Best 27"+ screen for photographer?

friscomgm

n00b
Joined
Jul 5, 2013
Messages
17
Alright guys, longtime reader but I've never actually posted on the forums. Anyhow, I've been a full-time photographer for a long time and have edited on many different screens over the years. However I am looking to upgrade my monitor setup to what is currently the best available for my needs and am having trouble deciding what to get. I have some old Dell u2410 monitors that I am currently using without any problems, but need more real estate. I am looking into a pair of 27's, pair of 30's, or potentially a single 4K PQ321 31.5" from ASUS. I need something that meets the following criteria:

1) 2560x1440 or higher resolution and the largest screen size possible
2) Excellent sRGB
3) Preferably flicker free, but I do not know if I have sensitivity to this or not to be honest
4) Free from the obvious issues of cross hatching, dead/hot pixels, etc.
5) A less aggressive AG coating is preferred

My computer is a 100% workstation - I do not game, watch movies, or do anything except edit photos and videos. So motion and 120hz and such do not matter at all, but I would prefer something that has minimal eye strain and I do edit video, so I am not looking at like 30hz tv's/displays. I have a 3770K, 32 gigs of RAM, lots of SSD's and HDD's and 660GTX Ti that I only use for hardware acceleration in the Adobe Creative Suite. Budget is not the primary concern, and I am willing to do NEC, Eizo, etc but haven't heard much on their newest models. For the most part I had settled on two Dell U3014's. However, with the exception of some users who have received rev. A02 monitors, it appears that model may have some issues. So I also looked at 27" models such as the LG27EA83R-D but then I read about issues with this monitor in sRGB and potential PWM flickering.

I work most of the time in an sRGB color space. I have experience with wide gamut displays and I do have an Xrite ColorMunki Display that I calibrate all of my screens with. I do not mind a wide gamut monitor as long as it has a good sRGB mode. My printed work is spot on to my current display setup, and I do shoot for printed catalogs very frequently, so this is very important to me.

Looking forward to the suggestions and thanks in advance!
 
It's hard to pick a full-proof option lately. Back in the day I could just get a LaCie EB 22" and call it a day, but now it's not so easy.

The U2711 might have been the best option if not for the AG coating; it has the appropriate gamut, and seems to avoid most of the teething issues plaguing newer models. Otherwise, I'm honestly not sure what to advise; I need two displays myself and I am leaning toward the wide gamut LG.
 
You might find the contrast on the 321 lacking. Beyond that, you want to get yourself a proper workstation GPU which supports 10+ bit colour and a similar monitor. You want a Nvidia Quadro or AMD FireGL card. Find out which monitors get 10 bits by dithering 8 bits and which have true 10 bit colour.
 
Silverfox1 - I had been following your thread very closely especially since Fry's has the monitor for $699 currently and I could just take them back if I don't like them - http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1770409

Do you guys think the dual 27's would be better than the single 4K screen? (It would also save me a couple grand, which would be nice).
 
I do a lot of post processing and and my preference is towards a higher end NEC monitor.
 
Also, I've had two screens, three screens, and sizes and combinations between 20 and 30". I think your best option is one 27 or 30", for photo editing, at least. When I had more than one screen, it wasn't pleasant having to turn my head side to side to access the parts of Photoshop that I had assigned to my secondary monitor. Just wasn't worth the space on my desk.
 
OP, what did you end up going with? I am debating on dual 27" monitors or a single 30". Leaning dual 27's.
 
Back
Top