Need a big TFT for photo editing - Compete monitor novice so go easy!

[MrSix]

- EDIT -
I have no idea why I wrote TFT in the title...ignore that.
- EDIT-

I currently have a Viewsonic 19" LCD that I've had for a couple of years. It's been great and I've had no problems with it however I need a bigger monitor for my work and I've been looking at getting a 24" LCD to replace it.

Now my budget is around £300 and I will need it to do the following things:

- Good colour reproduction.
- Good enough for occasional PC gaming
- Preferably HD ready for use with my Xbox 360.

That's about it...

I've also just been chatting about a dual screen set up instead...2x 22" monitors instead of 1x 24", would that be something worth considering?

 

[mk17]

I'd go for the Dell 2408WFP for the win on single monitor setup.

A couple of Sammies will do you very nicely indeed for a twin setup. This would be my preference, although the 24" screen is a real beauty.


Let me say it first - the young lady in the pictures does not, in fact, come with the monitors.

 

[philjohn]

Only problem with the Dell 2408 is the high input lag, which unless you are only a very, very occasional gamer will annoy you.

2x22 may not be great, especially for colour repro as almost all 22" monitors are TN panels which are only 6 bits per pixel, as opposed to 8 for *VA and IPS panels.

 

[DrBombcrater]

The technical term for someone in your position is screwed. Photo editing is an activity that really begs for an LCD with an IPS panel, but you won't get one of those for anything like £300. Double that, maybe.

So it's a compromise. Most 24" monitors these days, and 99% of 22" ones, are TN panels. Not bad for games but accurate photo work is difficult because TN's poor viewing angles mess up the colours, and they can't really do 24-bit colour so they fake it using dithering. They do at least have the advantage of being cheap-ish and widely available.

Then there's VA panels. Much better viewing angles and colour accuracy than TN, but they suffer from 'gamma shift' which makes dark images appear lighter if you look at them from an angle. Some of them also have a fair bit of input lag.

I think a 24" VA is the right way to go here, unless all your photos are dark and moody scenes. A good one like the Hyundai W241 will set you back around £400. There's also our cheapie favourite, the 24" DGM for £235, but given its unreliability and DGM's crappy warranty service I'd recommend against it. There's a version of that monitor badged with the 'Yuraku' name that is a bit cheaper, includes HDCP support, and doesn't seem to suffer quite the same propensity for dropping dead as the DGM.

I'm not allowed to give a link for those as OcUK don't sell em, but they're not hard to find. They look the same as the DGM and are often sold as dealer's 'house brand' products.

 

[MrSix]

The technical term for someone in your position is screwed. Photo editing is an activity that really begs for an LCD with an IPS panel, but you won't get one of those for anything like £300. Double that, maybe.

So it's a compromise. Most 24" monitors these days, and 99% of 22" ones, are TN panels. Not bad for games but accurate photo work is difficult because TN's poor viewing angles mess up the colours, and they can't really do 24-bit colour so they fake it using dithering. They do at least have the advantage of being cheap-ish and widely available.

Then there's VA panels. Much better viewing angles and colour accuracy than TN, but they suffer from 'gamma shift' which makes dark images appear lighter if you look at them from an angle. Some of them also have a fair bit of input lag.

I think a 24" VA is the right way to go here, unless all your photos are dark and moody scenes. A good one like the Hyundai W241 will set you back around £400. There's also our cheapie favourite, the 24" DGM for £235, but given its unreliability and DGM's crappy warranty service I'd recommend against it. There's a version of that monitor badged with the 'Yuraku' name that is a bit cheaper, includes HDCP support, and doesn't seem to suffer quite the same propensity for dropping dead as the DGM.

I'm not allowed to give a link for those as OcUK don't sell em, but they're not hard to find. They look the same as the DGM and are often sold as dealer's 'house brand' products.

Thanks for the detailed information.
Viewing angles aren't that important really as I always sit head on to my monitor and this won't be used for showing clients my work.

As a benchmark I currently use a Viewsonic VX912 for my editing, PC gaming and Xbox 360 gaming and (probably because I don't know any better) I've got no issues with this monitor other than it's size. This may help you to guage the quality at which I currently find 'acceptable' and allow you to compare how much better a different monitor will be.

