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

I bet you never read this:

https://photographylife.com/how-to-properly-calibrate-dell-u2413-u2713h-u3014-monitors

amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

If you aren't already doing calibration, as suggested by your last question, then that should be the first thing you do... with your present monitor. Don't spend money on another monitor until you give your current one a chance to "prove itself" after proper calibration.

The mismatch between what you see on-screen and in print is almost certainly due to lack of calibration. A Datacolor Spyder, Pantone Huey, XRite ColorMunki or similar is needed to insure the monitor is set to the correct brightness and is rendering colors correctly. If it's not, then you will make incorrect adjustments to your images and the results will show up most obviously when you print (images would look similarly out of whack to someone viewing them on their own, calibrated monitor).

Virtually no monitor is "right" out of the box. They nearly always are way too bright for image editing (making prints too dark). Color shifts may or may not be present, too. Usually there's some, though it might not be all that obvious at first.

Plus, monitor brightness and color rendition change over time as a monitor ages. So re-calibration is needed every so often. I use a Spyder with mine every other month... 6 times a year. My monitor is now about 6 or 7 years old... when it was new I had to turn down the brightness to "20%". Now it's set to about "50%". I forget what it was set to by default, it was so long ago.

If you do much printing... and reprinting when things don't look right... a calibration device will pay for itself in savings of ink and paper, over time.

I don't know your particular monitor or the fine points of how it's adjusted.... But calibration devices are a combination of software and a "colorimeter" that's used to measure the screen. You install the software, then plug the sensor into your computer and place it on the monitor screen. The software walks you through the process, first measuring brightness and having you adjust the monitor brightness to a more appropriate level (there's some latitude in this setting.... you'll need to experiment a little to find what works best for you). After that, continuing to use the sensor on your monitor screen, the software runs through a series of sample colors and determines what adjustments are needed... then it creates a color profile that's applied to your monitor. Finally, the software may include sample images you can compare before and after. It might seem a little yellowish warm at first, but soon becomes obvious it's more ideal for your images. Some software also maintain an archive of profiles you've used over the years, so you can compare, as well as provide "ideal" sRGB and Adobe RGB color plots to compare against.

So, I'd strongly recommend you first get a calibration device and use it on your current monitor. If you still feel the need for a new monitor, you will need to calibrate, that, too (otherwise you might be disappointed). And you may find some other uses for the calibration device, depending upon which one you get. (In addition to my desktop and laptop monitors.... my calibration device also can be used to calibrate projectors, TVs and even to make custom color profiles for paper and ink combinations.)

Other things that can help...

Ambient light conditions strongly influence what you see on screen. For the best consistency in your images, try to work somewhere that light conditions aren't frequently changing and standardize this as best you can, too, before you calibrate the monitor. It also can help to put some sort of shade or hood on the monitor. Those are available to buy for some monitors. I simply made one out of half inch thick matte black foam core, and attached it to my monitor with Velcro strips, so it can be removed if needed. It's about 6 or 8 inches deep and does a great job shading the screen. (Also, the monitor I use has a non-reflective, matte finish screen.)

Laptops are particularly difficult both because they are constantly moved to different locations, with different ambient lighting... and because each time they are opened or closed they might be reset to a slightly different angles, which can influence apparent brightness. Ideally, to use a laptop for very accurate image editing would require re-calibration of the screen each and every time it's moved or opened and closed! Often a better solution is to set up an external monitor in a fixed location and only use the laptop for critical image editing when it's plugged into that. Not all laptops support external monitors.

Some calibration devices also can be left plugged in to measure ambient light conditions and continuously adjust calibration profiles "on the fly", as conditions change. This can be useful if unable to stabilize the lighting conditions where you work or if using a laptop computer in varying locations.

mborn Loc: Massachusetts

No but thanks

wapiti Loc: round rock, texas

You da man, Gene. Good stuff. Thanks.

RonBoyd

I use a "Acratech Viewing Angle Gauge" to alleviate the Viewing Angle issue.

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/652830-REG/Acratech_6005S_Viewing_Angle_Gauge_Silver.html