Lazy J Loc: Pacific Northwest

I am currently researching monitors to pair with my new MacBook Pro 14 M1 Monterey. Looking for some feedback from those of you that own IPS monitors with features specific to photo editing, as follows:

10-bit versus 8-bit + A-FRC - Based on my research I pretty much eliminate any monitors with the lesser 8-bit + A-FRC bit depth/color support, whether or not it also possesses some anti-flicker technology. Not having actual experience using one of these photo editing specific monitors, am I wise in doing so? In other words, should I not settle on anything less than 10-bit?

HDR - I am confused as to how important, or not, it is to have this feature. Some reviews I have read state it is a must have while others say they turn it off? If important, HDR10, HDR600, etc.?

Screen Brightness - How many NITs are advised. Again, I have read that for photo editing you really do not need more than about 200 NITs, while many other complained that the screen did not get bright enough with 400 NITs? Also, some manufacturers brag about 600 NITs (But I suspect that would be more applicable to gaming, which I do not do). Some clarity please!

Color Gamut - As I understand it, DCI-P3 will be become the new standard. If so, is a monitor with 95% DCI-P3 which I believe covers 100% sRGB sufficient, or should I focus on 98-99% DCI-P3?

LUTs - I am a little confused as to exactly what Lookup Tables are and how they are used/important. Briefly educate me please!

Screen Reflection - Matte or Glossy with anti-reflective coating?

Screen Rotation - Seems to me rotating the screen could be useful for editing in portrait mode/orientation. Do those that have this option use it or just always edit in landscape mode?

The price of these things makes it a once in a very long time purchase. Just want to be as informed as possible before I push the buy button. Please address any or all as you deem appropriate/knowledgeable. Thanks in advance!

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

If you are editing photos for any sort of high end printing, a 10-bit per channel monitor is extremely helpful. But MORE important for photo editing is color space. If you edit in Adobe RGB color space, you simply must have a monitor capable of displaying the entire Adobe RGB color gamut. Any less, and what you see and edit will not be what you get from your printer or lab. That said, if you use the sRGB color space for conventional photo lab prints, Internet web page development, or everyday viewing, a monitor with P3 color gamut or even just 100% sRGB gamut is adequate.

MOST important for printing is the use of a color calibration kit to calibrate and PROFILE your monitor. Calibration ensures a linear response from 0% to 100% brightness on each channel (red, green, blue). Profiling ensures that the monitor gets matched to the real color in your files, so "what you see is what the lab prints, or what drops out of your printer." (Well, close, anyway.)

Matte screens are great, but I prefer the Apple approach, which is a glossy surface with anti-reflective coating. I bought this:

LG 27UP850-W 27” UHD (3840 x 2160) IPS Monitor (about $550)

Why? 95% P3 color, IPS, 27" fits my desk, 4K resolution for video editing, it can be used vertically for cell phone video editing, and it has a built-in USB-C laptop charger for my MacBook Air, along with a USB 3 hub I use for a wired keyboard and a backup drive. It connects via USB-C, or DisplayPort, or HDMI, with switchable input control.

Monitors that allow downloadable LUTs are arguably desirable for better calibration. That said, my calibrated LG monitor matches my MacBook Air display. My prints are close enough for either monitor to be used, but I generally edit on the LG.

HDR is NOT important for photography. It is only desirable for video gaming and video watching and creating HDR video content. You need at least a thousand nits for proper HDR. The 400 nits and 600 nits units are barely capable of simulating the full HDR effect. My monitor supports 400 nits HDR content, but I simply don't care...

One bit of advice regarding the EXCELLENT monitor in your new MBP, is to TURN OFF True Tone and Automatically Adjust Brightness settings in the Displays control panel of the System Preferences. ALSO, turn off Night Shift. All three of those will render any calibration and profile you do USELESS. Once you calibrate your external display, don't adjust it unless you use the calibration tool to do so. Once you calibrate your internal display, don't adjust brightness unless you can get back to the calibrated value for serious work.

Calibration aims I use monthly:

Black point is 0.5 Candelas per square meter (CD/m^2)
White point 105 CD/m^2 (Set it lower if your prints come out too dark. Set it higher if they come out too light. 80 to 120 is the normal range.)
Initial color temperature is 5800K
Gamma is 2.2

Super bright monitors are great for video editing and playback, and for games. But gaming monitors generally are NOT appropriate for critical photo editing work. I edit photos in a relatively dim environment with 5000K indirect light bounced off of a white ceiling. My computer desk is dark gray, my Mac's Desktop is plain medium-dark gray, and I have few colored items within my peripheral field of view.

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

Wow.
They have features?
I simply went out and bought one.

HP I think, 24", $145. Works well.

happy sailor Loc: Ontario, Canada

I am doing the same right now and I want the following features, usb-c monitor capable of power as well as data. I want the monitor to have extra ports so that it can do double duty as a hub.

Do you print? If you do then the adobe rgb is important, I want 98 or 99%. The way I understand it the dci=p3 is more video than printing, if you want your prints to match your monitor to the print the adobe rgb is the colour space you want.

And then do you want 4K or is 2k fine. I am down to three monitors at the moment, the Benq sw271c, the Benq sw321c or the Dell UP2720Q. I am leaning to the Benq sw321c.

