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Best monitor for photo processing?

lenscape
Posted 12/02/2009 - 16:15 Link
I am in serious need of a new monitor to replace my existing display set-up. I'm looking for a 24" or 26" TFT with reliable colour reproduction.

My budget is around £600.

One important consideration is that I use Linux so any calibration needs to be independent of Mac or Windows software.

Can anyone recommend anything?

Cheers.
lenscape
K20D, K10D, K-m, MZ3, Metz 58-AF1, Optio MX4 & Linux.(No Windows)
(Gone: *istD, ME Super, Super-A)
RichardDay
Posted 12/02/2009 - 16:48 Link
I would strongly recommend the HP LP2475 24" S-IPS monitor. When properly calibrated, it produces some of the most accurate colours of any TFT. I'd rate it easily as good as any Apple Cinema monitor and way better than any Dell or Samsung, IMHO.

Review here: link

Price is very reasonable for such a high performance screen, Here's a good price from ebuyer link

It's the screen I'd go for if I didn't already have it's 20.1" 4x3 version, which is superb.
Best regards
Richard Day

Profile - link - (click on About for equipment profile) - My Flickr site - link
woodworm
Posted 12/02/2009 - 18:35 Link
I'd second the a HP S-IPS LCD. I don't have experience of that model mentioned but I have used several different models at work and was impressed enough with them to buy a LP2065 (20") for home and am very happy with it.

I'm not sure if it's the case with the LP2475, but the LP2065 which I have was available with both a S-IPS and a slightly inferior S-PVA screen. I'm not sure if this is a trick that HP do a lot but it's worth 'doing your homework' on. You will only get a blank look in PC World if you ask for one type over the other
matic
Posted 12/02/2009 - 21:09 Link
lenscape wrote:
I am in serious need of a new monitor to replace my existing display set-up. I'm looking for a 24" or 26" TFT with reliable colour reproduction.


hello,

i run windows, but i use a laptop with photoshop, and use a second larger monitor to dispay my pictures on, using the laptop screen for all the photoshop menu/tool boxes.

maybe you could do something similair with linux, and utilise both monitors.

many thanks
many thanks,

roger.

pentax cameras - spotmatic, spotmatic spII pinhole, MX, Sfx-n, k1000, p30
pentax lenses - 28mm,50mm,105mm,150mm,300mm
Edited by matic: 12/02/2009 - 21:18
Tyr
Posted 13/02/2009 - 22:05 Link
The Dell 2408/2409FPW displays have 110% Adobe RGB colour space when calibrated so are rather good for photos.
terje-l
Posted 13/02/2009 - 22:36 Link
My recommendation would be a Samsung LCD monitor. Particularly the T-series, which has an extremely wide viewing angle (176 degrees, important for photo editing).
Best regards
Terry

K20D, Optio I10, DA 18-55 1:3.5-5.6 AL II, A 1:1.7/50, D FA 1:2.8/100 Macro, Sigma 70-300 1:4-5.6 APO DG Macro, Pentax AF 360FGZ
Tyr
Posted 13/02/2009 - 22:42 Link
Wide viewing angles are not really important as you sit in front of the thing. Colour fidelity is more important. However, the higher quality Samsung panels with good colour fidelity just happen to have wide viewing angles as well.

The Dell 2408FWP has the same panel as the more expensive Samsung 24" high end monitor, but has a better back light and costs less.
Daniel Bridge
Posted 13/02/2009 - 22:43 Link
I've just got an HP LP2275w 22" widescreen (after my old 17" CRT died last week) and it's great - viewing angles, colour etc all as good as the CRT, just a lot bigger!

Got it BNIB for £190 too.

Dan
K-3, a macro lens and a DA*300mm...
terje-l
Posted 14/02/2009 - 07:59 Link
Tyr wrote:
Wide viewing angles are not really important as you sit in front of the thing.

Oh yes, based on personal experience it is important. It's amazing how quickly the image changes when you move away from the straight-on position on low-grade monitors.

Laptop screens are the worst. Just try to change the angle back and forth a few degrees and notice the difference.
Best regards
Terry

K20D, Optio I10, DA 18-55 1:3.5-5.6 AL II, A 1:1.7/50, D FA 1:2.8/100 Macro, Sigma 70-300 1:4-5.6 APO DG Macro, Pentax AF 360FGZ
Daniel Bridge
Posted 14/02/2009 - 17:06 Link
terje-l wrote:
Tyr wrote:
Wide viewing angles are not really important as you sit in front of the thing.

