maren

My laptop is old and has taken a turn for the worse. I would like to get a pc with a large monitor (20-21 inch) to view my photos. I don't know if this makes sense or not, but I want my pictures to look true to quality. Is it the pixels alone that determine the quality of the monitor?

rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

There are lots of things that can determine the quality of a monitor. For photo editing, I would suggest looking at a 27" monitor. I've had one for a few years, moving up from a 19". There is no comparison. The more important issue would be the video card in the computer. Couple a decent video card with a quality monitor and you'd do quite well.
--Bob

BebuLamar

20 to 21 inch is small by today's standard. The quality of the monitor is determined by the size of the monitor, the number of the pixels, the contrast range, the accuracy of the color, whether the evenness of the brightness of the screen and whether it looks different when view at an angle.

jaymatt Loc: Alexandria, Indiana

I have a 21--my wife has a 27, and I'm jealous. Go big.

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

A nice editing experience can be achieved by using a pair of smaller displays when compared to a single larger one. The combined horizontal resolution is great, and being able to use a second display with software that supports it is pretty good. It is more expensive.

The other thing that helps is to profile your display(s) with a colorimeter, like a Spyder or an i1 Display Pro, or even a ColorMunki. Keep in mind that the brightness you need for editing is generally far lower than what you would use to watch a video or show images to others. I use a dual display, and a Chromecast dongle to mirror my desktop to a 48" flat screen that I use to show images to my clients.

Photocraig

I got an Acer 24" ips monitor for less than $140 on AMAZON. It is great and very effective. And ya can't beat the price.

johneccles Loc: Leyland UK

You need to consider a larger monitor at least 24" or 27". I use an AOC 24" which is perfect for me but there are many very good other makes more available.
Personally I wouldn't go too wide as it that would make it difficult to view the entire screen although most PP software use side panels therefore the actual image only takes up about 75% of the monitor screen.
Whichever monitor you decide to buy ensure it has an IPS screen so your angle of view is not so critical, the other useful extra is to have a MHL input as well as HDMI, and if the monitor has a DP port that's another plus point.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Get a 27" monitor. It makes a big difference. I got a couple of Dell SE2717HX monitors for under $200.

On sale for $158 for two days -
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824260488

HOHIMER

Before you buy read the reviews on Amazon.
https://www.amazon.com/Dell-SE2717HX-RVJXC-Full-Monitor/product-reviews/B01LXTK4T6/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_paging_btm_2?ie=UTF8&filterByStar=one_star&reviewerType=avp_only_reviews&pageNumber=2#reviews-filter-bar

rpena2860

I have a Dell 25" monitor and am quite happy with it. It is designed for critical color and covers 95%+ of the sRGB color gamut. There are a lot of good panels out there and I would recommend an IPS model which has a wider viewing angle. You'd be amazed how much colors can flatten with the tilt of a monitor stand or even a office chair height setting change. Whatever monitor you choose, I would recommend a monitor calibration tool. DataColor Spyder and X-Rite Color Monkey are both excellent units (although my expedience is with the Spyder Pro).

Cape Coral Joel

I use a Dell 31.5 4k model UP3216Q and I would not go back. It has outstanding color accuracy 99% Adobe RGB and 100% sRGB. However its a little expensive around $1200 on Amazon. Just read the reviews.

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

👍👍 I second the suggestion for multiple smaller monitors as opposed to one large one - you can keep the photo you're working at full screen on one and the various adjustment menus on the other. I actually use 3 - 2 driven from my video card, and a 3rd, for non-critical items, driven from the on-board video on my MB. Works great.

lhardister Loc: Brownsville, TN

I am also considering an upgrade to a larger monitor--a 27" 4K monitor-- from an older Viewsonic 21". My computer is a Hewlett Packard hp-1380t with an i7 processor and AMD Radeon 7550 video card. I use Photoshop CC but do not do gaming. How does one determine what type (i.e. brand, size, capacity,etc.) would be appropriate prior to purchase and installment of a replacement monitor? My question was about what type video card, not what type monitor. I apologize for any confusion.

mkaplan519

I went from a 24" Dell almost full Adobe gamut monitor to their 27" 4K. I love the 4K monitor.
Graphics card-wise, thaere are a lot of choices. Also what needs to be considered is what are you displaying on the monitor.
To just display photos, any graphics card that has 4K output will do just fine.
If you plan on editing 4k videos then that is another story. Rendering puts a heavy load on the GPU. The faster the card, the quicker it will render.
If you don't plan on doing video but you do photo editing (Lightroom/Photoshop) then that is a bigger question.
Those programs do not need higher end graphics cards. Most of their work is dome using the CPU and not the GPU.
However, there are some functions that the GPU can do and I personally feel more and more in the future will be assigned to the GPU.
I just recently built a new 'Photo' computer. I wanted high speed processing for my Lightroom/Photoshop work.
TO do that, you need to look at ALL aspects of the computer. CPU, I went with the newer i7-7700k. I wanted fast HD speeds so I went with the fastest SSD available righ tnow, a Samsung 960 Pro (also needs a new motherboard that has the NVMe slots as well the new board was also used for the newer 7th gen Intel processors).
Went for faster ram and 32GB of it & water cooling, decent PSU... I even went for a new quieter case.
Graphics card selection was I think my hardest decision. Anything higher-end is a lot of money but I didn't want a slow card either.
I ended up finding a deal on a used Nvidia GTX1070. I was going to buy a new GTX1060 and the GTX1080's were just too much (here in Canada, close to a grand).
Being able to get the GTX1070 for the GTX1060 pricing was what made my decision easier (still was $500+).

russelray Loc: La Mesa CA

I have an LG 27" 4K monitor on my desk, and a 55" LG 4K television on the wall which I use at conventions as my laptop computer monitor. When I hang it in my booth, it can be seen all the way across the convention hall by those just coming in, and they pretty much make a beeline through the expensive booths back to me with my little inexpensive booth.