27 Inch Monitor for Lightroom and General Use

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Handle9

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#248733 8-Apr-2019 05:11

We're starting to get into photography more seriously and want to buy a decent 27 Inch monitor for photo editing.

It'll also be my daily driver for work and general use. I don't want to spend a fortune so I was thinking 1440p but open to advice.

Budget is up to around $1k

Batman

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#2212508 8-Apr-2019 05:19

I have a 32 inch photo video editing 4k in dunedin for sale

Handle9

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#2212510 8-Apr-2019 05:27

Batman: I have a 32 inch photo video editing 4k in dunedin for sale

Free shipping to Dubai?

Andib

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#2212522 8-Apr-2019 07:41

I'd be looking at the Dell Ultrasharp range. I use a ultrasharp 34" as my daily driver and previously a 24" version and have never had issues.

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networkn

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#2212559 8-Apr-2019 08:41

As much as it pains me to recommend Dell for *anything* Ultrasharp are exceedingly hard to beat.

There are obviously high spec models from others, but value for money they are amazing.

Viewsonic have video/image editing specific models that I have always quite liked. They went through a period where they weren't that reliable, which is why I moved away but we have clients that use them exclusively and reliability has been resolved apparently.

cyril7

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#2212561 8-Apr-2019 08:45

Hi we all got upgraded to these at work recently, could not be happier, cannot comment on their suitability photo wise.

https://www.pbtech.co.nz/product/MONDEL2717/Dell-UltraSharp-U2717D-27-InfinityEdge-IPS-LED-Mon

Cyril

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#2213111 8-Apr-2019 17:39

cyril7:

Hi we all got upgraded to these at work recently, could not be happier, cannot comment on their suitability photo wise.

https://www.pbtech.co.nz/product/MONDEL2717/Dell-UltraSharp-U2717D-27-InfinityEdge-IPS-LED-Mon

Cyril

U2717D was one of the monitors I was looking at. Thanks :)

autechre

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#2218264 16-Apr-2019 14:43

Depending on how far you take your photography, you'd be better looking at a "pro" Dell Ultrasharp:

https://www.pbtech.co.nz/product/MONDEL2716/Dell-Ultrasharp-UP2716D-27-Professional-Design-Mon

I picked one of these up on sale recently and its an awesome monitor.

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timmmay

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#2218266 16-Apr-2019 14:53

Dell, with an IPS panel (as opposed to TN or such). I have a 22 or 23" at home and find it plenty big enough for development or professional photography. I know others like larger or more monitors, I have them at work and use them occasionally but often just turn one off and use just one of them.

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#2219358 16-Apr-2019 18:51

My employer has a a fair few staff that use Photoshop on a regular basis and need colour correct monitors etc. Historically they'd used ridiculously pricey Eizo monitors, but they've been using Dell UltraSharp's for the last few years and they meet all their needs at a much lower price, so +1 for UltraSharp's.

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PJ48

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#2219398 16-Apr-2019 19:04

I have just noticed that Dell are offering 25% discount on selected monitors (not sure which ones) through their online NZ store

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#2219739 17-Apr-2019 10:46

timmmay:

Dell, with an IPS panel (as opposed to TN or such). I have a 22 or 23" at home and find it plenty big enough for development or professional photography. I know others like larger or more monitors, I have them at work and use them occasionally but often just turn one off and use just one of them.

I still use a (hardware calibrated) 22" Dell Ultrasharp IPS monitor hooked up to an old PC for printing with my Epson 3880. Despite the small screen and low resolution, it's absolutely fine for that final soft-proofing and tweaking, the matt screen is also good, gives me high confidence that what I see on screen will give me a very good perception of what I'll see in print, with different/appropriate paper ICC profiles loaded of course.

FWIW, the measured display brightness is set at ~120 cd/m2, so with minimum black levels (which I can't remember), IIRC that gives a contrast ratio of "only" about 300:1. It's so far off what most people would think is "ideal" these days for general screen use, but it's ideal for print proofing - or looking at other photographer's work on the net. The room has blinds and consistent lighting, but nothing elaborate.

I keep a gamma target image file on the desktop, for a quick check before committing an image to print. If something had changed in settings on the monitor or PC colour management, then it's immediately apparent something's wrong. Apart from that, I check calibration from time to time, but it seems to have been very consistent.

autechre

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#2219894 17-Apr-2019 14:28

PJ48:
I have just noticed that Dell are offering 25% discount on selected monitors (not sure which ones) through their online NZ store

It pays to shop around. Dell's prices weren't close to being the best when I got my monitor.

But 25% is not to be sneezed at.

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#2219965 17-Apr-2019 15:09

I have a dell ultrasharp IPS 24 inch 1980x1200 and the colours are very good, although it is several years old. I believe they do do several different grades of IPS monitor and some may not be as good as the more expensive ones. Mine was one of the most expensive ones at the time. I would avoid TN panels, as I have a couple of those too and the colours aren't a vibrant and the colour shifts a lot when no looking at it straight on. I also use an apple cinema display on my PC, and the colours on that are almost as good as my dell and great for photography work, but they no longer make them, and I think the newer thunderbolt models only worked on macs. Also personally I currently use 3 screens, rather than one large screen, as it allows windows to be easily managed on different screens, and can just turn monitors off if I don't need them. I prefer that than having this huge panel of light in front of me.

Handle9

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#2220105 17-Apr-2019 18:44

Thanks all. I'm running dual 23 inch ultrasharps now so going to a 27 inch will be nice

Now I just need to decide whether to go for a U2717D or UP2716D. I guess I'll eventually decide to go with the better panel :)

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#2220752 18-Apr-2019 17:06

Handle9:

Thanks all. I'm running dual 23 inch ultrasharps now so going to a 27 inch will be nice

Now I just need to decide whether to go for a U2717D or UP2716D. I guess I'll eventually decide to go with the better panel :)

Just to unhelp you with confusion, there's also a new U2719D (the last two digits in Dell Ultrasharp models refer to year they were introduced).

Has a Samsung PLS panel, similar to IPS, similar spec to the U2717D, but a different PLS panel, slightly lower response time and less input lag, not that these would matter for photo editing.

IIRC in the past Dell models with IPS used LG panels, at that time Samsung was offering VA panels. Some of the same panels Dell used were used in Eizo high-end (and high-priced) monitors, albeit with better attached hardware, hardware calibration etc.

Ah. another edit. - now it's coming back to me. Black levels on IPS are okay-ish, not crushed, but there's a tendency for the absolute black (which IIRC was still 0.4 cd/m2) to be seen as blue-ish when viewed off-angle. Not a big problem, tendency for that blue shift to be a problem when viewed straight on can be sorted with calibration. IIRC, the (Samsung) VA panels didn't have that issue, but not quite as generally consistent with viewing angle as IPS. I've used a Samsung VA panel monitor, it was fine. PLS, I don't know - if I've seen one then I haven't taken much notice.