What to look for in a monitor for photo editing

I recently embarked on a quest to buy a new monitor for photo editing. Currently, I have an HP Pavilion dv6-6140us laptop. I find that the colors on the display are very unreliable and I have to constantly move the display up and down so I can view the image at different angles and hope to find an accurate angle. After I edit the image, I have to take it to a couple of other monitors available to me to see how it looks there and try to get as close as possible.

Therefore, I need a new monitor.

When I first started looking for a monitor I had no idea what I needed to look for specifically in a monitor that would be good for photo editing. Many of the discussions and articles on the internet referred to gaming monitors. However, there were a few that had more specific information for photo editing. A little bit here and a little bit there and I came up with this list of important things to consider when looking for a new monitor. One thing to note is that my budget was less than $500 dollars.

Monitor type:

The first thing to look for is the monitor type: CRT, LCD or OLED. Being that CRTs are no longer made and OLED monitors are still prohibitedly expensive that leaves me with an LCD monitor by default. Not all LCD monitors are the same. The differences among them are due to the display technology used, the size of the display, and any additional features it might have. All of these will of course affect the price as well.

You’ll find 3 kinds of LCD technologies.

• TN (Twisted Nematic) –These are the most common types of monitors available and the cheapest. This is the kind that lighten/change color when you touch them. These monitors are better for gaming since they have very fast response times. However, their color depth is only 6-bit color which yields a total of 262,144 colors. Viewing angles are limited to 160 / 160 degrees at most which is quite narrow. This will be most critical when you are using multiple monitors but even with just one monitor you have to center your head to that very small sweet spot in the center of the monitor. Any deviation from there and the colors start to fade rapidly. Their contrast ratios are also very low.  You should definitely not get one of these.
• IPS (In-plane Viewing) – These are considered the very best because they give the widest color gamut and viewing angles.  IPS technology’s color depth is 8-bit for a total of 16.7-million colors. Typical viewing angles with these are 178 / 178. Response time is slower than TN but that does not affect photo editing as much as it does for gaming. This is the type I am looking for.
• VA (Vertical Alignment) – It has the same viewing angle or slightly less as the IPS ones but there is a significant color change to the wider end of the viewing angle. The response time is supposed to be slower than IPS but comparing current monitors out there I did not find a substantial difference. Contrast ratio is as much as 5000:1 which is much better as compared to 1000:1 in IPS. This type is a no also.

Monitor Size:

A monitor size of 23 to 27 inches is more within my price range.  If you have a tight budget then look for the smaller sized, 23 inches or smaller, that have uniform color and accuracy. Monitors of 27 inches or greater are considered mid-range and therefore a bit more expensive. I chose to look for something more in the middle. In my case, that means a 24” monitor.

Resolution: 

The most common resolutions between 20” to 25” monitor screen sizes are “1920 x 1080 (16:9)” and “1920 x 1200” (16:10). “1920 x 1200” gives you more vertical space on your display which is preferable.

A broad viewing angle. 

It is easy to understand that a broader viewing angle is better.


   


 This is a 160 degree angle         This is a 178 degree angle

Ambient light reflection:

Ambient light reflection is the amount of light that reflects off the display from the room lights. Reflected light or glare can be very fatiguing to the eyes and reduces the contrast, colors and sharpness of the display. When you are editing a bunch of photos from a photo shoot you will spend a lot of time staring at the computer. For your eye’s sake choose one with a non-reflective surface.

Static Contrast ratio:

This is the difference between deepest black and highest white. Typically, computer displays have a contrast ratio of about 1,000:1. Dynamic contrast ratio (DCR) is a different animal entirely and should not be used to compare with the static contrast ratio. A static contrast ratio is the contrast ratio at a given point in time such as when viewing a static image. A dynamic contrast ratio is the overall contrast ratio the display can produce over time which is more important when viewing a movie.  It is always better to go for monitors that have a higher contrast ratio.

Extended color gamut:

Color gamut refers to the range of colors the screen is capable of displaying. In other words, how much of a given reference color space (sRGB, Adobe RGB, or NTSC) it can display. You will commonly see a monitor's gamut listed as a percentage compared with a reference color space. More colors = Better.

Response time:

Response time refers to how quickly the pixels can change from one color to another, and therefore how fast the picture can be redrawn. A faster response time helps reduce the effects of blurring and ghosting in games and movies. Look for faster but don’t get stuck on this one as it is not as “important” for photo editing.

Brightness or Luminance:

This refers to the amount of light the monitor can put out. Too much brightness on your monitor can make your eyes hurt over time. Brightness along with contrast ratio directly affects the color dynamic range of the display. Look for something in the 100-400 range.

Pixel Pitch:

The pixel pitch is related to the distance between pixels. The pixel pitch on desktop monitors should be a maximum of .28 mm. A larger pixel pitch may result in a monitor image that is not sharp enough. Many desktop or laptop monitors have pixel pitches as small as .27 mm, .26 mm or even .25 mm. The smaller the pixel pitch is, the sharper the image.

Conclusion:

After considering all of these things my search was narrowed down to the Dell UltraSharp U2412M and the Asus PA246Q. The monitor size, viewing angle, resolution, contrast ratio, pixel pitch is the same in both monitors. 

The main differences between the 2 are as follows:

• Color Depth - The Dell UltraSharp U2412M has IPS which is the original version of IPS and can display only 16.7 million colors. Asus PA246Q has p-IPS ('Performance IPS) which is a newer technology and capable of displaying 1.07 billion colors. The Dell UltraSharp U2412M’s color gamut is 74.3%(Adobe RGB), 95.8%(sRGB), and 71%(NTSC) . While the Asus PA246Q color gamut is much better at 98%(Adobe RGB), 100%(sRGB), and 102%(NTSC) .
• Brightness in the Dell UltraSharp U2412M is up to 300 cd/m2. The Asus PA246Q has up to 400 cd/m2.
• Response time in the Dell UltraSharp U2412M is 8ms while the Asus PA246Q is 6ms fast.
• The Asus PA246Q has more controls & adjustment options than the Dell UltraSharp U2412M:
• Dell UltraSharp U2412M: Brightness, Contrast, Color temperature.
• Asus PA246Q: Color temperature, Input select, Color balance, Aspect control, Brightness, Contrast.
• The Asus PA246Q has more connectivity options that I prefer over the Dell UltraSharp U2412M:
• Asus PA246Q: VGA, DVI-D, Headphones, DisplayPort, HDMI, 2 x USB downstream, USB upstream ( Type B )
• Dell UltraSharp U2412M: VGA, DVI-D, DisplayPort, USB 2.0 upstream ( Type B ), 4 x USB 2.0 downstream

I could get the Dell UltraSharp U2412M at Amazon for $296.99. The Asus PA246Q is available at Amazon as well but for $324.52. While both of these monitors are excellent and even with the slight price difference the Asus PA246Q is the clear winner for me.