Ron Seher

I'm not a professional. I'm a 72 and have decided to become more serious about photography. I'm just learning about photo editing. I shoot RAW with a Canon 77D. My primary focus is landscapes, flowers and macro. I choose to use Luminar 4, for now and have Topaz Labs Sharpen AI with the thought of getting the Gigabyte AI sometime in the future. My objective is to make my photographs look as good as possible and to enhance there natural qualities, not to get "artsy craftsy."

I want to get a 27" monitor that will give me the most for the money. My budget tops out right at $500. I have an ACER XF270HU but I can see the dots on the screen and it drives me crazy which means sharp edges are hard to judge. I also bought a SpyderX Pro but have not installed it. What brands and models would you recommend? Where would you shop? Your thoughts please. Thank you in advance to all contributors.

KTJohnson Loc: Northern Michigan

I have a Dell 27 inch Ultrasharp monitor I bought in 2016 for $518.00 that I love. Check Amazon or Dell for current specs & prices.

Alby144 Loc: Northern Nevada

I have a Dell S244OL that is very nice...I bought it from Dell, back in 2014, when I bought my HP Envy desk top PC.

neco Loc: Western Colorado Mountains

I'm looking also. Have my eye on the BenQ SW2700pt.

repleo Loc: Boston

Take a look at the Viewsonic range. Great sale on the 27" VX2785 2K at the moment. $290 Read the reviews.
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1559791-REG/viewsonic_x2785_2k_mhdu_vx2785_27_16_9_qhd.html/?ap=y&ap=y&smp=y&smp=y&lsft=BI%3A514&gclid=Cj0KCQiAqo3-BRDoARIsAE5vnaIh-dtgG34FaKQCX0zlhRUH5q-eF0Bnge7Z2XwwK2stK6Xu8rQd78IaArVIEALw_wcB

UTMike Loc: South Jordan, UT

The BenQ 2700 series is excellent. Check for sales.

neco Loc: Western Colorado Mountains

I’m checking but it has never been on sale.

neco Loc: Western Colorado Mountains

Thanks for the info.

tcthome Loc: NJ

Well since you purchased a screen calibrator , it's all in. What ever you buy , try & get as close to 100% Adobe color space as possible., 100% srgb would be next if you can't find any in your price range. I believe BenQ has a monitor close to your price range. Some of the dell monitors are pretty good also.

https://www.benq.com/en-us/monitor/photographer/sw2700pt.html

lbivins Loc: Green Valley, AZ.

lbivins Loc: Green Valley, AZ.

Brian S. Loc: Oak Park, MI

Hello Ron,

I have two of these they were selling in December of 2013 (then the model U2713H, 27") connected to my Mac Pro. I use them with Photoshop CC, Bridge, Camera Raw and the Adobe Creative Suite 6 for video production. They handle the sRGB color space up to about 95%. I use a ColorMunke to calibrate each of them and can get a 100% screen to printer color match. I personally have never seen a better monitor, even a friends $1200 one.

Here is a link to it on Dell's web site. https://deals.dell.com/en-us/productdetail/5vfm

The current price is $359.99 with free shipping.

photoman43

Others things the same, get one with an aspect ratio that allows for more vertical height for a given horizontal length. Or one that can be used vertically as well as horizontal.

And make it comes with a port and cord that matches your computer's graphic card. Today, most come with display ports and cords. Make sure your computer graphics card accepts display port.

amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

I'm planning an update in the not-too-distant future and have been shopping. I've not used them yet, but have been impressed with the value, specs and reviews of Benq monitors.

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/products/computer-monitors/ci/38738?sort=PRICE_LOW_TO_HIGH&filters=fct_a_bit-depth_7193%3A10-bit%2Cfct_screen-size_953%3A27in

Their PD2700U is right at your maximum budget and I've seen user reviews that say it works well for photo editing.

It's $100 more than you wanted to spend, but the SW2700PT would probably be my choice in this size, with a bit wider color gamut. It also comes with a shade, which sold separately as a $99 accessory for other Benq monitors.

While it's a smaller size, you might also want to consider the SW240 at $399. It's has a 24" screen, but is 16:10 aspect ratio. The two 27" monitors above are 16:9 "wide screen" format often used for video, while some people prefer this 16:10 for photo editing because it works well with the tools and layout of a lot image editing software. As a result of the different aspect ratios, these screens end up with close to the same height (less than 1/2" diff), while the 16:9 are certainly wider.

Here's a comparison: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/compare/BenQ_PD2700U_vs_BenQ_SW2700PT_vs_BenQ_SW240/BHitems/1436761-REG_1176775-REG_1397520-REG

Unfortunately, there is no 27" monitor in 16:10 aspect ratio.

And, unfortunately, the 32" Benq I like best costs almost $2000 (Hoping to win the lottery soon!)

jefflane

I love the Benq SW2700PT. Benq frequently has refurbs and sometimes on sale but they have a short warranty and I would have had to pay tax. I bought mine with Payboo from B&H.