My desktop monitor bit the dust this morning. I don’t use a laptop. I prefer a desktop, I don't like the way you have to position a laptop screen at just the right angle to see it. I have a huge desk and do everything computer related there. It can be big: it’s a big, deep desk. I like a big screen, I’m so near-sighted I normally enlarge everything.
What matters the most to me is that it have good color and resolution to be able to use Photoshop. For everything else I do, any monitor will work (right now I’m using an old monitor we saved for just such a contingency). I took a Photoshop Elements class in 2008, and afterward bought the monitor my instructor recommended, a Viewsonic E 90 fB.
I have a batch of jury shots from my photographer I need to tweak and format for applications, as well as vacation shots from fall I was less than half way through. The jury shots take priority, of course. I would appreciate your suggestions. Thanks!
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I just replaced my external monitor (along with my laptop) and I went with a Vizio 32". It was under $300 plus around $30 for the HDMI cable (get the more expensive gold cable) and I love it. There are lots of color adjustments to get it just right.
The most important thing to remember for jury images is to be sure they are in the sRGB color space. I sent a photograph out for printing once and forgot to change the color space and the colors came out weird.
I bought a new one, a 24" Viewsonic, after reading literally hundreds of reviews on Amazon. VP 2365 -LED. So far everything looks just like it did when I left off, though that's hardly a scientific observation. Now I just need to buy the calibration software. Suggestions for models that are easy to use for a non-technical person would be welcome.
I got an i1 Display Profiler from x-rite. Works great and pretty straightforward.
I loved my old Viewsonic, but my new Dell Ultrasharp is simply awesome! I have a 24-inch which is pretty reasonably priced and is just big enough.
OK, you pro photographers are in a different league than I am. I think $ 1000 will be too much. I am more concerned that what I see on the screen is really what I am sending as a jury image. (I figure if those are good, then the vacation shots will pass muster). I understand about calibration though I don’t know how to correct it if a monitor needs it. I did attend a few live juries and saw my projected images were just as I remembered them on my computer, plus saw my newest images just last weeks on a friend’s computer who has a top notch system, so my old monitor was good throughout its 7 year life span. Something that works in the sRGB space is perfect.
Although I will say that my biggest pet peeve about digital jurying is that *no one* specifies under what parameters images will be viewed. So, to a large degree, even images meticulously massaged in Photoshop on a perfectly calibrated monitor will turn to garrish mush when viewed by a jury in uncalibrated circumstances.
You can go on eBay and find older calibration systems for dirt cheap. My Xrite/Monaco cost me $350 new. I thought the colorimeter probe was bad, and XRite wouldn't fix it or send sevice data on it. I found another on ebay for about $25, which included a color target for the scanner that's worth $50+. Turned out I had a bad USB port on the PC, so now I have a back-up. The calibration software runs a response check on the monitor and generates a profile that loads automatically into the PC, and that delivers perfect color and gray scale rendering. All you have to do is follow the easy instructions as they come on the screen. Piece of cake ;-)
I'm using a couple of Samsung monitors. The older one is a SyncMaster 204B 20 inch monitor with a 3x4 aspect ratio that's about 8 years old and still works okay. Unfortunately my eyes don't, so I picked up a Samsung 27" 16x9 monitor that's a bit larger. Both calibrate well with my now ancient Xrite colorimeter, and what I print looks exactly like what I see on the screen. Both monitors work with the sRGB space but not the full Adobe RGB space as that bumps up price considerably. Consider that the reduced color space is what we submit jury images in, and most labs print from sRGB only (unfortunately). Current price is about $230.
It's not the resolution but the ability of the monitor to be calibrated. The best place to ask what other photographers are using is on a photography forum like http://www.dpreview.com/forums/
Larry Berman
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