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A slightly different question about a new monitor
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Nov 27, 2015 09:14:45   #
EdJ0307 Loc: out west someplace
 
SonoraDick wrote:
I bought a Dell XPS 8900 and hope it'll serve me as well as my current Dell has.
I don't have any recommendations on a monitor. Just wanted to mention I purchased this same Dell XPS8900 computer to replace my old Dell Inspiron 530 that I have had for seven years. It just arrived on Tuesday and I hope it serves me as well as the Inspiron has. I ordered it from Costco for $699 after a $300 discount.

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Nov 27, 2015 09:44:52   #
zigipha Loc: north nj
 
i have been looking for an upgraded monitor. my decision points were
1. 27 or 28" size. larger would not fit my work space
2. srgb coverage. I was going back and forth over srgb vs argb. With the other parameters below, argb would have added another couple of hundred. I settled for srgb only; i dont really print much and don't plan on doing so
3. 4k resolution. i went back and forth on this too - 4k vs wqhd. about 150 more for 4k with all the other parameters but i figured 4k was the future, so future proof a bit
4. tn vs ips panel. I was leaning towards tn, but read enough about how ips just looks better, wider angle etc. delta cost for ips was 100.

so in the end i wound up with the del p2715q.

a) acer b287hk is tn not ips, but is 399
b) monoprce 113809 is 400 and argb, but is tn and could not find any reviews on it
c) asus pb279q is 700
d) dell has a p2815q for 450 but is tn panel
e) asus pb287q is 380 but tn panel


also needed a new video card. got the radeon r9 290 for 200; sony vegas can use the gpu to acecelerate video rendering and lr allegedly can use it as well

gl!

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Nov 27, 2015 09:53:37   #
BebuLamar
 
4K screens are great but the lower price ones don't render color well. For photo editing work I think it's more important to have good color rendition that means also a good calibration tool.

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Nov 27, 2015 09:59:29   #
rmm0605 Loc: Atlanta GA
 
BebuLamar wrote:
4K screens are great but the lower price ones don't render color well. For photo editing work I think it's more important to have good color rendition that means also a good calibration tool.


lI recommend looking at the number of colors produced by the monitor. Most screens can handle 16.7 million colors. But the sRGB and Adobe RGB color spaces are much larger and require screens producing 1 billion plus colors. The best ones are quite expensive. I bought a NEC 24" which was under $500. Best deal ever!

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Nov 27, 2015 14:33:10   #
amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA
 
SonoraDick wrote:
A few months ago, I visited the Apple store and really liked the iMac Retina 5K 27" unit after I displayed some of my own photos. For a moment, I thought I was a decent photographer; they looked that much better to my eyes. I decided then that this would be my next computer when the time came.

Two things I should mention here. One, I'm a Windows user and two, I'm retired and not a professional anything. I use Adobe CC (mostly Lightroom, not very far into Photoshop yet) and enjoy looking at and showing my photos more than anything else.

Well, the time came, and I'm still a Windows user. I just couldn't justify spending twice as much and getting less in terms of performance. I bought a Dell XPS 8900 and hope it'll serve me as well as my current Dell has.

Now for my monitor question. I've been happy with an inexpensive Viewsonic 24", 1920X1080 that hasn't given me any problems in nearly five years. But I do want a larger screen at some point (damn you, Apple!). The card in my new Dell will support 4K and I've been looking at the Dell P2715Q that B&H sells for about $500. Does anybody have any experience with this? There are obviously many monitors with the same 1920X1080 resolution that I currently have that are offered in the screen size I desire (could go to 28-29" or so as well) at a considerably lower price. Will the 4K display really be that much better for my use? (In case it matters, I expect that in the near future I'll have a camera capable of shooting 4K video.)

I'm not set on the 4K; just want a nice display that will be an improvement over my current monitor and is somewhere in that $500 range. Any comparisons/suggestions/comments (other than I should have gone with Apple) will be appreciated. Thanks!
A few months ago, I visited the Apple store and re... (show quote)


One question...

Do you have a calibration device and regularly use it with your monitor?

If so, great!

If not, no amount you spend on a new monitor might give you as good results as you may be able to get with your current monitor... if it were properly calibrated.

