Screen problems or is it calibration ?

[chris82]

I have my P.C. connected to my 40" plasma screen so I figured that calibration wouldn't be an issue but I was wrong. I've been editing photos on it for the past few days and have 5 or 6 photos that I assumed where completed so I put them onto a memory stick to show off to my friends, but when I checked them in full screen on the same screen I had edited them on they look completely different to what they looked like in Photoshop. They look strangely colder, darker an over sharpened. To make matters worse I looked at all my favorite photos that I had taken in years gone past and they all look seriously over cooked. So obviously I need a good monitor but what should I look for in a monitor and how do I calibrate it? Also how much cash will a decent screen set me back? Thanks in advance

 

[KmH]

If your 40" plasma was designed for watching televison, it is a poor choice for image editing.

For calibtrating a computer display a colorimeter is used. Many of the top print labs recommend X-Rite's colorimeters - Xrite EODIS3 i1Display Pro or you might get the colorimeter the Pro replaced, the X-Rite i1Display 2 Color Calibrator for LCD, CRT, and Laptop Displays

A good display type for image editing is an In-Plane Switching (IPS) TFT-LCD (thin-film transistor, liquid crystal display).

Dell has some decent, relatively inexpensive IPS displays in their UltraSharp line - Dell UltraSharp U2412M 24" LED LCD Monitor - 16:10 - 8 ms

A better choice would be the HP ZR30w 30-inch S-IPS LCD Monitor

or the

Sbuy LP2480ZX 24IN LCD Monitor

Lacie and EIZO displays also have good reputations.

 

[chris82]

Thanks KmH. I have heard of EIZO but I've never seen them in the shops in Ireland. I will have a look at some of the screens you mentioned.

 

[WesternGuy]

Have a look at the ASUS PA246Q. It is an IPS monitor that won't set you back a lot of $$$. I have two of them (dual monitor setup) and I do all my Lightroom and Photoshop processing with them. Look here: ASUS PA246Q ProArt 24” IPS Monitor Review . I have a Spyder4 and both monitors calibrate to the same viewing appearance and this works quite well for me. Here is a link to all the different Spyder "products" - Datacolor Spyder - Global Leader In Color Management Solutions - Datacolor Imaging Solutions HTH.
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WesternGuy

 

[Garbz]

A TV is by far the worst choice for an editing platform. Even IPS TVs are far from neutral. There's all sorts of wonderful bull**** from processors that only render bits 16-239 rather than 0-255, the stupidly high saturation and sharpening that attempt to make movies pop, dynamic backlight control, and pretty much every other feature listed on the box.

If you're looking at high end monitors I suggest giving NEC a look too. For budget along with the ASUS noted above Dell are known to make a few quality IPS displays.

 

[chris82]

Sorry to bump this thread up! I have been looking at an ASUS monitor should I go for a full HD one or will that give me problems?

 

[KmH]

HD is about TV, not computer displays.

 

[Garbz]

The HD bit is marketing bull**** today used to make a monitor desirable to consumers. I expect a "Full HD" computer monitor to be high-res and have a HDMI port in the back allowing you to plug a DVD player or some such thing into it. It's not a relevant spec for a computer monitor. Instead look at the resolution and display panel type. What's the model number you're considering?