Monitor for photo & video work?

dtokez · 1 Sep 2015 at 13:06

Hi all, I'm after a new screen for photo work. mainly LR and Premier Pro work. Budget is <£300.

I have used a Dell u2515h and have been very impressed - is it worth grabbing one of these or trying to stretch to a decent 4k? Not too bothered about gaming performance, mainly colour reproduction and accuracy

Cheers

Phate · 2 Sep 2015 at 13:07

Buy something thats an IPS panel (an absolute must for accurate work) and then a calibrator.

dtokez · 2 Sep 2015 at 14:32

thanks Phate

What do you reckon of the dell U2515H, is there much else in that price range worth considering?

Phate · 2 Sep 2015 at 14:44

In terms of that monitor specifically, I'm not sure.

The reason why I recommend the calibrator, is because a well calibrated monitor will knock 7 bells out of anything out of the box, almost irrespective of the price range.

I would look up calibrator prices, have a search on here see whats recommended (They're mentioned enough, try a search for Spyder) and fit that into your budget and see what that leaves you. Buying a decent monitor of that size and a calibrator could possibly put you over your £300 threshold, but theres no need to buy both at the same time.

Dell make a good monitor, as does LG. I also had an HP 24" IPS monitor for a long time which was superb. Only sold it due to going travelling. Have a look at the above and see what you find.

Vertigo · 2 Sep 2015 at 15:34

Wish I could hire/borrow a calibrator from somewhere! Forking out £80 for even a basic model seems a hell of a waste of money for something I'll use once.

Phate · 2 Sep 2015 at 15:39

Vertigo1 said:
Wish I could hire/borrow a calibrator from somewhere! Forking out £80 for even a basic model seems a hell of a waste of money for something I'll use once.

Well it's everytime you format your machine. Which granted isn't very often but it's useful to have. Buy it once, have it forever type thing.

Sh4rkie · 2 Sep 2015 at 16:39

Phate said:
Well it's everytime you format your machine. Which granted isn't very often but it's useful to have. Buy it once, have it forever type thing.

Re-calibrating a monitor should be done at least once a month really. The monitor output subtly changes over time as well any ambient light changes as well.

Genoma · 2 Sep 2015 at 16:59

I own a spider 4 and the cynic in me wonders whether calibrating every month is overkill / marketing ploy... I've cancelled the reminder notifications and now probably calibrate again every 6 - 12 months.

Phate you can backup the tiny monitor profile file too

Phate · 2 Sep 2015 at 17:14

Ah I always forget about the monitor profile file backups. Normally the last thing on my mind!

I'd agree with it being overkill every month as well. Especially if nothing has changed.

AshD93 · 2 Sep 2015 at 19:43

dtokez said:
thanks Phate

What do you reckon of the dell U2515H, is there much else in that price range worth considering?

I have one and I absolutely love it.

Feel free to ask whatever you need and I'll try and respond.

Thaifood · 2 Sep 2015 at 19:49

brought a u2515h for my father for his photo work.. he absolutely loves it

Vertigo · 2 Sep 2015 at 20:11

I use a U2715H at work which is basically its 27" big brother. Lovely lovely thing!

.one. · 2 Sep 2015 at 22:59

Vertigo1 said:
Wish I could hire/borrow a calibrator from somewhere! Forking out £80 for even a basic model seems a hell of a waste of money for something I'll use once.

I own a spider 3 but was never happy with the result so as a temporary measure I tried a pre made icc from tft central.

They warn all same make monitors differ none are the same obviously.

But it is just about bang on for my prints much closer than my spider was.

It is a cheap option and a starting point.

dtokez · 3 Sep 2015 at 12:44

Some good info here, thanks all. I think I will invest in a calibrator soon - my dad and I can go halves on it as we will both use it.

Is it worth going up to a 4k screen or do they not really fit into the > £300 budget?

Vertigo · 3 Sep 2015 at 14:02

.one. said:
I own a spider 3 but was never happy with the result so as a temporary measure I tried a pre made icc from tft central.

They warn all same make monitors differ none are the same obviously.

But it is just about bang on for my prints much closer than my spider was.

It is a cheap option and a starting point.

Interesting option, thanks.

My U2715H at work is factory calibrated and seems pretty good to me.

Sh4rkie · 3 Sep 2015 at 15:20

Phate said:
I'd agree with it being overkill every month as well. Especially if nothing has changed.

Overkill probably but for 5 mins work still worth doing

Eizo puts it best, basically they say every 200 - 300hrs of use is the recommended recal rate equating it to roughly a month as a guide and is easy to remember. I recal mine within the first week of the month regardless, just habit now.

http://www.eizoglobal.com/library/management/calibration/