Good monitor for photo editing and viewing ?

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 Dave 06 Aug 2015
To go with the new camera and taking first steps with RAW files I'd like a new desktop monitor - any recommendations ? I'm not a pro and don't want to spend loads of money but want something better than just a regular small PC monitor which is what I use now. Dell Ultrasharp 27" seemed to come up when I was trying to Göggel this, anything else I should look at ?
 Durbs 06 Aug 2015
In reply to Dave:

As soon as I saw the heading I was going to recommend the Dell Ultrasharp models.
Excellent colour reproduction without going into the pro-end ££££ of monitors.

If you can afford it, look at the UHD / 4K models - a new camera will likely have around 12+ Megapixels, whereas 1920x1080 is 5MP (I think?).

If you've already got a flat monitor, I'd also keep that and look at having a dual-screen setup. Really good for photowork - can have a grid/library in one (non-accurate) screen, then do you processing on the main one.
 stp 06 Aug 2015
In reply to Dave:

Don't know about the newer models but one I bought some years ago now has been excellent. The make, Hazro, might not even be going any more but it used the same panel as the top Apple monitor at the time for less than half the price: £400 vs £1000.

The key things to make sure you get are:
  1. IPS not TFT. Colours are much richer with IPS monitors
  2. Large screen with high res - Mine is 2560 x 1440 and 27 inch. It was really easy to see flaws in photos that I just couldn't see on my older model - even when zoomed in. I think higher res are now available.
  3. Bit depth: maybe not so important but worth considering


I've been very happy with my monitor over the years, definitely a worthwhile the investment.

BTW don't forget to make sure your graphics card can handle the possibly higher resolution of the monitor.
 Philip 06 Aug 2015
In reply to Dave:

Dell ultrasharp are good.

Also think about calibrating your monitor for correct colour reproduction. There is a linux device you can buy and run on a liveusb to make the colour profile. It costs about £60 and you can use it on any number of computer (so you can calibrate friends' monitors). It might even have a windows driver by now.
OP Dave 07 Aug 2015
In reply to Dave:
Thanks all, will look out for a Dell...


 Fraser 08 Aug 2015
In reply to Dave:

I was in a similar situation a couple of years ago and after much research I decided I really couldn't justify the mega bucks for an ultrasharp Dell, I went instead for a steady, budget performer in the shape of a ViewSonic 23/4". The actual model reference is: VX2370Smh-LED.

I regularly edit and view a lot of photos and have found this monitor to perform very well indeed. I imagine this particular model has now been superseded but considering it was only about £140-ish, I'm glad I didn't spend more. The slight downside is that you can't adjust its height, but apart from that I have no complaints.


 ashaughnessy 11 Aug 2015
In reply to Dave:

I went for a Dell Ultrasharp U2412M. I'm very pleased with it. I'll second the recommendation for IPS vs. TFT. I think the built-in screen on my laptop is TFT and it's pretty awful - the picture brightness and contrast changes at every viewing angle so you really don't know what you're going to get when you edit your pictures.

I'd also highly recommend buying a profiling/calibration gadget. I think this is also really important. I do a lot of printing so getting reliable matching from screen to print is really important. If you don't print then it's perhaps less important when you realise the wide variety of monitors that other people might view your pictures on if you upload them to public web sites. I spent about £220 on the monitor and about another £100 on the profiling gadget but it was money well spent.
Anthony
 Pete Dangerous 11 Aug 2015
In reply to Dave:

I just bought the dell 27"4k for photo editing. Just waiting for the PC now

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