24" monitor for photo editing & gaming?

inverseSquare

inverseSquare

inverseSquare

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30 Aug 2007
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261
Hi all,


I currently have a 20" Dell 2007FP (1600x1200) iirc it's an S-IPS panel (old review here) (going to keep this as a 2nd display)


I'm looking for a 24" replacement, probably 16:10?, but it'll need to deliver not only good photo editing performance but I also play games regularly.




A quick look around suggests the Dell UltraSharp U2412M (£209) seemd like a popular choice, but I'm noticing e-IPS? I always discounted TN panels, but are e-IPS as good as my old S-IPS panel?


Don't mind paying a bit more for a better model but not looking to spend up to the £450-500 region.



Any thoughts / suggestions gratefully received :)


Cheers guys
 
The Dell U2412M is a very good monitor, the e-IPS panel is nothing to worry about, the main reason you might want to spend more on one of the higher end models is mainly to get extended colour gamut, if you don't need that though, it's hard to fault the 2412M.
 
Moeks said:
The Dell U2412M is a very good monitor, the e-IPS panel is nothing to worry about, the main reason you might want to spend more on one of the higher end models is mainly to get extended colour gamut, if you don't need that though, it's hard to fault the 2412M.
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I'm not proofing work for print but i'd like decent colour reproduction -or at least as good as my current old S-IPS panel.

Not sure how to decide if e-IPS is / isn't for me :)
 
Having replaced a 2005FPW with a U2412M it is as good as your existing monitor.

The colour reproduction is as good, and it's better for gaming as the input lag is a lot lower.
 
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inverseSquare said:
I'm not proofing work for print but i'd like decent colour reproduction -or at least as good as my current old S-IPS panel.

Not sure how to decide if e-IPS is / isn't for me :)
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Don't get hung up on the names, they are two generations of the same panel technology so will ultimately perform very similarly overall. Expect improved response times, lower power consumption (W-LED), higher contrast ratio and of course a bigger screen and res. they've made improvements in the tech since the 2007 models so don't worry about a name. The U2412M would be a very logical choice, unless you decide you might now need wide gamut but thats going to be a lot more money
 
kind of in the same boat i have a NEC 24WMGX3, which is great but i'd like better with a quicker response time, lower input lag, viewing angles and equivalent colours for Art and 3D. also like 2 of them so price would be a consideration. still would be happy to shell out for the right 2 monitors that tick all the boxes.

However the more i look though the more i feel these things are impossible to get in a Monitors anyone know any that might be worth considering?
 
Not that you folks are convincing me or anything ;)

But how do the Asus PA249Q and Dell 2413 compare? Are they both wide gamut?


Does wide gamut have any drawbacks? Needs better calibration? responce times? input lag?
I already know about the cost drawback ;)


Cheers guys
 
Baddass said:
Don't get hung up on the names, they are two generations of the same panel technology so will ultimately perform very similarly overall. Expect improved response times, lower power consumption (W-LED), higher contrast ratio and of course a bigger screen and res. they've made improvements in the tech since the 2007 models so don't worry about a name. The U2412M would be a very logical choice, unless you decide you might now need wide gamut but thats going to be a lot more money
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Thinking about what you posted and reading a number of reviews on TFTCentral has got me thinking that buying a dell 2412 and a decent calibration device would probably be the best decision.


Seems that calibration is highly recommended for wide gamut displays - which I gather have 10bit colour (i often use 8bit tifs without problem)


Does raise one last question about the 2412 though: i read that it's 6bit that is 'boosted' in some way? Will i see banding / artefacts in 8bit image files?



Thanks for the help guys :)
 
wide gamut screens like the U2413 can be good in some ways, but not in others. if you are working with wide gamut content specifically then obviously the wide gamut support of the screens is a help. if, like most people, youa re working with standard gamut sRGB content, then showing it on a wide gamut screen just leads to problems. colours look oversaturated and unrealistic, skin tones look red / orange....all in all it's a pain if you are wanting to display standard gamut content. some wide gamut screens like that do offer sRGB emulation modes which get around that problem, but there's no point spending all that extra on a wide gamut screen i dont think if you don't need it.

The U2412M will match your current screens colour space so will avoid massive differences there. If you want to get an even better setup then a colorimeter can be very handy, especially whne trying to correct gamma curves, white point and matchh different screens/devices. I'd recommend the X-rite i1 Display Pro as a good device for your needs here.

The colour depth of the U2412M is 16.7m colours, but it's achieved using a 6-bit panel, with Frame Rate Control (FRC - dithering). In real use i doubt you'd ever see the difference between a modern 6-bit+FRC panel like that and a true 8-bit panel, as modern FRC algorithms are very good. Colour depth doesn't lead to banding either, thats down to gamma curves and grey scale processing really. Many modern panels are 6-bit+FRC nowadays by the way
 
Baddass said:
wide gamut screens like the U2413 can be good in some ways, but not in others. if you are working with wide gamut content specifically then obviously the wide gamut support of the screens is a help. if, like most people, youa re working with standard gamut sRGB content, then showing it on a wide gamut screen just leads to problems. colours look oversaturated and unrealistic, skin tones look red / orange....all in all it's a pain if you are wanting to display standard gamut content. some wide gamut screens like that do offer sRGB emulation modes which get around that problem, but there's no point spending all that extra on a wide gamut screen i dont think if you don't need it.

The U2412M will match your current screens colour space so will avoid massive differences there. If you want to get an even better setup then a colorimeter can be very handy, especially whne trying to correct gamma curves, white point and matchh different screens/devices. I'd recommend the X-rite i1 Display Pro as a good device for your needs here.

The colour depth of the U2412M is 16.7m colours, but it's achieved using a 6-bit panel, with Frame Rate Control (FRC - dithering). In real use i doubt you'd ever see the difference between a modern 6-bit+FRC panel like that and a true 8-bit panel, as modern FRC algorithms are very good. Colour depth doesn't lead to banding either, thats down to gamma curves and grey scale processing really. Many modern panels are 6-bit+FRC nowadays by the way
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Excellent, thanks :) exactly what I wanted to know!

Cheers for the calibration recommendation too - would you pick it over the Colormunki / Spyder4 options?
 
Think i'm pretty decided on the dell 2412 now - strangely I'd probably be more certain if it cost more, I spent almost twice that on my old dell 2007fp


I take it there is no real reason to spend 50% more on the Asus PA248Q? (well, 1:1 mode, card reader, etc. but afaik it's the same panel so the colour / responce / lag performance would be similar?
 
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