# IPS Monitor? Do I need one?



## Arrow (Sep 4, 2016)

In 2012 I upgraded to a 27 inch Benq GW2750 monitor, specs below.

Since then I have become much more enthusiastic about my photography using both Lightroom 6 and Photoshop Elements 12 & Premiere Elements 12. Recently upgraded to Canon 80D.

Workshops I have attended advise that an IPS monitor is essential for photography. I'm wondering how much difference I will notice in e.g. Lightroom Develop module between my current monitor and a new IPS monitor. 

If there is a significant difference between my current monitor and an IPS monitor I'd appreciate recommendations as to which monitors I should consider 27 inch or larger.

I imagine that I should be looking for a matte monitor as I often have to close my curtains because of South West sun in the afternoons.

Also do I need a 4K monitor, that would I believe also mean a graphics card.

I use an Xrite Colormunki to calibrate my monitor

Screen Size ‎27”W‎
Aspect Ratio‎ 16:9‎
Resolution (max.)‎ 1920x1080‎
Pixel Pitch (mm)‎ 0.311‎
Brightness ( typ.)‎ 300 cd/m2‎
Native Contrast ( typ. )‎ 5000:1‎
DCR (Dynamic Contrast Ratio) (typ.)‎ 20M:1‎
Panel Type‎ VA‎
Viewing Angle (L/R;U/D) (CR>=10)‎ 178/178‎
Response Time(Tr+Tf) typ.‎ 4ms (GtG)‎
Display Colors‎ 16.7million‎
Color Gamut‎ 72%‎
Input Connector‎ D-sub / DVI-D / HDMI / Headphone jack/Line in‎
Speaker‎ 2Wx2‎


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## clee01l (Sep 4, 2016)

I switched to IPS several years ago before I switched to a Mac.  When I sought out a replacement as a second monitor for my Mac, IPS was the top item on my list of requirements. 

You probably have a TN screen. This is an older technology, consumes more power and generates more heat.  IPS has better viewing angles and consumes less power.    More important is going to be screen resolution 2560X1440 (3.5K) is probably the newer minimum standard Also a HiDPI screen offers better viewing than the course 1920X1080.
I think the greater benefit coms from the brighter IPS HiDPI screens.  Your 4 year old screen would still be useful as a second display.  LR really benefits from a second display.


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## Arrow (Sep 5, 2016)

Thanks Cletus, that's helpful.

Could anyone suggest suitable monitors which are going to offer a big improvement but not be outrageously expensive.

Also if I used my existing monitor as a second monitor then I will need a graphics card., I'm confused by all the cards available, I don't play games, what would be a reasonable graphics card to buy?


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## clee01l (Sep 6, 2016)

I chose the ASUS PB278 because I read that it used the same components as my Apple iMac display. These are available for less than $400USD of a 27" model. There is probably a newer improved version of this Display available for the same price  You will want a monitor that has at least HDMI and Display ports. It is doubtful that you will use a VGA connector or DVI, but many models still have these ports too. 
As for your Video card.  It depends on what kind of ports you have on your computer.  The card itself may have one or two HDMI ports  or a mixture of two different port types. Or you may have an unused on board video  on your M/B.   If you have two HDMI ports available you can run two monitors on what you have now If you have an HDMI and a DVI-D port you still are good for two monitors.  If you find yourself shopping for a new video card, look at the list of approved GPUs that Adobe has published as being successfully tested with LR6.  You will need one with at least two HDMI/DisplayPorts  and a minimum of 2GB of VRAM.


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## Replytoken (Sep 6, 2016)

While I am partial to NEC IPS monitors, their upper end series are not that affordable, but some of the mid-range lines are.  I know that there are some Dell U series IPS panels (IIRC) that are reasonably affordable and do not have too much bleeding.  HP also had some IPS panels at reasonable prices, but I know little about their quality.  I would try to set a budget, size and resolution preferences and see what  you can find in that range.  B&H has a decent selection, if only for comparisons.

Good luck,

--Ken


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## sty2586 (Sep 6, 2016)

Look at www.prad.de, very informative and you can switch to English.
Franz


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## Arrow (Sep 7, 2016)

Thanks for the responses. 

Here are details of my setup:

My motherboard - Gigabyte Technology Co. Ltd. GA-78LMT-S2P (Socket M2)
Processor AMD FX-6100  Six-Core 
RAM 16.0GB Dual-Channel DDR3 @ 669MHz

I currently have no video card but do have a free PCIEX16 slot.

The motherboard has two video outputs DVI-D and VGA. According to the manual "the DVI-D port conforms to the DVI-D specification and supports a maximum resolution of 1920x1200"

So it sounds like I can't connect a 2560 x 1440 resolution monitor to the DVI-D output on my motherboard?


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## clee01l (Sep 7, 2016)

Arrow said:


> I currently have no video card but do have a free PCIEX16 slot.
> 
> The motherboard has two video outputs DVI-D and VGA. According to the manual "the DVI-D port conforms to the DVI-D specification and supports a maximum resolution of 1920x1200"
> 
> So it sounds like I can't connect a 2560 x 1440 resolution monitor to the DVI-D output on my motherboard?


Yes, time for a new card.  Lucky that you have a real desktop with expansion slots.  You should shop for a LR compatible card with 2 HDMI or Display ports that can handle the 3.5K display (or better)  Bothe DVI-D and VGA are legacy ports with limitations. 
If you are keeping the BenQ running  on DVI-D, you can still use the onboard Video for one of your displays.  However, since you will need a new video card anyhow, you might as well get one that can support lots of pixels on at least two displays.  You  probably won't keep the BenQ forever


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## Conrad Chavez (Sep 8, 2016)

Arrow said:


> The motherboard has two video outputs DVI-D and VGA. According to the manual "the DVI-D port conforms to the DVI-D specification and supports a maximum resolution of 1920x1200"
> So it sounds like I can't connect a 2560 x 1440 resolution monitor to the DVI-D output on my motherboard?


That's what it sounds like. DVI-D comes in two flavors: Single-Link, and Dual-Link. DVI Dual-Link is typically required to reach 2560 x 1440, so your graphics hardware might only support DVI single-link. But it would be worth confirming that. You might check the diagrams on this Wikipedia page (Digital Video Interface). If your DVI connector is missing the middle six pins shown for DVI-D Dual-Link on that page, then it's only single-link.

2560 x 1440 is no problem for HDMI and DisplayPort, since those newer standards have much higher resolution limits which can reach 4K and up.


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## PhilBurton (Sep 8, 2016)

I've been looking at some IPS display specifications, and I noticed that most of them do not mention the color space supported, e.g. sRGB or Adobe RGB.

Phil


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## Conrad Chavez (Sep 8, 2016)

It's usually safe to assume that if a display doesn't specify its native color gamut, it's probably somewhere close to sRGB. Adobe RGB displays are still somewhat premium, so if a display supports Adobe RGB (or in the case of Apple, the similarly sized DCI P3), it's probably going to promote it.

If you're lucky, the display you're interested in has been reviewed at a site like Tom's Hardware or TFT Central which will often measure the native color gamut and show you the gamut plot in the review.

Also, the stated gamut of a display has a lot more value if the display actually represents that gamut accurately. The Tom's Hardware reviews tell you how accurately a display covers sRGB or Adobe RGB, and how much of those gamuts it can actually reach (since some "Adobe RGB" displays might only cover 95% or 98% of Adobe RGB). You can see those comparisons if you scroll down in that last link I posted.


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## Arrow (Sep 8, 2016)

Thanks everyone for all the helpful advice, I now understand a lot more thanks to your help.


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