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I'm a professional photographer and have spent the past few years saving up for an entirely new computer setup, which is very much needed at this point. These are my rough specs for a build, now I've just got to figure out which monitor to get to go with it. I'll be using this machine primarily for photo editing, although there will be some HD video editing as well. I've got several hundred thousand photos to edit and process and am looking for a monitor that will be as accurate and precise as possible for doing so.
I wasted countless hours fine-tuning and adjusting the color, brightness, saturation etc on thousands of photos on my old monitor back in the day only to one day realize that just about everything was off with that monitor and the way I'd been editing all the pictures for that screen made them look terrible on virtually every other monitor and display...so basically I want that never to happen again. I got the NEC MultiSync LCD1990SXi with Spectraview calibration software about 4.5 years ago in early '08 to ensure accuracy when editing my photos but it's quite aged at this point and is no longer calibrating to the specs that I set for it, plus the 1280 x 1024 resolution is a pain.
So I'm looking for recommendations for a new monitor that will be the best possible choice for a substantial amount of pro photo editing and will give me the best color, accuracy, display etc for the job. I'd like to keep the cost under $1,500 USD but can go higher if deemed necessary (at the cost of downgrading my build components to stay within the total budget).
At the moment I'm considering the following models (but am still very open to other suggestions) --
NEC PA241W-BK-SV ($1,079.99 from B&H)
NEC P241W-BK-SV ($849.95 from B&H)
NEC PA271W-BK-SV ($1,449.95 from B&H)
Eizo ColorEdge CG243W ($1,719.00 from B&H)
Of these, is there a clear winner for my type of work? Or perhaps another model that beats out all of these four?
I was originally just going to buy the PA241W and call it a day since it seemed to meet all my needs at a great price but after doing a bit more research I'm not so sure. There are numerous reports online of issues with backlight bleeding with the PA241W, although presumably I'd be able to return mine if I experienced that and get a replacement that doesn't have that issue. There also seem to be complaints about its black levels, which concerns me. In addition, there are also complaints about motion blur when viewing videos/movies or when gaming. This doesn't concern me as much since I'll primarily be using this for photo editing, but it's still a strike against this model. Lastly, there are reports of the anti-glare coating making everything appear unnaturally grainy, which sounds like it would interfere with precision photo editing (trying to correct grain in the photo that's not really there) -- but this seems to be an issue with all four models, so I don't think it's exclusive to the PA241, and I don't know how bad the grain actually is or how much it would really interfere with photo editing. I don't know if my current monitor (NEC LCD1990SXi) has the same anti-glare coating as these, but if it does then I can safely say it wouldn't be an issue since there's no noticeable grain with this screen.
The P241W has the advantage of being the least expensive of the bunch as well as being newer than the PA241 and overall the P241 seems to be better reviewed across the web than the PA241. I haven't found many complaints or negative reviews on the P241, nowhere near as many as with the PA241, but I imagine that may mostly come from the fact that the PA241 is considerably more reviewed in general since it's been around longer and there's more feedback for it. However, the PA241 supports wide gamut while the P241 does not, the PA241 has a 10-bit panel vs the P241's 8-bit panel, the PA241 has 1.07 billion displayable colors vs 16.7 million with the P241 and this video comparing the two shows that the viewing angle is considerably better on the PA241 than the P241 (assuming that that's the PA241 on the left...the video doesn't actually specify which is which). So I'm still sort of torn between the two.
Then there's the PA271W which I can't determine is worth the extra $370 over the PA241 or $600 over the P241. Ignoring the larger size, it seems to have the same advantages over the P241 that the PA241 has although the specs seem slightly worse for the PA271 than for the PA241 for some reason...but I don't know if it would result in any noticeable differences between the two. Also, the reviews for the PA271 seem more positive than for the PA241 but it's hard to tell if the PA271 suffers from the same drawbacks as the PA241 or not.
And finally there's the Eizo CG243W which is the best reviewed and seems to have the least issues but is also the most expensive, especially since it doesn't come with a calibration system like the NEC models do, so the total price ends up being around $1,900 - $2,000 when including the cost of a separate calibration system. (Note: I was able to find this monitor for $1,500 new on another site which makes it a more appealing option but the vendor isn't as reputable as B&H and the return policy isn't as good.)
