[Bcrary3]

I don't know if I am the only one struggling with this, but I would like to know what is considered the best monitors for photo editing.
Here are some details, because I know the more you spend the better they get, and I cannot afford a few thousand dollars on each monitor! Haha

I am looking for something in the 24-27" range, no bigger or smaller if possible, I need something that produces great colour, and is very accurate, no washed out colours, preferably anti-reflective (not a must), something that looks nice, has a resolution of 1920x1200 (or bigger), and something that has a wide colour gamaut (and I am obviously talking IPS panel). Now, this isn't hard, you can easily find monitors that fit the bill, just none that I can easily afford.
My budget for this is no more than $350.00 PER PANEL. I will be purchasing two, but they cannot exceed $350. The less the cost, the better, but I'd like to keep it over $200 each

Any help that could be provided would be excellent, thanks!
Also, please keep in mind that I need the absolute best in this price range as I am doing this as a business.

[amoringello]

Any IPS LED monitor will work great. Non-IPS will not calibrate well.
Personally I love the ViewSonic, as they are rather inexpensive but good quality.

I don't know how much quality really varies, but the IPS seem to be very accurate and hold their color well.
I have an Apple iMac and the two calibrate and match well against each other.

Of course, I've seen some of the Dell 12-bit monitors pretty cheap at times. But I do't really know how well they work... additionally you'll need a video card that supports the wider color gamut, of course. If you have a new PC with a high end card, they may be worth looking into.

[Bcrary3]

My brother has two Dell Ultrasharp U2412's, and from what I can tell the colour isn't very accurate compared to other monitors. I like them and all, I'd just like something with more accurate colour. And I don't think I need to worry about the colour depth of my GPU (I am currently running an EVGA GeForce GTX 560ti SuperClocked). I am looking at Dell, HP, Samsung, and NEC. But can't decide!

[amoringello]

Do you or does he calibrate/profile the monitors? Without calibration and profiling, the monitors may be a bit off even when using the same brand/model.

You are not going to get $6000 performance from a $350 monitor, but as long as you calibrate your monitors the IPS models should do very well.
If you're business is in advertising and you need *exact* match to pantone colors across the AdobeRGB gamut, spend the money! Legally you can't afford to f* up the colors.

For most anything else, the slight differences in color accuracy won't matter. Consistency is going to matter more, and IPS is going to give you that. (although accuracy is still going to be pretty darned good) . You're going to have to adjust for print profile anyway, so as long as the monitor is consistent, you'l be able to create "color accurate" prints.


Honestly, I would suggest looking at some review sites. Unless someone has a wide range of monitors in their home/studio, you probably won't get much more than subjective anecdotal stories of perceived "accuracy".

I can say that both the iMac monitor and the ViewSonic calibrate pretty closely. The test scan shows each fairly close with some pretty straight R,G,B curves and well within limits as far as the "worst" matching color(s). As far as which is "better" or more accurate? Dunno, each is closer on some colors than the other. My opinion is that you'll find a lot results to that effect unless you find professional level comparisons against many monitors.

[Miguel]

I don't know if I am the only one struggling with this, but I would like to know what is considered the best monitors for photo editing.
Here are some details, because I know the more you spend the better they get, and I cannot afford a few thousand dollars on each monitor! Haha

I am looking for something in the 24-27" range, no bigger or smaller if possible, I need something that produces great colour, and is very accurate, no washed out colours, preferably anti-reflective (not a must), something that looks nice, has a resolution of 1920x1200 (or bigger), and something that has a wide colour gamaut (and I am obviously talking IPS panel). Now, this isn't hard, you can easily find monitors that fit the bill, just none that I can easily afford.
My budget for this is no more than $350.00 PER PANEL. I will be purchasing two, but they cannot exceed $350. The less the cost, the better, but I'd like to keep it over $200 each

Any help that could be provided would be excellent, thanks!
Also, please keep in mind that I need the absolute best in this price range as I am doing this as a business.

Monoprice has a cheap IPS 27-in monitor about at your price range. I've heard decent things about it.
Just get two, but budget for a calibration puck.
M

[SyncGuy]

Monoprice has a cheap IPS 27-in monitor about at your price range. I've heard decent things about it.
Just get two, but budget for a calibration puck.
M

Hmm.... I've been thinking of getting a budget monitor too!

I'm pretty much "fixed" at the Asus PA246Q, perhaps TS would like to consider it too? And would others be able to chime in on it?

[maxfield_photo]

I picked up an NEC Multisync P232W for $350 from B&H's used department. I think I got quite a deal, but you'll have a hard time finding two used of the same model. It may not be impossible though, some commercial studios get new monitors every year. Just after the holidays would be a good time to check.

[jatrax]

And no matter which one you get you should add a calibration tool to the budget. Without true calibration you are just guessing.

[David&karen]

The Dell U2412 works very well, and I calibrate monthly with a color monkey spectrometer. My prints(we use adorama pix) match darn near exactly when you tell them to not adjust your prints from your specs. Using a current mac mini with 16gb of ram.

David