Laptop requirements for image processing?

bertwert · 05-22-2020, 10:02 PM

Interesting... now I've been looking at display specs all day... it seems that a lot of laptops in this price range (including the one I'm considering) with similar specs and FHD IPS displays all seem to have sRGB coverage of only around 60% (according to notebookcheck tests). That seems pretty poor but I don't think I'm going to stress it too much - as the optometrist always claims I'm colourblind... Anyways, photography is just for myself and not professionally, as well as my current display is only rated about 55%, that I haven't noticed any banding or other problems with what I do. If I get more picky in the future, I've been reading about this colour-corection by numbers, and an external monitor could also be a possibility.

As an aside, though a bit related, are my images way off at all? (Or oversaturated, as that can be a problem with lower colour coverage - I'm not a Ken Rockwell impersonator...) I'm really not sure, but I think they look fine colour wise on my laptop and phone... Some here: Robert Caldwell | Flickr

gatorguy · 05-23-2020, 04:53 AM

Originally posted by bertwert

Interesting... now I've been looking at display specs all day... it seems that a lot of laptops in this price range (including the one I'm considering) with similar specs and FHD IPS displays all seem to have sRGB coverage of only around 60% (according to notebookcheck tests). That seems pretty poor but I don't think I'm going to stress it too much - as the optometrist always claims I'm colourblind... Anyways, photography is just for myself and not professionally, as well as my current display is only rated about 55%, that I haven't noticed any banding or other problems with what I do. If I get more picky in the future, I've been reading about this colour-corection by numbers, and an external monitor could also be a possibility.

As an aside, though a bit related, are my images way off at all? (Or oversaturated, as that can be a problem with lower colour coverage - I'm not a Ken Rockwell impersonator...) I'm really not sure, but I think they look fine colour wise on my laptop and phone... Some here: Robert Caldwell | Flickr

My apologies if I've sent you down the colorspace rabbit hole. It comes from my job, graphic design and printing, and I'm pretty anal about it after 38 years.

Anyway there's one I recommended to a part-timer of mine and he seems relatively happy with it other than he wishes it had longer battery life. It's definitely in the price range you're looking at, and 97% sRGB coverage. (You don't care about aRGB)
HP Pavilion Gaming Laptop - 15t (7GE00AV_1)

This is the one that would look most attractive to me on a budget but in a new "open-box" at Amazon it's still $900 which may be more than you want to spend. Excellent specs, and you'll appreciate the extra RAM.
amazon.com: ASUS VivoBook S15 S532 Thin & Light 15.6?tag=pentaxforums-20& FHD, Intel Core i7-8565U CPU, 12GB RAM, 512GB PCIe NVMe SSD, NVIDIA GeForce MX250 Graphics, IR Camera, Windows 10 Home, S532FL-DB77, Transparent Silver: Computers & Accessories

Gaming computers very often make great photo-editing machines. I've even begun upgrading my large-format services to them with Dell Aurora Ryzen's. So far very positive.

EDIT: Gosh after you got my interest I'm frankly surprised at the low prices some of the very nicely appointed laptops are selling for. Here's another:
https://www.amazon.com/Dell-Inspiron-15-6-Touchscreen-Quad-Core/dp/B0865N2L5...dp_ob_title_ce

bertwert · 05-23-2020, 08:41 AM

Originally posted by gatorguy

My apologies if I've sent you down the colorspace rabbit hole. It comes from my job, graphic design and printing, and I'm pretty anal about it after 38 years.

No worries (well, maybe a bit...

), it's always good to learn more...

Interesting machines you've linked there - problem is the $800 budget I'm looking at is in Canadian, and because the silly dollar is low, that those are closer to $1200 Canadian over here... not to mention there seems to be less availability of different versions up here... I do realise I need to compromise with my budget, but the question is where to compromise... I'll keep looking around still, maybe at those more gaming focused laptops - though it seems that their batteries are generally close to non-existent...

**Apet-Sure** · 05-23-2020, 10:24 AM

Originally posted by gatorguy

My apologies if I've sent you down the colorspace rabbit hole.

Yeah, same here. If you have vision problems related to color then maybe IPS is unnecessary overkill. Makes me count my blessings that my color vision is OK.

bertwert · 05-23-2020, 10:38 AM

Originally posted by Apet-Sure

Yeah, same here. If you have vision problems related to color then maybe IPS is unnecessary overkill. Makes me count my blessings that my color vision is OK.

I wouldn't say I have colour vision problems, but the optometrist argues I do... anyways I've never noticed any problems in everyday life

Even if I can't appreciate more colours, I can appreciate the added viewing angle of IPS, my current display isn't very useable at any angle other than straight on, and it's glossy reflecting everything...

**Apet-Sure** · 05-23-2020, 11:29 AM - **1 Like**

I used a glossy screen laptop for while. It was supposed to give better definition, but the reflections were a constant annoyance. Will never go that route again.