Oh yes, based on personal experience it is important. It's amazing how quickly the image changes when you move away from the straight-on position on low-grade monitors.

Laptop screens are the worst. Just try to change the angle back and forth a few degrees and notice the difference.

Absolutely agree, I borrowed a cheap 19" TFT screen to tide me over, and the colours varied from top to bottom, because of the different angles I was looking at it at, if you see what I mean. Horrible thing it was.

Dan
K-3, a macro lens and a DA*300mm...
LiamD
Posted 14/02/2009 - 17:18 Link
Hi,

for monitor calibration on a Linux distro, there's this..

http://www.pcbypaul.com/software/monica.html

looks pretty similar to Wysiwig, so should be easy enough to use.

HTH

Cheers

Liam
Liam


"Make your hands respond to what your mind demands." Jesse James

Best wide-angle lens? Two steps backward. Look for the 'ah-ha'. Ernst Haas
amoringello
Posted 14/02/2009 - 22:47 Link
Just picked up a Mac... (and loving every minute of it... so much faster than an similarly equipted Windows machine)

Have to say, the iMac 24" LCD monitor is pretty darned good.
I honestly do not know how they compare to expensive monitors. But compared to my previous LCD screens, the color is bright, and pretty darned accurate to what I see on paper.
To be honest, the LCD from my old Windows machine looks a lot more accurate as well now that it is connect to the iMac.

Although the colorimiter does show the iMac screen as having a significantly larger gamut than the others. (Dell Ultra Sharp and LG brand LCD screens).

Just gotta say the Mac monitors are a lot easier on the eyes for text and the photo processing just looks better than I would have expected.

I wonder if one would do as well connected to a Windows machine...
terje-l
Posted 15/02/2009 - 11:21 Link
I refuse to believe that a monitor looks any different when connected to a Mac instead of a PC.
Best regards
Terry

K20D, Optio I10, DA 18-55 1:3.5-5.6 AL II, A 1:1.7/50, D FA 1:2.8/100 Macro, Sigma 70-300 1:4-5.6 APO DG Macro, Pentax AF 360FGZ
golfdiesel
Posted 15/02/2009 - 12:42 Link
terje-l wrote:
I refuse to believe that a monitor looks any different when connected to a Mac instead of a PC.

well if you have your monitor profiled on a MAC and you use it un-profiled on a PC then you will certainly see a difference.
On the MAC you will probably get a factory profile for the monitor you use.

If I connect my monitor to my laptop it looks very different indeed and my PC and laptop are both Windows XP Pro machines. The difference is that on my PC I use a Eye1 to profile it.

As to get back to the issue on what display to buy. I would allways opt for a S-IPS panel over a TN panel every day. A *LOT* of TN panels out there use dithering to get to true colour so it is a hit&miss affair.
IPS panels offer much better colour accuracy allthough they use more power and get a lot warmer.

I have a NEC Multisync 20WGX2 Pro and that screen get's quite warm.
I have allso noticed another thing with this screen and that is that when profiling it is best to leave the screen in "native" mode so you use the native whitepoint. I tried the monitor with manual settings of R, G and B but it seems to be drifting around then. In native mode the screen is much more consistent over time.
Camera:K20D|Ist*DS|Spotmatic II|MZ-10
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amoringello
Posted 15/02/2009 - 15:09 Link
Quote:
I refuse to believe that a monitor looks any different when connected to a Mac instead of a PC.

Well, all I can guess at is that although Windows "can" handle profiling of two monitors, with the right added driver/control panel (must search for, and add manually from Microsoft website), it just simply cannot handle the job adequately nor consistently.

I suppose on a single monitor PC, it is possible that the same monitor would not show any significant difference. But if you use two monitors, color consistency might be a consideration worth noting.

Regardless, the eye One calibration/profiling shows the Mac display to have a larger gamut and more linear color representation than my other LCD monitors... which is what I was trying to get across. Sorry for pulling things off track.
Edited by amoringello: 15/02/2009 - 15:10

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