Displays for Color Critical Work (Photography/Graphics)

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Boneless

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Hey guys, i know this has been covered within many topics, but I thought I would give a shot at making a unified topic to discuss displays whose main use would be photography work or any color critical work-- maybe a list would suffice--

personally I have been looking for a monitor in the 22"+ range under or around $1000 that I can trust for doing retouching, and I've been having a tough time with (and plan on returning) the HP LP2475w I bought. I've used a number of different monitors that do not have build in Look Up Tables for calibration, including Apple Cinema displays, and have never been particularily pleased with the results-- So therefore i thought it might be a good idea to start a list of all the possibilities--

so far I know of these:

NEC:

anything in the 90 series, specifically the

lcd2490wuxi
24"
1920x1200 res
$1100

lcd2690wuxi2
wide color gamut
26"
1920x1200 res
$1200

and the new P series

p221w
wide color gamut
22"
1680x1050 res
$650

and besides that I haven't seen much else that seems to be made for color critical work that is under about $1400-- including those from LaCie (which are NECs anyway) or Eizo--

-Boneless
 
If you want to edit in the standard sRGB gamut then +16,700,000 for the 2490wuxi.
 
Afterhourpower said:
I think NEC has one with LED in the size you are looking for
Click to expand...

I don't think that one's in the price range he's looking in..


go with the 24 or 26'' depending which gamut you need.
and if not already in your possession a calibration device.
 
If you are working in the sRGB color space go for the LCD2490WUXI-BKSV or LCD2490WUXISV (you'll see both listed on line). It comes with the SpectraView II software and Eye One Display 2 calibrator and is the best configuration for color critical work in the sRGB color space. You buy this and don't need extraneous calibration. It's an all-in-one critical color combo.

If you are working in Adobe aRGB go with the LCD2690WUXIBK/SV. Same basic monitor with 26" screen and wide gamut (93% aRGB). Or you can go with the LCD2490WUXI2 for wide gamut with even higher % of aRGB coverage.

You don't necessarily have to have built in, programmable color LookUp tables for color critical work, as a good quality calibrator and software combination will do a fine job with most screens (like the Eye One D2/Eye One Match combo), but with the NEC you are calibrating the whole screen, not just your particular video card LUT. Additionally sometimes with software and colorimeter combos you can induce banding most visible on grey scales.
 
Can anyone comment on the functionality of the sRGB mode on the LCD2690WUXi?

Obviously we're talking about a 26" aRGB display, but NEC seem keen to mention their "OmniColor" sRGB and 6-axis-colour-control feature on this device, which made we wonder if this would be an ideal display for someone like me, currently doing their photography work in sRGB but looking to move into aRGB.

http://www.nec-display-solutions.co.uk/c/g/uk/en/Products/Details/Main/dp/Products/LCD/Current/LCD-2690WUXi/LCD-2690WUXi/index,group=all.html
 
yeah it seems like those two NEC monitors are the only game in town for color critical work under $1500

the p221w really caught my eye especially because of the price, but it is a PVA (im not sure REALLY how much that matters, depending on how it actually looks if I were to see it in person) its also 22" which I wouldnt mind if it were higher res, but its only 1680x1050. BUT its $650 vs the $1200 I would be spending if I went with the other one I have been thinking about, which is the lcd2690wuxi2

I've got a DTP94 calibrator and I've been using coloreyes for what ive got now-- I'm today returning 2 HP LP2475w's for having a 500+ kelvin color change across the panels--

someone has GOT to come out with a seriously worthwhile color accurate monitor for under $1000 bucks-- it just seems that so many things are so close, but just barely fail to hit the mark. The HP monitor was such a disappointment when paired with all the glowing reviews I read of it before buying it--

its actually costing me $50 to send it back to techonweb even though its defective...:mad:
 
yeah prad and tft central both made this monitor sound amazing, but both curiously didn't have or didn't notice the red/green color shift on the lp2475w...
 
Perhaps that issue isn't as big as some wants us to belief.

And keep in mind, one dissatisfied customer makes more noise than 100 happy clients.
 
Are you aware of the Anandtech LCD thread? It goes into great depth about these things. The author is a bit obsessive/compulsive about this sort of thing, which is good for the rest of us.

Because of that thread, I got a pair of NEC 20WMGX2 monitors for gaming, and they are absolutely stunning.
 
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