NEC Monitor question

[exercion]

Curious if anyone is using the NEC P221W monitor? I was looking for a new LCD that would run in (or at least really near to) Adobe RGB.

Eric

 

[Garbz]

While I haven't used this monitor I have another Wide-Gamut LCD from NEC (SpectraVision 2690WUXi) and can say I am extremely happy with it.

Just a question though, why do you want a wide gamut monitor? Are you fully aware what you're getting yourself into and the problems you will face using this screen for pretty much any application except Photoshop?

 

[exercion]

I want it for photo work. As to other applications, please elaborate the probs. For me, except for pictures and video, I don't care much about how things look. I play some games, but that's about it otherwise, and I'm only interested in how a game functions, not so much for how it appears.

Eric

 

[Garbz]

Ok just so you know that from the beginning. With a wide gamut monitor you NEED colour managed applications. No versions of windows natively handle the colour conversion needed to display things correctly. That means that you can't just use windows picture and fax viewer or Infran view to view your images anymore, since things would look wrong. Here's a quick example Directory OPUS quick view on the right, ACDSee Pro 2 correctly on the left:

Also when working with AdobeRGB you need to remember to convert your images when you save for uploading to the net. If you forget you won't notice since you would need to be using a fully colour managed program to see things correctly on the monitor anyway. I have made the mistake a few times where I sent an image to someone and they just replied that it looks brown and very bland.

A lesser problem is the need to work in 16bit colour. The wider gamuts mean that 8bit files no longer have the required resolution to address all colours without posterisation. Furthermore since screens output in 8bit you will have branding. There's no other way around this. Some people think this is horrid but frankly I only notice it when viewing gradients like the Office 2007 background.

Some fully colour managed applications include:
- ACDSee Pro 2.
- Any Adobe program except flash and dreamweaver.
- Firefox 3.0 for internet via an about:config setting.
- Haven't found any movie player that has colour conversion so I turned the saturation down a bit, people are slightly pink but I live with it.
- Haven't noticed it in games. Games typically still have a surreal palate of colours so it hasn't bothered me.
- My desktop wallpaper has a colour profile based on my screen which I converted in photoshop so it looks right even though it's technically rendering wrong.

Additionally you will probably want to calibrate your screen but not all calibrators handle wide gammuts, so you can forget a Spyder 2, but the eyeOne Display2 works really well.

I will also point out that it is rare for normal photography to exceed the sRGB gamut, but it happens occasionally.

Anyway all of this is in no way bad, I am just pointing out you're entering a different world a world where you need to take care with your workflow, and a world that may annoy you from time to time. But man do photos look good on an S-PVA wide gamut screen.

 

[exercion]

Thanks for the in depth reply Garbz. I currently use Spyder2 and have been shooting my digital pics in RAW in Adobe RGB (unsure if that truly makes a huge difference with raw files) and work in 16 bits and save that way for prints, converting to 8 bit jpeg's for emailing and uploads. I mainly shoot landscapes and the like, and since I need a new monitor I was looking for the best combination of reasonable cost and best for photo use so I know what I'll be getting when printing.

Eric

 

[musicaleCA]

Shooting with the camera set to Adobe RGB or sRGB won't change the RAW files. What it will do is effect the JPEGs if you tack those on or shoot only JPEG.

 

[Garbz]

Yeah Musicale is right.

May I make a suggestion though. It depends on what preference you place for certain features, but I would suggest getting a standard gamut S-IPS panel rather than a wide gamut S-PVA panel. Or if you had sufficient money a wide gamut S-IPS panel, either way I feel that accurate colour on the monitor regardless of viewing angle may bring more than additional gamut that you may not use, and don't need to get fantastic wide gamut prints anyway.

PVA panels are far better than the cheap and blazingly fast 6bit TN panels used by gamers and hated by photographers. However PVA panels still suffer a brightness and contrast shift with viewing angle, which basically means if you slouch in your chair one day and sit straight the next the screen calibration is effectively out. IPS panels are the ones used for colour critical work and there are a few cheapies available if you look around.

I believe Dell has a few screens in the UltraSharp series available through their small business website that are very cheap and look good.
For some higher end stuff, something like the NEC 2090UXi is an S-IPS with a 12bit lookup table that gets the absolute most out of hardware calibration (you're actually calibrating the screen not compensating the screen through the video card). I think they have a 2090WUXi too which is the wide gamut equivalent again with internal 12 bit LUT.

But it's up to you, keeping the options open. For screens with wide gamut and S-PVA panels the Dell 2204WP looks reasonably nice at a good price. I nearly bought this one before settling for the NEC since a monitor is something that I'll have for years anyway.

 

[2string1]

Hello, New member here.... I have the NEC 2490WUXi... I get this pop up when I try to calibrate. Any ideas? I am using the Spectraview software and the Xrite Eyeone Display 2. I spoke to nec and they say I have a problem with the Xrite. I have downloaded the i1Diagnostics test from Xrite and it says the calibrator is good. I also have reinstalled the Spectraview software. Now what? I hate to buy a new puck if I don"t need to. Oh I did calibrate about 6 months ago and everything work fine. I know... I should do it more oven.

Error: The color measured appears to be invalid. Please make sure the calibrator sensor is properly located on the screen and try again.

 

[Garbz]

Can you try the puck on another computer. Download the calibration software from X-rite's website.

While the end result is great, SpectraView II isn't exactly what I would call resilient to driver related problems. I have on occasion had it completely not talk to the screen, but have yet to see a problem with the calibrator itself. That said I doubt the way it handles the usb driver for the calibrator is any better than the way it talks to any other hardware.

 

[2string1]

Can you try the puck on another computer. Download the calibration software from X-rite's website.

While the end result is great, SpectraView II isn't exactly what I would call resilient to driver related problems. I have on occasion had it completely not talk to the screen, but have yet to see a problem with the calibrator itself. That said I doubt the way it handles the usb driver for the calibrator is any better than the way it talks to any other hardware.

Good idea, why didn't I think of that... forums are a great help. I tried it on another computer and it works perfectly. So I have been talking to NEC and there working on the problem. I'll let you know what happens.

 

[Garbz]

The other thing I can suggest trying is a complete reinstall of the driver. Remove the i1 and do the following:

1. Click start -> run
2. Type cmd and hit enter
3. In the command window type set devmgr_show_nonpresent_devices=1 and hit enter
4. type start %SystemRoot%\System32\devmgmt.msc and hit enter
5. click View -> show hidden devices.

At the bottom scroll down to "X-rite devices" and delete them all (they should be a faded grey colour on account of the device itself not being present). I'd uninstall SpectraView and reboot for good measure. This should now put you back and square one and if you plug your puck in it should ask you for the driver disk.

Reinstall spectraview and see what happens.