Budget photographer

[preolt]

Hey TH forum goers,

I am just finishing up my first build and have yet to find a monitor I like. I currently have picked out the Dell Ultra sharp 24" and 23" versions. The color gamut for the 24" is almost 10x that of the 23" but is also 500 bones instead of 280. Do you guys have any advice? I would prefer it to be a higher quality panel. It does not need to have 1920x1200 native ill settle for 1920x1080.

I really dont have the money to go above 350$ (darn you college tuition =.=) but I guess I can finish some commissions and save a little longer for a higher quality one. I will be using this for photography mainly but also for some gaming, might hook my ps3 to it if possible.

Thanks for the help guys.

 

[MauveCloud]

Have a look at the comparison near the bottom of http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/reviews/dell_u2311h.htm
The U2410 supports a wider color gamut, though I think 10x is an exaggeration based on the graphs on the review for it, and that also means the U2410 may require more calibration. It also has pathetic static contrast compared to the U2311H. On the other hand, the U2311H has poor panel uniformity, and would be difficult to connect a PS3 to, since it has neither HDMI nor component inputs. The HP ZR24W is less expensive than the U2410 with better panel uniformity, and can be calibrated just as well, though the static contrast isn't much better.

 

[MauveCloud]

The BX2450 is a TN panel with a (presumably) low-end LED backlight, which means it would probably have weak color accuracy, and thus would not be desirable for a photographer.

 

[preolt]

Thanks cloudy, that is a nice monitor but I am looking for more of an ips panel. The color gamut and contrast ratio is much higher on the ips panels from what I have been reading. Also the fact that you can rotate the monitor to portrait mode would be a major time savor for me when doing senior pictures (Usually all portraits except for personal ones.) Thanks though for your input though.

 

[preolt]

So what would you suggest I purchase to fit my needs? In your personal opinion. I read the article mostly and found some of it useful but still unsure on a decision..

 

[jaguarskx]

The Dell U2311h best fits your needs if you play games and do photo work.

An alternative is the NEC EA231WMi if you do not play fast pace games. Here's a review:

http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/reviews/nec_ea231wmi.htm


The difference between the Dell and the NEC is the LCD panel. Both use e-IPS panels. However, the Dell U2311h uses 6-bit color technology which means it must use dithering create 16.7m colors out of an actual 256k colors. Some people have said they noticed a bit of color banding with this monitor. It is basically like a hybrid of a TN panel (6-bit color as well) and a true 8-bit LCD panel. This is based on newly released information about e-IPS panels released in Feb. 2011.

The NEC EA231WMi uses an 8-bit e-IPS panel, therefore it can truly created 16.7m colors unlike the Dell H2311h (and TN panel monitors). The downside to this monitor is the response time of 14ms. Unlike most LCD monitors, this NEC does not use RTC (Response Time Compensation) to reduce the response time. Therefore, it is not quite as good as the Dell in fast action games. But it is better for color accuracy.


Regarding LED backlighting...

Currently all consumer level "LED monitors" use W-LED (white LED) which are known to be slightly bluish in color (68% color gamut). This is because the LEDs are actually blue with a yellow phosphor coating to simulate white. Only RBG-LED can truly create white since it combines Red, Green and Blue LEDs. However, this technology is rather expensive to implement.