Coming from the LCD1990SXi and comparing the specs of those 4 with this one, it seems clear that they would all offer a vast improvement over what I've got now, but I'm having a hard time deciding which would suit my needs the best and which would be the best investment, so if anyone here could help me out it would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance!
I wasted countless hours fine-tuning and adjusting the color, brightness, saturation etc on thousands of photos on my old monitor back in the day only to one day realize that just about everything was off with that monitor and the way I'd been editing all the pictures for that screen made them look terrible on virtually every other monitor and display...so basically I want that never to happen again. I got the NEC MultiSync LCD1990SXi with Spectraview calibration software about 4.5 years ago in early '08 to ensure accuracy when editing my photos but it's quite aged at this point and is no longer calibrating to the specs that I set for it, plus the 1280 x 1024 resolution is a pain.
So I'm looking for recommendations for a new monitor that will be the best possible choice for a substantial amount of pro photo editing and will give me the best color, accuracy, display etc for the job. I'd like to keep the cost under $1,500 USD but can go higher if deemed necessary (at the cost of downgrading my build components to stay within the total budget).
At the moment I'm considering the following models (but am still very open to other suggestions) --
NEC PA241W-BK-SV ($1,079.99 from B&H)
NEC P241W-BK-SV ($849.95 from B&H)
NEC PA271W-BK-SV ($1,449.95 from B&H)
Eizo ColorEdge CG243W ($1,719.00 from B&H)
Of these, is there a clear winner for my type of work? Or perhaps another model that beats out all of these four?
I was originally just going to buy the PA241W and call it a day since it seemed to meet all my needs at a great price but after doing a bit more research I'm not so sure. There are numerous reports online of issues with backlight bleeding with the PA241W, although presumably I'd be able to return mine if I experienced that and get a replacement that doesn't have that issue. There also seem to be complaints about its black levels, which concerns me. In addition, there are also complaints about motion blur when viewing videos/movies or when gaming. This doesn't concern me as much since I'll primarily be using this for photo editing, but it's still a strike against this model. Lastly, there are reports of the anti-glare coating making everything appear unnaturally grainy, which sounds like it would interfere with precision photo editing (trying to correct grain in the photo that's not really there) -- but this seems to be an issue with all four models, so I don't think it's exclusive to the PA241, and I don't know how bad the grain actually is or how much it would really interfere with photo editing. I don't know if my current monitor (NEC LCD1990SXi) has the same anti-glare coating as these, but if it does then I can safely say it wouldn't be an issue since there's no noticeable grain with this screen.
The P241W has the advantage of being the least expensive of the bunch as well as being newer than the PA241 and overall the P241 seems to be better reviewed across the web than the PA241. I haven't found many complaints or negative reviews on the P241, nowhere near as many as with the PA241, but I imagine that may mostly come from the fact that the PA241 is considerably more reviewed in general since it's been around longer and there's more feedback for it. However, the PA241 supports wide gamut while the P241 does not, the PA241 has a 10-bit panel vs the P241's 8-bit panel, the PA241 has 1.07 billion displayable colors vs 16.7 million with the P241 and this video comparing the two shows that the viewing angle is considerably better on the PA241 than the P241 (assuming that that's the PA241 on the left...the video doesn't actually specify which is which). So I'm still sort of torn between the two.
Then there's the PA271W which I can't determine is worth the extra $370 over the PA241 or $600 over the P241. Ignoring the larger size, it seems to have the same advantages over the P241 that the PA241 has although the specs seem slightly worse for the PA271 than for the PA241 for some reason...but I don't know if it would result in any noticeable differences between the two. Also, the reviews for the PA271 seem more positive than for the PA241 but it's hard to tell if the PA271 suffers from the same drawbacks as the PA241 or not.
And finally there's the Eizo CG243W which is the best reviewed and seems to have the least issues but is also the most expensive, especially since it doesn't come with a calibration system like the NEC models do, so the total price ends up being around $1,900 - $2,000 when including the cost of a separate calibration system. (Note: I was able to find this monitor for $1,500 new on another site which makes it a more appealing option but the vendor isn't as reputable as B&H and the return policy isn't as good.)
Coming from the LCD1990SXi and comparing the specs of those 4 with this one, it seems clear that they would all offer a vast improvement over what I've got now, but I'm having a hard time deciding which would suit my needs the best and which would be the best investment, so if anyone here could help me out it would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance!
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