05-23-2020, 04:53 AM	#32
gatorguy Moderator Join Date: Feb 2015 Location: Central Florida Photos: Gallery Posts: 6,092	Originally posted by bertwert Interesting... now I've been looking at display specs all day... it seems that a lot of laptops in this price range (including the one I'm considering) with similar specs and FHD IPS displays all seem to have sRGB coverage of only around 60% (according to notebookcheck tests). That seems pretty poor but I don't think I'm going to stress it too much - as the optometrist always claims I'm colourblind... Anyways, photography is just for myself and not professionally, as well as my current display is only rated about 55%, that I haven't noticed any banding or other problems with what I do. If I get more picky in the future, I've been reading about this colour-corection by numbers, and an external monitor could also be a possibility. As an aside, though a bit related, are my images way off at all? (Or oversaturated, as that can be a problem with lower colour coverage - I'm not a Ken Rockwell impersonator...) I'm really not sure, but I think they look fine colour wise on my laptop and phone... Some here: Robert Caldwell \| Flickr My apologies if I've sent you down the colorspace rabbit hole. It comes from my job, graphic design and printing, and I'm pretty anal about it after 38 years. Anyway there's one I recommended to a part-timer of mine and he seems relatively happy with it other than he wishes it had longer battery life. It's definitely in the price range you're looking at, and 97% sRGB coverage. (You don't care about aRGB) HP Pavilion Gaming Laptop - 15t (7GE00AV_1) This is the one that would look most attractive to me on a budget but in a new "open-box" at Amazon it's still $900 which may be more than you want to spend. Excellent specs, and you'll appreciate the extra RAM. amazon.com: ASUS VivoBook S15 S532 Thin & Light 15.6?tag=pentaxforums-20& FHD, Intel Core i7-8565U CPU, 12GB RAM, 512GB PCIe NVMe SSD, NVIDIA GeForce MX250 Graphics, IR Camera, Windows 10 Home, S532FL-DB77, Transparent Silver: Computers & Accessories Gaming computers very often make great photo-editing machines. I've even begun upgrading my large-format services to them with Dell Aurora Ryzen's. So far very positive. EDIT: Gosh after you got my interest I'm frankly surprised at the low prices some of the very nicely appointed laptops are selling for. Here's another: https://www.amazon.com/Dell-Inspiron-15-6-Touchscreen-Quad-Core/dp/B0865N2L5...dp_ob_title_ce Last edited by gatorguy; 05-23-2020 at 05:50 AM.

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05-22-2020, 10:02 PM	#31
bertwert Veteran Member Join Date: Jun 2015 Location: Golden, BC Posts: 15,173 Original Poster	Interesting... now I've been looking at display specs all day... it seems that a lot of laptops in this price range (including the one I'm considering) with similar specs and FHD IPS displays all seem to have sRGB coverage of only around 60% (according to notebookcheck tests). That seems pretty poor but I don't think I'm going to stress it too much - as the optometrist always claims I'm colourblind... Anyways, photography is just for myself and not professionally, as well as my current display is only rated about 55%, that I haven't noticed any banding or other problems with what I do. If I get more picky in the future, I've been reading about this colour-corection by numbers, and an external monitor could also be a possibility. As an aside, though a bit related, are my images way off at all? (Or oversaturated, as that can be a problem with lower colour coverage - I'm not a Ken Rockwell impersonator...) I'm really not sure, but I think they look fine colour wise on my laptop and phone... Some here: Robert Caldwell \| Flickr

05-23-2020, 08:41 AM	#33
bertwert Veteran Member Join Date: Jun 2015 Location: Golden, BC Posts: 15,173 Original Poster	Originally posted by gatorguy My apologies if I've sent you down the colorspace rabbit hole. It comes from my job, graphic design and printing, and I'm pretty anal about it after 38 years. No worries (well, maybe a bit... ), it's always good to learn more... Interesting machines you've linked there - problem is the $800 budget I'm looking at is in Canadian, and because the silly dollar is low, that those are closer to $1200 Canadian over here... not to mention there seems to be less availability of different versions up here... I do realise I need to compromise with my budget, but the question is where to compromise... I'll keep looking around still, maybe at those more gaming focused laptops - though it seems that their batteries are generally close to non-existent...

05-23-2020, 10:24 AM	#34
Apet-Sure Site Supporter Join Date: Dec 2015 Location: Goldsboro North Carolina Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 2,861	Originally posted by gatorguy My apologies if I've sent you down the colorspace rabbit hole. Yeah, same here. If you have vision problems related to color then maybe IPS is unnecessary overkill. Makes me count my blessings that my color vision is OK.

05-23-2020, 10:38 AM	#35
bertwert Veteran Member Join Date: Jun 2015 Location: Golden, BC Posts: 15,173 Original Poster	Originally posted by Apet-Sure Yeah, same here. If you have vision problems related to color then maybe IPS is unnecessary overkill. Makes me count my blessings that my color vision is OK. I wouldn't say I have colour vision problems, but the optometrist argues I do... anyways I've never noticed any problems in everyday life Even if I can't appreciate more colours, I can appreciate the added viewing angle of IPS, my current display isn't very useable at any angle other than straight on, and it's glossy reflecting everything...

05-23-2020, 11:29 AM - 1 Like	#36
Apet-Sure Site Supporter Join Date: Dec 2015 Location: Goldsboro North Carolina Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 2,861	I used a glossy screen laptop for while. It was supposed to give better definition, but the reflections were a constant annoyance. Will never go that route again.