What are the specs for good monitor?

Jeff Canes · Feb 25, 2008

I need to replaces my current LCD monitor. But have no ideal what makes a monitor good especially one for photo editing. I need Educating.

astrostu · Feb 25, 2008

I can't speak specifically for photo editing, but when I bought my monitor (2 months ago) I looked at the following things:

- Size and weight. My current monitor is 30", my old was 22", but my new one weighs as much as my old one.

- Pixel count. Usually scales with size pretty linearly, but if you see a cheap, large monitor, take a look at the native resolution. They could just have a larger pixel size.

- Inputs and ports. For some people, HDMI (I think) is an important input so that they can also use it for TV signals. My monitor has 2 USB 2.0 and 2 FW400 ports which I find very useful.

- Contrast ratio and brightness. Usually expressed as 1:#### or ####:1 for contrast, and brightness in cd/m^2 (candles per square meter). These numbers don't mean much to me, just bigger is better. So try to find the specs of your current monitor and use that as a comparison when shopping.

Speedy · Feb 26, 2008

If you are going to be using it just for photography, you are going to want to look at the following (some mentioned above):

Pixel Count: A higher pixel count is going to allow you to display larger images on your screen without them being reduced in size. Remember, a larger monitor does not always equal a substantially bigger pixel count. My max resolution on my regular monitor is 1280x1024 while my larger monitor only has a max resolution of 1360x768. Thing display much better on the smaller monitor.

Contrast ratio: Very very very important for photos. The contrast ratio is the rating between white and black. A monitor with a contrast ratio of 1500:1 is going to display much truer colors than a monitor with a 200:1 ratio. I wouldn't go with anything under a 700:1 contrast ratio.

Wide screen vs Normal screen: Wide screen tends to distort photos, which tends to make it less than ideal for photography. However, you can also (depending on your OS and your programs) bring more images up normally side by side on a wider screen.

Brightness is important, but I don't have a whole lot of background with that.

Atropine · Feb 27, 2008

Well this discussion has mostly been about size and that is not the most important part imho. The first thing you should check is what kind of panel the display is using. Avoid TN panels since the provide poor color accuracy and viewing angle. Buy as big as you can afford, but at least buy a display with a good panel. Wide screen or not is mostly a matter of taste. I use two 20" NEC displays, each with 1200x1600px native resolution.

For photography the panel should be a S-IPS or S-PVA. And there should also be a digital interface (DVI-D). HDMI is not a good idea. Yes, the HDMI interface is a digital signal of the same kind as the DVI-D but with sound wires added. But the presence of a HDMI interface implies that the display is optimized for multimedia use which not always is a good thing.

If you want to know what kind of panel a specific display is using trys this site:
http://www.flatpanels.dk/panels.php