# Monitor for photo editing and RAM



## alaios

Dear all, I would like to buy my first photo editing monitor (upgrading from a 17 inch cheap laptop). I would like to stay in the order of 300 euros with a monitor that comes also with the needed shades.  What would you recommend? Inches size it should be 24 and not larger as it will not fit easily on my small desk. SRGB full support is needed too. (Do I need any special external card to drive it?)  Regards Alex


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## Tony Jay

Hi Alex.

If you really want a monitor that can do photo-editing work then a monitor with the broadest possible display gamut is the way to go.
Currently the best monitors approximate the gamut of AdobeRGB (much larger than sRGB).

Eizo, NEC, and Dell have monitors capable of high-end editing work.
The key is not only the gamut of the display (although it is important) but also the edge-to-edge consistency of tone and colour.
The challenge is the monitors like this are probably not cheap.

I would suggest a trip to each companies website and check out their wares and then check out retailers close to you that stock what you want.

Tony Jay


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## alaios

Thanks... I thought that it would be wise since I am now starting with photography I should stick and stay consistent with srgb.. That would keep my costs low, allow me to still do some nice work and reduce complexity, so I can focus on learning lighting and expressing me as an artist. If I really grow up more then I could move to the argb gamut. Is this a viable plan? I hope it is


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## Replytoken

I am always partial to most of NEC's IPS panels.  They are sold at various price/feature points, so you may want to have a look.

Good luck,

--Ken


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## Tony Jay

alaios said:


> Thanks... I thought that it would be wise since I am now starting with photography I should stick and stay consistent with srgb.. That would keep my costs low, allow me to still do some nice work and reduce complexity, so I can focus on learning lighting and expressing me as an artist. If I really grow up more then I could move to the argb gamut. *Is this a viable plan? I hope it is*


No!
You are simply deliberately hobbling yourself.
Any cheap monitor - including what you own now can display sRGB.
If you really want to do what you state then save your money.
There is a bigger issue here: It seems to me that you are confused about colour management and even bigger issues of workflow generally.
You always want to edit in an environment that can display the biggest colour gamut possible.
Another issue is that most (all?) cheap monitors are unable to be run at a luminance that is most advantageous for photo-editing work, or, if they do then the quality of what they display at such low luminances is exceptionally poor.

I am sorry if it appears that I am pouring cold water on your plan but in its current iteration it is just a waste of money. Rather save your simeolons for now and save up for a worthwhile purchase.
In the meantime learn about colour management to better appreciate why it stated what I did above.

Tony Jay


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## alaios

Thanks guys and even more Tony jay for his real honest answer. You are sure I do not know many things about color management but to be honest I though that sticking to srgb would help me ignore for now the color conversion problems, most users typically complain from argb to srgb. My laptop has only 70% srgb support and I can guarantee anyone that is a big pain in the ass... I am editing shots there and they just look different on different screens.  I thought that I could get started with some 300 euros dell laptops for photography https://photographylife.com/how-to-properly-calibrate-dell-u2413-u2713h-u3014-monitors  to my knowledge these give very good srgb support so far and this is the reason I thought I could try and use one as a starting point.  More advice is always welcome Alex


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## Jim Wilde

I think the complaints about using wide gamut monitors centre around the fact that, at least on Windows, a lot of the desktop "stuff" that Windows displays (application desktop icons, desktop background wallpaper, etc.) isn't colour managed....so they tend to look over-saturated. It's no big deal, just needs a bit of getting used to, that's all. As long as you stick to fully colour-managed applications for your photo editing and viewing, and make sure your browser is correctly enabled for colour-management, then you'll be fine and you can then start to reap the benefits of the wide gamut in your photo editing workflow.


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## Tony Jay

Alex, I think it is clear now that your knowledge of colour management really is lacking.
Colourspace conversions have absolutely and irrevocably nothing to do with the gamut of a monitor and will not prevent trouble with colourspace conversions.

Honestly, please learn about the fundamentals of colour management before wasting money on a fruitless purchase.
Do you understand that any image in Lightroom is edited in ProPhotoRGB?
You have no choice in this.
It is only in exporting an image that AdobeRGB or sRGB are available as a colourspace.

Tony Jay


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## alaios

Thanks for clarifying that. I did not know about that.. I though always that the color editing takes part in srgb or argb.... Where should I start learning more about color management and which 24 inches monitor with shades I can buy at the 300 euros price range? Regards Alex


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## alaios

any answer  to keep me learning about color management and perhaps buying the best monitor for my budget


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## gavin

I've used APPLE monitors for imaging work in the past. If you are looking for ones, I'd like to recommend you http://thedigitalcamera.net/best-monitor-for-photo-editing-and-photography/


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## alaios

what would be a price range for a good monitor? I can find these "guides" too but I wonder what would be your "experience".  Regards Alex  P.S From the guide you gave me above  that costs only (why?) 200 euros? http://www.amazon.de/Dell-LED-Monit...8&qid=1429168355&sr=8-2&keywords=Dell+UP2414Q  I would be willing to spend up to 300 euros for 24 inches if I can even get better quality.. Although from the author's suggestions I could only find that monitor at 200 euros and everything else goes over 550 euros... Why that price gap?


