Best monitor

[UKBob]

I have a 17 inch phillips LCD, and I must admit its crap Im not seeing as much difference between shades of grey etc as I should. I believe macs show true colours - what you see is what will print, closer than the PC anyway.

Did anyone choose a monitor based on its ability to show a more accurate version of what will print when the processing has been done? Not looking to buy another screen yet, just curious.

>> Edited by UKBob on Thursday 23 February 19:21

[xiphias]

I think it's just a case of calibrating the colour right? You can manually tweak all rgb values from within windows. I need to do mine because pure white comes out magnolia in photoshop.

[ehasler]

UKBob said:

I believe macs show true colours - what you see is what will print, closer than the PC anyway.

This has got nothing to do with PC/Mac, or how much you spend on your screen - it's all down to how well your screen is calibrated and profiled, and the rest of your colour management workflow.

UKBob said:

Did anyone choose a monitor based on its ability to show a more accurate version of what will print when the processing has been done? Not looking to buy another screen yet, just curious.

Certain monitors are aimed at digital photography (for example the Eizo ColorEdge CG220 can display the full gamut of the Adobe RGB colour space, compared to most other monitors which can only display the smaller range of sRGB). It's not cheap though, and not really necessary if you understand soft-proofing in PS.

Check out the monitors for sale at WarehouseExpress - these will all do a fantastic job, as will the Ultrasharp Dell screens (same guts as the Mac Cinema screens, at a cheaper price).

BUT... buying a fancy monitor will not give you matching prints - a calibrated and profiled £300 screen + the correct printer profiles will give infinitely better results than a £4000 screen that you've just plugged into to your PC.

[_dobbo_]

Ed makes the point exactly - colour reproduction and image clarity/quality are two very different things.


In short - you can likely get near perfect colour reproduction on any monitor by spending some money on a profiler, the clarity and quality of the image will vary wildly depending on how much you spend!

I've never profiled my monitor beyond running Adobe Gamma, and I've never had a problem with prints on screen not matching prints on paper.

If you aren't a pro it seems sensible to balance cost with functionality - I've got a Dell Ultrasharp 20.1" and it's utterly gorgeous, cost less than £330.

[bacchus180]

I don't know anything about dell thingymejibs.. but the reason macs have a good rep is yes they are good screens.. but more importantly a mac will use the apropriate colour space to display the imgae.. unlike windows which always uses srgb.

however yes the eizo is the daddy..

profiling your workspace is the most basic rule of thumb... without it you are just guessing.... or using jpegs

[_dobbo_]

The guts of the bigger Dell monitors are the same as the Mac cinema displays. they just don't have quite as fancy packaging, which suits me at about half the price

However as you rightly point out, colour reproduction is dependant on the device driving the monitor.

[ehasler]

bacchus180 said:

unlike windows which always uses srgb.

Unless you're using a colour managed app like Photoshop, in which case you're OK

[UKBob]

I'll calibrate mine when im ready to start processing pics. No sense in buying a new monitor if software config can solve most of the problems.

[406tm]

Bob

I use this to calibrate my screen. Works for me

http://shop.colourconfidence.com/prod

Dave

[V6GTO]

406tm said:

Bob I use this to calibrate my screen. Works for me http://shop.colourconfidence.com/prod Dave

Bring that with you when you finally come down here Dave, it'll be interesting to slap that on my Dell.

Martin.

[UKBob]

V6GTO said:

406tm said: Bob I use this to calibrate my screen. Works for me http://shop.colourconfidence.com/prod Dave Bring that with you when you finally come down here Dave, it'll be interesting to slap that on my Dell. Martin.

Could ya pop a copy in the post whilst you're at it, and add it to my "I owe XX beers" tab could ya could ya?

[406tm]

UKBob said:

V6GTO said: 406tm said: Bob I use this to calibrate my screen. Works for me http://shop.colourconfidence.com/prod Dave Bring that with you when you finally come down here Dave, it'll be interesting to slap that on my Dell. Martin. Could ya pop a copy in the post whilst you're at it, and add it to my "I owe XX beers" tab could ya could ya?

Martin

Will do

Bob

You also need the screen calibration dongle. Despite having a BSc. Phd and being qualified to teach in Further & Higher Education, I can't make a copy of it. Sorry. Why not buy a unit, after all it's only £70

[RossC]

I've been trying to adjust my Dell Laptop screen for ages but can't seem to get it spot on, its the XUVGA widescreen.

So......how does this gizmo work exactly before I dive in ? I'm just starting to get my head around PS CS if that makes a difference.

[406tm]

RossC said:

I've been trying to adjust my Dell Laptop screen for ages but can't seem to get it spot on, its the XUVGA widescreen. So......how does this gizmo work exactly before I dive in ? I'm just starting to get my head around PS CS if that makes a difference.

You install the software, connect the "Gizmo" to your PC via USB, place it on the screen and press calibrate. It does all sorts of things with different coloured screens and hey presto, on calibrated screen.

Well thats it in a nut shell

[RossC]

Sold !

[UKBob]

406tm said:

Despite having a BSc. Phd and being qualified to teach in Further & Higher Education, I can't make a copy of it. Sorry

No worries, thanks anyway. When Ive got a camera, learnt how to use PS, and a am ready to calibrate I'll check it out.

Still not sure if its my monitor though. Its a 3 year old flatscreen, cost £300 at the time, and I cant see a visible difference between ab and yz on the greyscale. Im not really fussed right now but would like to sort it out one day. I dont know if calibration would solve a greyscale problem on a chart?

[ehasler]

UKBob said:

I dont know if calibration would solve a greyscale problem on a chart?

It will certainly help

>> Edited by ehasler on Friday 24th February 10:49

[UKBob]

ehasler said:

UKBob said: I dont know if calibration would solve a greyscale problem on a chart? It will certainly help >> Edited by ehasler on Friday 24th February 10:49

Excellent.

[cirks]

UKBob said:

and I cant see a visible difference between ab and yz

really? Your monitor must be bad! Even the cr*p thing I'm using at the moment on client site clearly shows difference between white and black Is it all mid-grey to you?

>> Edited by cirks on Friday 24th February 11:14

[UKBob]

cirks said:

UKBob said: and I cant see a visible difference between ab and yz really? Your monitor must be bad! Even the cr*p thing I'm using at the moment on client site clearly shows difference between white and black Is it all mid-grey to you?

:gulp:
But but... the salesman said it was the best one you could get

The monitor is probably the first electrical widget ive bought in years, which wasnt researched on the net pre-purchase. Its my own fault, basically...