The first step in calibration should always be setting the display's brightness, because most monitors are way, way too bright for photo editing purposes. That causes you to make prints and online displayed images too dark. A good calibration suite will help you set the brightness. Next, the calibration software displays a series of color "swatches" and measures their accuracy using a colorimeter, to create a profile to apply to the monitor, so that it renders as correct-as-possible rendition of colors.

You need to re-calibrate a monitor on a regular basis... every month or two is recommended. Monitors change brightness and color rendition gradually over time. When I first got the monitor I'm using right now, I found I needed to reduce the brightness to about 20%! Now, after about five years use I still need to turn down the brightness, but only to about 50%. It's gradually changed over time. Color rendition has no doubt changed, too... but it's not as easily tracked over time.

If you make a lot of prints of your images, a calibration suite that's used properly and regularly will pretty much pay for itself over time, with savings in wasted ink and paper.

So, before dropping big bucks on a new or different monitor, I'd recommend you instead spend a bit for a Datacolor Spyder, Pantone Huey or X-Rite ColorMunki. There are some others, but those are the three most common and popular calibration devices. Each of those is available in basic and more advanced sets. The basic is usually all that's needed for monitor calibration. The more advanced can be used with other devices such as digital projectors and to make custom printer paper and ink profiles. Some of them also have a "real time" mode, where they can make continuous adjustments to the color profile to correct for variable ambient light conditions at your work station. (Personally I just do what I can to keep ambient light relatively even and have a "hood" on my monitor to minimize how much side light effects it.)

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Nov 27, 2015 15:18:36   #
ronreng
 
I would recommend the Dell UltraSharp 27 Monitor – U2715H which is on sale right now! for $499 which is $200 off the regular price and is rated the best monitor by Cnet.

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Nov 27, 2015 15:47:46   #
JD750 Loc: SoCal
 
SonoraDick wrote:
A few months ago, I visited the Apple store and really liked the iMac Retina 5K 27" unit after I displayed some of my own photos. For a moment, I thought I was a decent photographer; they looked that much better to my eyes. I decided then that this would be my next computer when the time came.

Two things I should mention here. One, I'm a Windows user and two, I'm retired and not a professional anything. I use Adobe CC (mostly Lightroom, not very far into Photoshop yet) and enjoy looking at and showing my photos more than anything else.

Well, the time came, and I'm still a Windows user. I just couldn't justify spending twice as much and getting less in terms of performance. I bought a Dell XPS 8900 and hope it'll serve me as well as my current Dell has.

Now for my monitor question. I've been happy with an inexpensive Viewsonic 24", 1920X1080 that hasn't given me any problems in nearly five years. But I do want a larger screen at some point (damn you, Apple!). The card in my new Dell will support 4K and I've been looking at the Dell P2715Q that B&H sells for about $500. Does anybody have any experience with this? There are obviously many monitors with the same 1920X1080 resolution that I currently have that are offered in the screen size I desire (could go to 28-29" or so as well) at a considerably lower price. Will the 4K display really be that much better for my use? (In case it matters, I expect that in the near future I'll have a camera capable of shooting 4K video.)

I'm not set on the 4K; just want a nice display that will be an improvement over my current monitor and is somewhere in that $500 range. Any comparisons/suggestions/comments (other than I should have gone with Apple) will be appreciated. Thanks!
A few months ago, I visited the Apple store and re... (show quote)


Lots of good replies for you to consider.

I'm going to throw my 2 cents in with a couple others here and suggest that you don't overlook color space and calibration methodology. There tends to be a lot of focus on monitor resolution these days, but it is only part of the total viewing experience. Having accurate color is equally important. So I suggest, don't let color get pushed aside in all the excitement over more pixels.

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Nov 27, 2015 17:35:50   #
gmb3 Loc: Coastal CenCal
 
I used to have 3 19" monitors, 2 side by side and 1 on top. I then upgraded to win8, main computator and XP pro for the aux computators. I now use remote desktop so I don't require separate monitors any longer.

I bought a LG 34UM95 and liked it a lot. But me being me I decided I wanted a curved screen. I gave my BIL the LG and bought a Samsung S34E790C. Both have multi device inputs with split screens and PIP. I like the curved screen a little better.

But, as always YMMV.

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Nov 27, 2015 19:37:23   #
bigd7200
 
I have been using the p2715q for 2-3 months. I'm very happy with it. The only caveat is that print is small. For this reason I use my other monitor as the primary and this one for images.