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## Jim Wilde

That monitor seems very good value for an IPS panel. See here, this is one of the most comprehensive monitor reviews sites that I'm aware of.


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## alaios

cool then that it costs only 200 euros  Where I can buy shades from? Alex


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## alaios

Btw that monitor (According to the review) "Missing DVI and VGA connections, may be limited for some"  I have a on old laptop to connect on that monitor that has the classical vga.. What type of adapter I need? Any other monitor suggestions at 300euros to get perhaps a bit more? Regards Alex


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## alaios

Hey everyone. I would be ordering my monitor today. Is there a reason to worry since I have on my laptop the typical blueish old VGA port? Regards Alex


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## Jim Wilde

The monitor would typically ship with a DVI to DVI cable, but would likely also include a VGA to DVI adapter. If not, they're easy enough to buy.


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## Modesto Vega

If you are buying the Dell U2414H, you should be fine, it has a resolution of 1920 x 1200 @ 60hz. Hopefully in Germany they ship it with the VGA cable, as they should.

VGA is only an issue if you are going for a resolution of something like 3840 x 2160 which requires an HDMI cable.


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## alaios

Thanks for all the great replies! Actually last night accidentaly found a newer model, slightly larger bit more expensive though. In the pros is the highest resolution. Srgb coverage is 99%http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/reviews/dell_u2515h.htmI am worried about the given cons about the reviewer"IPS glow at normal levels, had maybe hoped for low-glow like recent U2414H"


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## alaios

any comments for my post above regarding the monitor?http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/reviews/dell_u2515h.htmI


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## alaios

Correction: The link for the monitor is this one:  http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/reviews/dell_u2515h.htm


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## harryjackson442

Hi Alex, here are the monitors I recommend for photo editing; Dell U2410, ASUS PA248Q, ViewSonic VP2365-LED, DELL U2412M, NEC PA241W-BK,


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## Victoria Bampton

Welcome to the forum Harry.  Nice website home page - looks like there's plenty of good information there.


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## harryjackson442

Victoria Bampton said:


> Welcome to the forum Harry.  Nice website home page - looks like there's plenty of good information there.


Thanks Vic. Am glad to hear that. I saw your website too. Looks good to me. Keep up the good works.


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## Tony Jay

alexascott said:


> Highly recommend you to puy attention at Dell Models and LG. According to a lot authority reviews, such as Best monitors of 2016, Best Monitors for Photographers 2016 - BestAdvisor.com and Technology reviews, advice, videos, news and forums - PC Advisor, LG seems a really good choice for nowadays, and it's nit surprising, color support - 16, 7 million colors! 16,7 million colors, Karl!
> I purchased this IPS monitor directly from LG . Dell has the same color support.
> Super bright, nice quality, and looks good with my 390 R9. Some say it takes a while getting used to playing games on a ultra widescreen. For me, it took all a minute to appreciate the view. Also, not sure it's in the discription, but it is wall mountable with the standard 4 hole configuration.
> You'll be extremely satisfied!



Hi Alexa - welcome to Lightroom Forums!

I looked at the link you provided.
Some of the monitors are indeed good for photo-editing.
(I know this from knowledge gained independently of this review - some of it from personal experience with some of the brands)

However the actual reviewers clearly have no idea about what makes a monitor a good one for photo-editing IMHO.
Highlighting how bright a monitor can get is almost never helpful.
In fact how low the luminance can go is much more important.
This is especially important if one is printing images.
Edge-to-edge consistency across the monitor is also crucial - most monitors drop-off toward the edges and corners. 
How each brand handles calibration is only dealt with sporadically through each review.
The less said about the claims about colour that are highlighted by the reviewers the better!

So I am afraid that I would not act on this review but rather go to sites dedicated to photography that also understand the technical aspects of colour management and softproofing for printing to look for reviews for good monitors.

That said it is clear that the playing field for monitors appropriate for photo-editing is growing and becoming more competitive.

Tony Jay


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## sty2586

Prad.de 
Makes very useful tests, comparisons and so on.
Also in English 

Franz


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## Tony Jay

Browse Articles

Try the link above.
It is part of a much larger site called imagescience.com.au
The link is specific for learning about colour-accurate monitors but the site is a veritable mine of information about everything from colour spaces, softproofing, printing and printers, and of course monitors.
This particular company have a marketing strategy that believes in educating and informing prospective customers using high-quality articles dealing with the above subjects.

Disclaimer: although this site is a commercial site I have no connection to this company.

Tony Jay


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