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Monitor Purchase Guide is now ready

Jun
4
2012
June 4, 2012
By 8 Comments

As you know, I have been working on various purchase guides for our readers. Previously, I posted the DSLR Camera Purchase Guide and today I am happy to announce that I have just posted the Monitor Purchase Guide. The guide is accessible on the top of the page, under our “Gear Guide“. Each and every purchase guide that I complete is an interactive system based on your preferences, budget, currently owned systems, etc. Here is a screenshot of a 24″ Dell monitor, based on size preference:

Monitor Purchase Guide

So if you have been looking for a good monitor for your photography, check out this guide. Also, don’t forget that I have an article on Best Monitors for Photography, which I highly recommend to read before you start looking at the various options. I will be working on other interactive purchase guides soon, so stay tuned!

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Dell U2412M – a great new monitor for photographers

Jul
26
2011
July 26, 2011
By 11 Comments

Dell UltraSharp U2412M I normally do not post any new product announcements, but this one got me excited. I personally own and love two 24″ Dell UltraSharp U2410 monitors in dual monitor configuration, as I pointed in my “best monitors for photography” article. A couple of days ago, Dell announced a new wide gamut 24″ IPS display with LED backlight, the Dell UltraSharp U2412M, which sports some very impressive features at only $399 retail price. That’s a great price, because 24″ IPS panels typically cost $500+.

The Dell U2412M boasts a 1920×1200 resolution and has a 2 million:1 contrast ratio, in addition to 8ms response time and 82% wide color gamut coverage (the color gamut coverage on the older U2410 is 110%).

Here are the technical specifications from the unit:

  1. Diagonal Viewable Size: 24″ (60.96 cm) viewable area
  2. Aspect Ratio: Widescreen (16:10)
  3. Panel Type, Surface: IPS (In-Plane Switching), anti glare with hard coat 3H
  4. Optimal Resolution: 1920×1200 at 60 Hz
  5. Contrast Ratio: 1000:1 (typical), 2,000,000:1 (dynamic)
  6. Dynamic Contrast Ratio: 2 million:1 (Max)
  7. Brightness: 300 cd/m2 (typical)
  8. Response Time: 8ms (gray to gray) Typical
  9. Max Viewing Angle (vertical/horizontal): 178º / 178º
  10. Color Support: 16.7 million colors
  11. Color Gamut: 82% (CIE 1976)
  12. Pixel Pitch: 0.27 mm
  13. Device Type: Widescreen Flat Panel Display

Connectivity Options

  1. 1 Digital Visual Interface connectors (DVI-D) with HDCP
  2. 1 DisplayPort(DP)
  3. 1 Video Graphics Array (VGA)
  4. 1 USB 2.0 upstream port
  5. 4 USB 2.0 downstream ports
  6. DC power connector for Dell Soundbar

Dell already has these available for online ordering. If you are thinking of upgrading your monitor, but do not want to spend a lot of money, the U2412M sounds like it will be a great choice for everyday photography needs. Don’t forget to grab a good color-calibration unit like Spyder3Pro if you buy a new monitor or if you do not already have one. See my “how to calibrate your monitor” article for further details on monitor calibration.

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How to Calibrate Your Monitor

Feb
16
2010
February 16, 2010
By 15 Comments

Color calibration should definitely be an essential part of every photographer’s workflow. Otherwise, it is impossible to tell whether the colors that are displayed by your monitor are truly accurate and whether what you see will match the print. There are many ways to do it and the process can be fairly simple or very complex, depending on how accurate you want to reproduce the colors and whether you are also printing your work in-house. The simple method involves free and commercial tools for color profiling LCD / CRT monitors for everyday photo editing and image viewing, and there is also an end-to-end professional-grade color profiling that requires very concise calibration of all display and output devices (such as printers). In this article on how to calibrate your monitor, I will only focus on simple methods to make your monitor show more or less accurate colors, so that you could rely on it for everyday photography needs.

How to calibrate your monitor

1) Why is calibration important?

One of the big misunderstandings about calibration, is that people think that it is only needed for printing. Wrong! It is needed for everything – from viewing other people’s work online to processing your own images in Adobe Photoshop or Lightroom. If your monitor is not properly calibrated, you are most likely not seeing everything in the image. For example, a smooth and beautiful sunset might appear as pale and gradient streaks of light or a black and white picture might appear too dark or too light.

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Filed Under: Photography Techniques Tagged With: , ,

Best Monitor for Photography

Feb
13
2010
February 13, 2010
By 116 Comments

One of the most frequently asked questions from our readers and friends is “What is the best monitor for Photography?”. It seems like the market is over-saturated with all kinds of choices, whether you visit a local store or browse through an online catalog. There are all kinds of monitors for different budgets and some models might leave you wondering why they are so expensive compared to others. Since there is no simple answer to this question, I decided to write a quick article on choosing the best monitor for professional photography needs.

Currently, there are three main types of monitors that are being offered by manufacturers:

  1. CRT – the oldest type of monitor that has been almost completely phased out and replaced by newer LCD/LED technologies.
  2. LCD – currently the most popular and the most widespread monitor type.
  3. LED – future technology that will replace LCD.
Dell U2410

I won’t talk much about the above, since you can find a lot of useful information on the Internet that explains the differences. Basically, CRT monitors are almost dead and we are currently in between LCD and LED technologies. LED (OLED) is a new technology and although it will eventually replace the current LCD technology, it is still in its early stages of development and there are not many good products out there for professional photography needs.

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