Best Professional Monitors for Photographers

jaggedlens · Sep 17, 2012

Hi guys. Recently I purchased the Dell U2711 ultra sharp monitor because it was touted as one of the best 1440p monitors for photographers. On paper this display was perfect. $400-500 bux cheaper than the other pro level monitors, Wide gamut, anti-glare etc. Unfortunately the anti-glare on this display is very aggressive and I can't seem to get passed it. It looks like fairy dust has coated your screen making whites and grey's unbearable to look at as well as making text lol fuzzy.
Anyway I have found another monitor I would be interested in purchasing in the NEC PA271W-BK. it's about 400 more than the 700 I paid for the ultra sharp but it seems to the go to pro choice for photographers.
So my question is has anybody used this monitor? Is the antiglare on this display As bad as the antiglare on the dell display? Also please feel free to suggest pro level monitors that you guys love.

Thanks,
Jagged Lens

cgipson1 · Sep 17, 2012

I use a Dell 3011 and love it.... don't see the Anti-Glare issues you talk about....

2WheelPhoto · Sep 17, 2012

MAC!

mjhoward · Sep 17, 2012

NEC makes good, high quality monitors. Others to consider are EIZO and a particular one made by HP called the Dreamcolor, which is a 30bit panel.

KmH · Sep 17, 2012

The best pro display for photographers - HP / Hewlett Packard DreamColor LP2480zx 24" GV546A8 B&H

macpro88 · Sep 17, 2012

KmH said:
The best pro display for photographers - HP / Hewlett Packard DreamColor LP2480zx 24" GV546A8 B&H

Better be for $2,500... wow.

ChuckV · Sep 17, 2012

I'm very satisfied with the 27" Yamakasi Catleap 1440p monitor I have. Same LG IPS panel used in the Dell 27" IPS monitor, but for $400. Color and contrast need to be controlled from the computer, but it displays the adobe RGB space perfectly for me after calibration. I'm almost positive the NEC monitor you mentioned also uses the same panel. I believe pretty much all the 27" 1440p IPS displays use the same one or two LG panels, just with different bells, whistles, and logos.

I'm not sure if there are Korean versions of any of the super high end IPS displays like the HP monitor posted. I'm not sure if LG makes that panel, or if someone else does.

I personally don't really care for anti-glare coatings, I've never seen one that doesn't look a bit "off".

table1349 · Sep 17, 2012

Eizo is an industry standard: ColorEdge CG276 | EIZO

KmH · Sep 17, 2012

$2500 is actually pretty inexpensive for a pro grade display.

Garbz · Sep 18, 2012

I have an NEC display myself. A MultiSync 2690WUXi.

Honestly I was a bit surprised to hear that the Dell could be touted as good for photographers. Cheap for photographers maybe, but that's about it. It's a very entry level IPS display. Photographers need much more than a simple display.

The NEC PA271W-BK would be a major step up. Don't forget to get a colour calibration device if you don't already have. Higher end displays like the NEC you listed and the one I own have internal colour lookup tables meaning that calibration doesn't clobber your ability to display 8bit colours.

manaheim · Sep 18, 2012

I have a DELL 2410 or some such. Reasonably priced IPS display. Not amazing, but waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay better than any of the TFT displays out there and pretty damned close to Adobe color space. Costs about $500.

What I generally find is you get what you pay for... with a bit of color correction in the $500 price range you can get a very servicable monitor that's going to get you so close to acceptable that you don't need to worry about it. If you have the budget and can spend more, $1000+ is going to be where you need/want to be, but it's the law of diminishing returns... a $500 monitor is probably going wayt better than 2x as good as a $250 one, but a $1000 monitor probably isn't going to be anywhere near 2x as good as the $500 one.

All this said... Garbz is the guy to listen to here on specifics. I'm speaking from "experience" (aka conjecture), but Garbz knows this stuff inside and out.

macpro88 · Sep 18, 2012

Great, now you guys have me looking at monitors... awesome...

So, when looking at monitors, would the best case scenario be a monitor that uses IPS for the panel tech?

macpro88 · Sep 18, 2012

Would this be a good start as an entry level monitor for someone like me who isn't on the pro level yet?
NEC EA232WMI-BK 23" Eco-Friendly Widescreen EA232WMI-BK B&H

jaggedlens · Sep 18, 2012

WOW thanks for the great feedback guys! So here is where i'm at in this whole monitor display.

I'm still using the dell u2711b but in the mean time i ordered the Samsung S27A850D LED monitor. Although it doesnt have the wide color gamut it has gotten some great reviews (mainly from people who went from the Dell Ultrasharp to the Samsung). It arrives on Friday so I will let you guys know what I think.

I really wanted the NEC with spectraview but honestly guys I paid $700+tax CAD for the DELL and I was not ready to spend more than twice that on a monitor that I probably would not use to its full potential. Also I have been told that the NEC and the Dell use the same panel and they both use anti-glare and since no other company that sold the NEC had a good return policy I did not want to take the chance (no store in Toronto has a display model of the NEC for me to see).

Now i know the Samsung has been known to have some backlight bleed or "IPS" glow (PLS is pretty much IPS and the Dell has the same issue) it is still something I can live with because it's semi-gloss display should be waaaaaaaaaaaaaay better than dells anti-glare that makes these letters grainy and the whites unbearable.

KmH · Sep 18, 2012

The reason an IPS display (In-Plane Switching) is desired is because that display technology has broad accurate viewing angles. There are other considerations as far as the color gamut a display can show and the ability to adjust the display's gamma.

Inexpensive displays use TN displays (Twisted-Nematic), but TN displays have narrow accurate viewing angles making it just about impossible to see a photo accurately without moving your head around.

PVA displays (Patterned Vertical Alignment) can also be a decent choice for image editing.

Having a dual display set-up lets you dedicate one of the displays to displaying the image you want to edit so no other screen space is used up by the application you're using to edit.