Best monitor for photo editing and gaming.

[shoutout33]

Hello,

Building a new computer and need help with choosing a display. Per the message title, I need a really good monitor for Photo Editing (GIMP and hopefully Lightroom 3 very soon...), as well as some really nice gaming. (Games list: Resident Evil 5, Dead Space, Splinter Cell Conviction, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Chernobyl/Pripyat combo, Borderlands and GRAW 2. Sales are a beautiful thing. 😛) Looking for something in the $200-$300 price range, but not sure if I should get something as big as I can afford or get two smaller monitors and make a bigger one. 😛 Thank tons in advance.

 

[buwish]

This topic has been moved from the section Opinions and Experiences to section Computer Peripherals by Buwish

 

[rofl_my_waffle]

If you are doing professional photo editing then color accuracy of the panel might be of your interest.

TN panels are absolutely garbage for color accuracy. Unfortunately they are also the cheapest. Most monitors, probably over 99% of monitors on the market is TN.

Theres a few companies that make VA and IPS panels but unfortunately they are more expensive. Most of them would be out of budget.

The best one for that budget is the U2311H or U2211H. Both 1080P and e-IPS.
Can be found for $200 - $300 depending on how hard you look.

e-IPS is a more economical variant of the more expensive H-IPS with nearly the same performance. A 24" H-IPS monitor would cost $400 - $500.

IPS panels are much more color accurate and have little to no color shifts when vewing from an angle. Their black and white levels are superior to TN panels. The color saturation is also much higher than bland TN panels.

 

[shoutout33]

Aw come on people! No one has any feedback at all?

 

[shoutout33]

My bad waffle, just noticed your reply.

 

[jaguarskx]

Dell U2311h. Look for sales on Dell's site from time to time.

 

[jaguarskx]

If you are looking at spending more $$$, then the Planar PX2611w. It's selling for $900+ since it is no longer in production. It has an H-IPS panel, 5ms response time and less than 8ms input lag. 26" screen with 1920 x 1200 resolution.

 

[shoutout33]

Are those ms times too slow for gaming? Also, how do you check for colour gamut?

 

[jaguarskx]

The response time is very fast for an IPS panel; it's considered average for TN panels since most hardcore gamers want 2ms. Input lag is considered very low even for a TN panel monitor. If you want absolutely no ghosting then stick with CRT.

It is a great monitor for both gaming and professional editing. I recommended the Planar PX2611w to a friend who does professional graphics & editing and he loves it. I use this monitor as a secondary display. It's great for gaming being even though it's not a TN panel monitor and is excellent for photography short of dishing out $$$ for a professional level H-IPS monitor.

If you want an excellent monitor for gaming and photo editing, then I recommend buying two different monitors.

This is a wide gamut monitor. Basically that's great for color printouts bit it takes a little while to get used to on screen. Monitors now are wide gamut. The best normal color gamut monitor was the NEC LCD2490WUXi, bit it is no longer manufactured and it's not an great gaming monitor since it has high input lag of over 32ms.

 

[rofl_my_waffle]

You can check a monitors color gamut with a colorimeter if you have one.
Some manufacturers have report color gamut of their monitors, sometimes listed as color saturation.