static photos. They are slightly worse for motion/video. Despite this, I'd go for 8-bit anyway due to so much black in astro photos.. you need as many bits as you can get for that.
 
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GusSmed

Senior member
Feb 11, 2003
403
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I purchased 2 refurbished Asus PA246Q's from Amazon. One failed to display an image, and I had to return it, so I'm running with one PA246Q and one Dell 1905fp right now.

I'm pretty happy with the new monitor. I bought a calibration suite (Spyder3 Studio) at the same time, and the changes to the new monitor pre / post calibration were small, though visible in test images. Mostly I'm noticing that it's much brighter, even with the brightness turned down to 16 per calibration instructions, and of course that there's a lot more desktop real estate. Both of course being traits I probably could have gotten in a cheaper 24" monitor.

Biggest change wasn't really in the monitor, it was the improvement in my printer, post calibration with the Spyder3 Print spectrometer. I'm finally seeing prints that are very close to what I see on my monitor, the darker details in particular. I used to tweak the contrast in that tonal range because I wasn't seeing faint detail I could see on-screen, and now I don't have to, and that's a big improvement.