VA vs IPS for photo editing

[edgedemon]

Guys
Can we have a discussion about VA vs IPS panels. I have been looking at 34" 3440 x 1440 IPS panels. Im not planning on gaming anything major, lets just talk panel quality and colour reproduction for editing.
Im seeing some very good 32" VA panels that have equal colour coverage, better contrast, colour calibrated, 1.07 billion colours, faster response times - not sure if that matters really.
I know the viewing angle is better for IPS, but if the monitor is 18" in front of me, in my little basement office Im not sure whether that matters.

If I was going ultrawide, then IPS, but if Im doing 3840 x 2160 @ 32, and right in front of me, wont VA be as good?

Is it just the viewing angle for IPS or are there other benefits that Im unaware of so far? Are the colours really that much better, I have never owned an IPS panel so I can't comment.

Possible tearing for gaming doesn't bother me, I use consoles..

edit - to put it into context, I have been using a Dell ultrasharp 24" 2412M 1920x1200 @ 60hz for the last 9 years so Im sure anything will be an improvement. It also gives you an idea of just how long I tend to keep my monitors which is why I want to get this right.

 

[edgedemon]

Whats the main use, in that what will be displayed the most? Is it photo editing? Gaming? Video work? Media consumption? General use?
Whatever the answer that question is should drive the decision...

In my mind I broke it down as below but I could have course be miles wide of the mark:
TN Panel - budget option where cost outweighs any other concern but also offer some excellent benefits for gaming.
VA Panel - Jack of all trades offers some the advantages of TN and IPS but also some of the downsides of TN
IPS Panel - Aimed at Editing / creating / consumption of media.

I went for VA as in general most of my time is in a bit of everything and photo editing is perhaps 5% max of my time spent at my desktop, when I worked professionally as a photographer we had all IPS screens in our studio.

The only game I play on my PC is AoE now - it would be for ON1 photo editing and maybe a bit of browsing. I want more space to work in so it would be 32" or 34". Having not used a VA panel in over a decade Im not sure how good/bad they are for a hobbyist editor like me.

Dell Ultrasharps are one of the better quality monitors for images.

It has done me well to be fair, after 9yrs I want to upgrade to something larger, get a decent desk and sort my little office out, homeworking has revealed the limitations of my current set up - Im really missing my 3 screens at work, If I had 34" I could use PiP and work on multiple things, but that is for the short term. Im determined to do more editing of my huge backlog this year so that is driving the upgrade as a long term goal.

 

[edgedemon]

I'be been through the wringer with the same process. I currently have an Acer Z35P (VA with 120hz). I've had both IPS and VA panels over the past few years and a lot of it comes down to actual manufacturing quality than tech specs on paper. A good quality VA panel will be much better than a budget/poor IPS. I have never used one of the 10 bit VA panels but I would say they are very good. Yes IPS has better viewing angles however VA is not far behind these days. I find Gamma shift is much more noticeable than colour shift at off angles. As you say you will be sitting dead in front of the screen so that should be fine. The only downside (with the gamma/colour shift) is that I would avoid having a photo open in full screen while editing as you're covering a big area - that being said I don'y know anyone who does that anyway as you would normally have your various menus at the top/bottom/sides.
The one thing VA has in its favour which is worth considering is that the blacks are much more accurate compared to IPS. You could find that if you gauge your blacks based on IPS when you see it on another display or printed out they could be too deep.
My VA has offered the best balance (for me) between cost, photo work and gaming. I do plenty of photo work and the VA panel has been fine. I think for a top professional when colour accuracy must be absolutely 100% i.e. graphic designers then IPS is a must. However VA is perfectly usable.

Thank you for that - you seem to have a similar use case to me so this gives me more options, appreciate hearing the other side of the argument, off to do another google now

edit - Im assuming you can calibrate VA Panels?

 

[edgedemon]

I have a dell 2412UM which I'm upgrading from. I ended up going for a LG 34WL750-B, I saw it at too good a price to turn down. I'm looking forward to the extra space for editing>>
I did look at VA as you get more for your cash, but the spec lists are very light on colour gamut ans s rgb and Adobe rgb which put me off.

 

[edgedemon]

Very impressed with my 34WL750, massive upgrade in size from my old Dell, even back lighting, and I have been impressed with the picture quality, just have to wait until I can get out and take some photos for editing..