Editing Monitor?

AlexColeman · Jul 5, 2009

I am looking for a good editing monitor to supplement my MBP unibody's screen. It doesn't have to be hugh, but reasonably priced. Thanks.

JerryPH · Jul 6, 2009

Cheap or good... choose one or the other.

Garbz · Jul 6, 2009

Look for an IPS screen and a calibrator. I believe there was a Dell Ultrasharp 2007FP that fitted this goal nicely. Definitely was the cheapest IPS screen I've ever seen and was still 20".

IPS screens don't vary colour with viewing angles so it's pretty much a must for any dedicated editing screen.

Beyond that the sky's the limit. NEC MultiSync LCD2490UXi come with internal lookup table which makes it nice for calibration. The LCD2690WUXi has a wide gamut if you wish to deal with the colour management hell.

Mark Saint · Jul 6, 2009

ideal mid - any TOP 24 Dell. will cost you around 500$ + calibration.
if you're serious about it, check BenQ and Nec web-sites - they got some really Pro monitors. the price is Pro as well.

AlexColeman · Jul 6, 2009

I am looking for a reasonable compromise, but I couldn't find the dell, anyone have a link?

icassell · Jul 6, 2009

Check this one out -- I've been VERY happy with it. It's an IPS and alot less expensive than most. I calibrate it with a Spyder 3.

http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/...-dell-2209wa-monitor-ips-less-than-300-a.html

Garbz · Jul 8, 2009

icassell what the hell! I read about this post yesterday and today when I get my computer at work (only been there a week) I end up with this screen on my desk.

It's quite awesome. Out of the box the only thing I can complain about is pixel walk but that would be the VGA cable to blame (our IT support guys are idiots). Calibration out of the box looks reasonably good, but don't buy into the marketing about the Wide Gamut. The figures are skewed by giving the numbers to a different standard than every other company.

I was most impressed. No branding, nothing, and even without any calibration

FrankLamont · Jul 8, 2009

Yeah, the little superset/footnote above the "102%" says

2009W Color Gamut (Typical) is based on CIE1976 (102%) and CIE1931 (92%) test standards.

I assume 92% would be it. That's not too bad, but heck, look at the Dell Studio XPS 16's RGB LED screen... now that's a really nice screen... :drool:

itznfb · Jul 8, 2009

yea, the 2209WA is the best monitor deal on the planet. i can't believe they still sell them at these prices. i ordered 2 when they were on sale for $199. 1 coworker ordered another 2, and another coworker ordered 4, all based on my assumption that it would perform as well as my 2007WFP =\
luckily, they are a little better

Garbz · Jul 9, 2009

FriedChicken said:
Yeah, the little superset/footnote above the "102%" says

2009W Color Gamut (Typical) is based on CIE1976 (102%) and CIE1931 (92%) test standards.

Click to expand...

I assume 92% would be it. That's not too bad, but heck, look at the Dell Studio XPS 16's RGB LED screen... now that's a really nice screen...

Hmmm I can't find a reliable information how the percentage figures relate to each other. My guess is this is marketing fudge, probably like all companies (the words Dynamic Contrast Ratio mean anything to you?

)

I did find one post where a person calibrated his screen and claimed the result was bearly a smidgen outside the sRGB spectrum. Again not a downside at all. I'd much rather avoid colour management hell anyway.

FrankLamont · Jul 9, 2009

Is that the same as contrast ratio?

I would have thought 2000:1 was a good contrast ratio, but I don't know... what is a good contrast ratio?

icassell · Jul 9, 2009

2209W and 2209WA are NOT the same monitor. If I remember correctly, the 2209W is a TN screen but the WA is the IPS. I have the WA and love it.

Dell : Dell UltraSharp 2209WA 22-inch Black Widescreen Flat Panel Monitor : Displays : ABOUT DELL

Garbz · Jul 10, 2009

Ahh thanks icassell it was the 2009WA I was talking about. Never heard of the 2009W, but what is strange is that a TN panel would be at all able to get this wide gamut. Maybe I don't know but I thought it had a technological limitation.

FriedChicken, Contrast ratio is a load of crap when advertisers mention it. My screen has a 3000:1 "dynamic" contrast ratio. Actual measured was 370:1 after calibration and closer to 500:1 before. My TV has a 10000:1 dynamic contrast ratio, actual is about 600:1.

Also even actual contrast ratio figures change depending if you measure white to black, grey to grey, if the entire panel is black or if they display a checker board as they should, or if they measure it in a white room or a black room etc. They aren't lying but like saying someone has a 20000W amplifier in his car, it's just plain old number fudging.

For the record the AdobeRGB colour profile working conditions spec around 288:1 contrast ratio, and a typical movie theater has little more than 350:1 contrast ratio.

I can't wait for OLED's with a perfectly wide gamut, and a 1000000:1 contrast ratio

FrankLamont · Jul 10, 2009

Although RGBLED screens are awesome. Gamut is... awesome.

That was my mistake... there's a 2209W and 2209WA (22"), but only a 2009W (20")...

Just that I referred to 20" by accident... and it turned out the best out of the 20" ones...

http://www1.ap.dell.com/au/en/home/monitors/20lcd/cp.aspx?refid=20lcd&s=dhs&cs=audhs1&~ck=mn

In terms of 22"

http://www1.ap.dell.com/au/en/home/monitors/22lcd/cp.aspx?refid=22lcd&s=dhs&cs=audhs1&~ck=mn

I can't really see which is best. Besides for that crystal monitor... $1599 - that's about half of Eizo territory... it's TN, too, not IPS.

I suppose that IPS comes over 'ultrasharp' and whatnot, though, hmm?

Garbz · Jul 10, 2009

IPS just being sharp? That has nothing to do with it.

Check the first half of this video. Note not only the change in brightness, but the shifts in colour almost to the point of inversion (blue becomes orange, green becomes purple etc)