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Nov 27, 2015 20:59:37   #
Reinaldokool Loc: San Rafael, CA
 
SonoraDick wrote:
A few months ago, I visited the Apple store and really liked the iMac Retina 5K 27" unit after I displayed some of my own photos. For a moment, I thought I was a decent photographer; they looked that much better to my eyes. I decided then that this would be my next computer when the time came.

Two things I should mention here. One, I'm a Windows user and two, I'm retired and not a professional anything. I use Adobe CC (mostly Lightroom, not very far into Photoshop yet) and enjoy looking at and showing my photos more than anything else.

Well, the time came, and I'm still a Windows user. I just couldn't justify spending twice as much and getting less in terms of performance. I bought a Dell XPS 8900 and hope it'll serve me as well as my current Dell has.

Now for my monitor question. I've been happy with an inexpensive Viewsonic 24", 1920X1080 that hasn't given me any problems in nearly five years. But I do want a larger screen at some point (damn you, Apple!). The card in my new Dell will support 4K and I've been looking at the Dell P2715Q that B&H sells for about $500. Does anybody have any experience with this? There are obviously many monitors with the same 1920X1080 resolution that I currently have that are offered in the screen size I desire (could go to 28-29" or so as well) at a considerably lower price. Will the 4K display really be that much better for my use? (In case it matters, I expect that in the near future I'll have a camera capable of shooting 4K video.)

I'm not set on the 4K; just want a nice display that will be an improvement over my current monitor and is somewhere in that $500 range. Any comparisons/suggestions/comments (other than I should have gone with Apple) will be appreciated. Thanks!
A few months ago, I visited the Apple store and re... (show quote)


I think you made a good choice avoiding Apple. Apple products cost twice the price for the same power and capability level plus you get a locked down system.

I've had excellent results from Samsung monitors. But I've never gone about a 27 inch and that was some time ago. I have two 24 inch Samsungs now.

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Nov 28, 2015 05:38:40   #
OnDSnap Loc: NE New Jersey
 
bigd7200 wrote:
I have been using the p2715q for 2-3 months. I'm very happy with it. The only caveat is that print is small. For this reason I use my other monitor as the primary and this one for images.


reduce the resolution or up your text size.

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Nov 28, 2015 09:40:43   #
jethro779 Loc: Tucson, AZ
 
OnDSnap wrote:
reduce the resolution or up your text size.


And then either the web page is bigger than the screen and you need to use sliders or the lines of letters run together and overlap and you can't read them. At least that is my experience.

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Nov 28, 2015 09:57:59   #
zigipha Loc: north nj
 
just got the p2715q yesterday, plugged it in and suprisingly the i7-2600k supported the 4k monitor (built in graphics).

colors are gorgeous, whites are white etc.

tried a few 4k you tube videos. looked fantastic. a bit jerky. cpu utilization had all 8 cores going at 70% so i guess i will need the video card coming monday (R9 290)

text is tiny, but its my secondary monitor for photo/video editing, so not a big deal

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Dec 1, 2015 01:13:01   #
SonoraDick Loc: Tucson
 
Thanks to everyone for their replies and suggestions.

I ordered the Dell P2715Q 27" Ultra HD 4K Monitor from B & H tonight and should receive it Friday. Both computer sites and user reviews were generally positive.

I hadn't thought about a two-monitor setup, but did after the mentions here. In addition to the good comments about the Dell, space was also a consideration.

A couple of people mentioned calibration. Haven't ever done that so I obviously don't have the equipment. Again, comments indicate that this unit works right, right out of the box. Purchasers as well as Dell have stated this. I hope they're right! In just a few days, I'll find out for myself.

Thanks again for all of the help.

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Dec 12, 2015 16:54:22   #
SonoraDick Loc: Tucson
 
Just thought I'd update this since I've been using the Dell P2715Q for a little over a week.

So far, so good. It was easy to set up (although reading many reviews and comments ahead of time helped a lot) and worked right out of the box. No difficulties yet with the monitor being slow to wake up (I read this complaint about other monitors, as well). I really, really like the screen size.

Maybe it's just because I want it to be, but I feel the display is a huge upgrade over my 1920x1080. (So was the cost! :-D ) So far, I couldn't be happier with my purchase.

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