Comes with a great hood, is usb-c that supplies 60 watts of charging power, has additional ports, supports Benq’s new paper colour sync software. 32 inch monitor gives me a little more real estate to play with.

All of the monitors on my short list are 4K, professional quality monitors that while expensive are nowhere near the price of eizo monitors.

I already have a benq sw2700pt that is a great monitor just doesn’t have usb-c connection. I like the Benq hardware calibration as well with their palette master software. This monitor is 4 years old and still near perfect colour and operation

So that is where I am at right now, haven’t made a purchase yet

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

Adobe RGB may or may not be important. It depends upon whether your ENTIRE WORKFLOW is Adobe RGB compliant. If your output is to the Internet, all you need (or should want!) is the sRGB color space. If your output is video, then P3 is enough. If you are sending to MOST photo labs, sRGB or P3 will be fine. If you are sending to a high end service bureau or running your own high end printer, THEN, Adobe RGB monitors make sense.

happy sailor Loc: Ontario, Canada

Completely agree, I shoot to print!

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

10 bit is good to have, but not necessary. Most will find 8 bit + FRC is more than adequate.

HDR - marketing hype

Brightness - not important for still image editing - all current displays are bright enough

Color Gamut - if editing video, DCI-P3, if editing stills, Adobe RGB. They are not the same. Adobe RGB is an industry standard for still image viewing - screens, printers and projectors use sRGB or Adobe RGB. Digital projection equipment uses DCI-P3, which is very close to the gamut of a cinema projection system - the color of a Xenon projection bulb. At the end of the day, on an accurately profiled display there will be no difference.

LUT - Look up tables are common among 8 bit+FRC displays. A profiling tool will be able to access the table and hardware program it during profiling. You'll need to get a tool that can profile a hardware-programmable display - which rules out Datacolor products. The Xrite i1 Display Pro, the least costly tool with this capability is no longer in production - it has been replaced by the Luminar ColorChecker Display Pro - at the same price point of $260. Many higher end displays (>$1000) feature a profiling tool based on the i1 Display Pro or its replacement.

Screen Reflection - should be matte.

Screen rotation - your choice. both my displays have it. Over 10 years of ownership I've never used that feature.

These two articles will add some clarity to the bit depth question:

https://www.rtings.com/monitor/tests/picture-quality/gradients
https://www.benq.com/en-us/knowledge-center/knowledge/10-bit-vs-8-bit-frc-monitor-color-difference.html

And the DCI-P3/Adobe RGB matter:

https://www.reddit.com/r/PhotographersNYC/comments/e73nap/dcip3_or_adobe_rgb_gamut/

foathog Loc: Greensboro, NC

Wow. Is that intimidating or what? Plus you have to spend a lifetime learning the processing software. LOL

Morry Loc: Palm Springs, CA

I like my recently (about a year ago) acquired LG 27" monitor . . . but in hindsight I wish I had chose one that had built-in speakers.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

It really isn't complicated once you see the process done. The benefits of color management are HUGE if you print. Being able to adjust sliders in Lightroom Classic (or whatever tool you use) and see — on the monitor — what you will see on a paper print, is a money-saving, frustration-relieving, time-saving, and welcome state of being! It is worth the hassle of learning the procedures and techniques, and worth having a good monitor to make it happen.

Of course, there is never a PERFECT match between an RGB monitor and a CMY, CMYK, or CMYK++++++ print. But you can get close enough to create the illusion of perfection. That's what we sought in the lab where I worked. Yes, there were limits of what sRGB can do, and limits of what the Kodak Endura paper could do, but we dealt with those color shifts when we had to. But when we printed on the Epson 9600, we could use Adobe RGB with confidence, so long as all evaluations happened on Adobe RGB capable monitors.

foathog Loc: Greensboro, NC

Nothing beats past experience. Maybe you should teach.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

I was a corporate training program developer (among many other roles at Delmar, (a company bought by) Herff Jones Photography, (a company bought by) Lifetouch). I wore a lot of hats, one of which was running the digital side of the lab during the transition years from optical to digital production methods. The color correction area reported to me at one point, along with film scanning, digital image input, optical disc burning, portrait printing, and school service item printing (ID cards, rotary cards, sticker prints, proofs, class composites...).

BBurns Loc: South Bay, California

After spending over 13 years with my Viewsonic VX2739wm, it died of natural causes.
I thought about it for a moment and then realized how long we had been together.
It owed me nothing. I mourned briefly and then promptly buried it.
My replacement choice, after some discussion here, was a BenQ EW3270U.
This was 18 months ago and I couldn't be happier.
Are there cheaper monitors? Yes. Are there more expensive ones? Of course.
To be happy and satisfied with your choice, find one that will meet your needs and technology trends for about 5 years forward.

tcthome Loc: NJ

New M1 Macs support 10 bit? Anyway , check out BenQ monitors. Contact them & ask. DCI-P3 i beleive is a video thing but may be the future. Get the widest color gamut you can. Look for 100% Adobe RGB . If you calibrate your monitor (and you should) the brightness will most likely get turned down quite a bit.

https://www.benq.com/en-us/monitor/photographer.html

mundy-F2 Loc: Chicago suburban area

Thanks for the information.
Mundy