 

[Adrianr]

I opted for the 24" Yaraku for my photo editing duties after getting truely hacked off with my 22" TN viewing angles. Used an Eye1 hardware calibrator on it and it's been a rather nice bit of kit for the money. I'm not receiving prints back anymore thinking "No really, where did you get that colour from?". Doesn't help the problem of everyone else having a super bright un-calibrated monitor, but you can't win them all.

1920 x 1200 is brilliant for photo work too. I can have a nice big image with all sorts of Photoshop toolbars lay about without feeling cluttered. I prefer it over using two smaller screens, as unless you are happy having the image on one screen and all your toolbars on the other, you just seem to end up working on one screen anyway. Only benefit that might have is perhaps running something like Bridge on your left monitor, and Photoshop on your right, but then how hard is it to ALT + TAB between two programs?

 

[DrBombcrater]

Viewing angles aren't that important really as I always sit head on to my monitor and this won't be used for showing clients my work.

The snag is that even sitting right in front of the monitor viewing angles still matter because the only part of the screen you are seeing head-on is the centre. Your eyes are seeing the corners and edges at an angle, so on a TN panel the colours there distort.

The problem gets worse as the screen size goes up. I find it tolerable at 20" and below, a pain at 22" and horrible on a 24" screen.

 

[MrSix]

1920 x 1200 is brilliant for photo work too. I can have a nice big image with all sorts of Photoshop toolbars lay about without feeling cluttered. I prefer it over using two smaller screens, as unless you are happy having the image on one screen and all your toolbars on the other, you just seem to end up working on one screen anyway. Only benefit that might have is perhaps running something like Bridge on your left monitor, and Photoshop on your right, but then how hard is it to ALT + TAB between two programs?

I'm considering running the 24" plus my existing 19" for my photo editing work where I can have the whole image on the 24" and the tool bars on the 19". Is this difficult to do? Plus is it possible to split resolutions between displays, i.e. 1920x1200 on one and 1280x1024 on the other?

I'll take a look at that monitor you suggested. Out of interest, would it be suitable for gaming?

 

[MrSix]

I've just been looking at the monitor and I'm not too sure what to make of the spec.
The contrast ratio is 800 : 1 which seems very low when compared with the 3000:1 of the Dell?

 

[Adrianr]

Price is different too though. If you want the Dell specs you have to pay the Dell prices..

RE: Games, i play a few, Cod4, Crysis etc, and i've never noticed any of the problems you often hear people complaining about. Though it may just be my un-trained eye, so a tip for that one, ignorance is bliss

RE: Toolbars and screens, it's horrible with your toolbars away from the photo. I like what i'm working on surrounded by what i need to work on it with. If i have to travel onto another screen to get my crop tool I just find it a lot of un-nessecary messing about, especially as they're not exactly large buttons to start with, the screen you gain by moving them off is negligable. What i would reccommend if you're keeping your 19" is keep all your Photoshop on the 24", and all other crap on the 19, messenger, internet windows, etc.

 

[philjohn]

I've just been looking at the monitor and I'm not too sure what to make of the spec.
The contrast ratio is 800 : 1 which seems very low when compared with the 3000:1 of the Dell?

Don't be suckered in by things like contrast ratio specs, they are artificially high through scams such as dynamic contrast ratio etc. The Dell darkens and lightens the backlight to give the impression of a higher contrast ratio.

A good rule of thumb: if a monitor has an insanely high spec compared to others it's normally using some trick or other that can often leave you with worse picture quality.

Most monitor specs are designed to hook people who don't know much about monitors and just assume that "bigger number = better".

 

[MrSix]

Don't be suckered in by things like contrast ratio specs, they are artificially high through scams such as dynamic contrast ratio etc. The Dell darkens and lightens the backlight to give the impression of a higher contrast ratio.

A good rule of thumb: if a monitor has an insanely high spec compared to others it's normally using some trick or other that can often leave you with worse picture quality.

Most monitor specs are designed to hook people who don't know much about monitors and just assume that "bigger number = better".

You're right - I know nothing about monitors and it suckered me in.
The best way for me to guage the specs is by comparing it (or having it compared) to the Viewsonic VX912 that i'm using currently.

 

[philjohn]

You're right - I know nothing about monitors and it suckered me in.
The best way for me to guage the specs is by comparing it (or having it compared) to the Viewsonic VX912 that i'm using currently.

The absolute best way is to try and see a few in the flesh as it where, or go on recommendations from some of the review sites. Badass over at tftcentral.co.uk does very thorough reviews, going into the pros and cons of each model.