Monitor required for Photo Work

PiKe · 5 Jan 2009 at 12:25

I have 2 monitors, a Viewsonic VX910 and VX912, the VX910 is a MVA panel and very good in terms of colour repro and it has been calibrated with a Gretagmacbeth One-Eye Display2, the dE2000 average on this screen is approx 1.5 which is quite good really for a consumer screen. The VX912 on the other hand is a PVA panel and is quite poor, the dE2000 average on this one is above 4 and you can see an obvious difference between the two. Also for some reason the Display2 will not adjust the Gamma for this screen and it is sampled at 2.4 rather than 2.2 as I set.

So, I'm after a new screen to replace the VX912, has anyone any suggestions without breaking the bank? Approx 19 inch widescreen would do the job I think, any bigger is a bonus.

PiKe · 6 Jan 2009 at 00:53

Anyone know what I'm talking about?

philjohn · 6 Jan 2009 at 09:01

You'll want something with an internal LUT for the very best colour reproduction if it's serious photo work, and something with an IPS panel.

The only one that fits the bill is the HP DreamColour 24" (£2000) or the NEC 2960 with the spectraview option (not sure how much, but not cheap).

PiKe · 6 Jan 2009 at 09:26

Absolute spot on colour repro isn't critical, price wise we don't wish to spend more more than £300.

philjohn · 6 Jan 2009 at 09:43

PiKe said:
Absolute spot on colour repro isn't critical, price wise we don't wish to spend more more than £300.

For that price you are really limiting what you can get, it'll be a TN, or a 2nd hand Dell 20" widescreen (but try and make sure it's got the IPS panel and not too many backlight hours).

PiKe · 6 Jan 2009 at 10:12

How much more do I need to increase the budget by?

mrk · 7 Jan 2009 at 04:13

£200~ if you go for a 24" or a bit more for the NEC with internal LUT.

If you have a good calibration suite though you won't be needing internal LUT as something like Lacie BlueEyePro will get highly accurate colours out of a single calibration run once the panel has settled in.

As said though, it should be an IPS based panel if you want colour accuracy to remain so from all visible angles.