Monitors??? What do you use. [Archive] - AusPhotography:: Australia's Premier Photography Forum::

OceanBlue

15-10-2009, 4:36pm

Hey everyone,

I am in the market to get a new monitor to hook up to my 17' Macbook pro.

What does everyone else out there use or recommend?

Are the apple monitors worth the disturbing amount of money they charge?

or is it better to get some thing different?

Im thinking of getting one about 24' or bigger.

Thanks

mongo

15-10-2009, 5:04pm

Can't help because Mongo hates all monitors !!! but nonetheless has to suffer them.

landteacher

15-10-2009, 5:09pm

Miaow

15-10-2009, 5:11pm

at pres have an 18" Compag W185q on this new comp - seems ok once I worked out the resolution to set it at - do find it hard getting the right angle though to try and get the colour etc right (think i've worked it out now lol)

MarkW

16-10-2009, 6:34pm

Mick G - you need to be a Mac user to understand.

Ocean - I use an Apple 23" cinema screen. You will find that they are overbright as they are LED backed like the new TV units just starting to come onto the market. Due to the brightness you may have to compensate your printer - my R1900 Epson is upped in its brightness control by 5 points to overcome the screen.

The advantage is its Mac with the Mac quality built in. Mines the model just previous to the current model which I think is was actually better but thats only based on the way the plugs are configured.

DAdeGroot

16-10-2009, 7:25pm

Are they worth it? Hell yes. Not sure what you mean by an apple monitor to 'hook up to your macbook', as far as i know the monitor & computer are one unit,(recent stuff), you are not just paying for the monitor(imac), it's the whole unit. Anyone correct me if i am wrong.

You can hook up a second (external) monitor to most laptops and even the iMac (there's a mini Display port on the back).

As for monitors, I'm currently running with a Samsung SyncMaster 205BW and a Dell 2007FPb.

Both are adequate, but what I'd really like are a pair of Eizo wide-gamut monitors.

accesser

16-10-2009, 9:57pm

I have dual 24" screens both Samsung I have an older Samsung 244T and a newer Samsung 2443bw I find the older 24" totally kills the newer one for quality of colours & viewing angle, shop around and look at reviews a good monitor really helps for what we do.

Cris

16-10-2009, 10:18pm

Hi
I also use a 17" macbook pro and I have a 23" apple display hooked up to it, the main reason I went with the apple monitor was to have all the things running of the ports at the back so I only have to disconnect the monitor and away i go.
Been using this setup for 18 months now and it just works well.

OutCast

17-10-2009, 1:52pm

I picked up a dell 30" 3007.

Great thing for a mac user is it has a full display port on the back. So you can user a mini-to-full display port cable (order from USA for about $20). Colours are good ... resolution is insane.

seastorm

17-10-2009, 2:04pm

I'm running 2 x Samsung Syncmaster 226BWs side by side, need to calibrate them soon...

MarkW

17-10-2009, 2:36pm

what I'd really like are a pair of Eizo wide-gamut monitors.

I'd be happy with the bank balance to buy those puppies ;)

ameerat42

17-10-2009, 3:13pm

Hi OceanBlue. You didn't specify what for, so I assume general use. And then, since you only asked, I'm using a no-longer-available (though I'd hesitate to say superseded) ASUS MK241H. That's 24" at 1920x1200 px, with HDMI, DVI and VGA inputs. There are lots of other ASUS models, but they've mostly dropped to 1920x1080 px. Am...

bubbles

20-10-2009, 10:37am

Im looking at getting a pair of dell ultrasharp u2410. They have had some very good reviews.

Spyke

20-10-2009, 10:19pm

I'm about to buy a HP LP2475W.

Refer to this list (http://www.pchardwarehelp.com/guides/s-ips-lcd-list.php) of monitors that are best for colour work. It's a US site, so the $ prices are $US.

I'd love the EIZO ColorEdge CG243W, but at almost $4K in Australia that's a lot of new lenses.

kwokask

22-10-2009, 10:38pm

I use a Dell 2405FPW and 2209WA. The 2209WA was an IPS panel, on special for <$300.

Both are good monitors, with the IPS panel colours definitely looking a little better.

Helen S

23-10-2009, 5:21am

I use a Dell 2405FPW and 2209WA. The 2209WA was an IPS panel, on special for <$300.

Both are good monitors, with the IPS panel colours definitely looking a little better.

I, too have the Dell 2209WA which, whilst not an Eizo (wouldn't we all like one or two of those) is definitely up there with some of the best for what we photographers do.

IPS (in panel display) is far better for working with photos because of its good colour reproduction than TN (twisted nematic) which is awesome for gaming.

A good explanation of the two can be found HERE (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TFT_LCD). :)

daletron

23-10-2009, 5:23pm

i have a Samsung 2243bw (22'') and a Panasonic 42inch plasma. the plasma is great for colors and blacks.

mclean8

02-11-2009, 1:45pm

+1 for HP LP2475W, good IPS panel at reasonable price.

wide gamut can be a bit of shock though. need colour aware applications otherwise photos with profiles other than sRGB look shocking. firefox is only colour aware browser on windows that i know of.

GregoryH

02-11-2009, 2:12pm

I have a calibrated Eizo FlexScan S2231W and cannot fault it. I also have a Dell wide screen beside it as a second monitor. I still find it amazing the difference between the two for the same image.
Good luck with your search, and don't forget if the monitor isn't showing the true colours then all the effort to correct an image is suspect.
Cheers,
Greg

clm738

07-11-2009, 11:50am

Hi. I was advised by a print shop to get a Benq 24" G2412HD LCD Monitor. He said for the price ($300) it could be calibrated to 99.8% accuracy. Whereas as lot of other monitors cannot be calibrated to that extent (they don't say things like that in their specs I just assumed they all could be calibrated).

elgoogoogle

07-11-2009, 1:52pm

as an apple user and advocater for the past 10 years i love all of their offerings BUT apple cinema displays are quite expensive for what you are getting. you pay a lot for aesthetics and a little apple logo. if i were you or anyone else here that was serious about digital photography and getting the best quality pics that transfer over to paper the same way you are viewing them on the screen i would invest a little more and get and entry level eizo or NEC monitor.

these monitors give you much more control during calibration and you wont pay much more then and 23 inch cinema display.