grichie5 wrote:
I presently use a Dell 8500 XPS computer with an NVidea gt 630 graphics card and a 22 inch seven year old Samsung Syncmaster 2235 monitor. The bug is hitting for a new and bigger, perhaps 27 inch monitor.
My main use is as an amateur editing photos in Photoshop and Light room. Nothing wrong with the present monitor. Can anyone suggest whether or not a newer monitor might be better for photo editing and if so suggest a brand and model. Have seen many offered in the $250 to $400 dollar class.
Look for a monitor that can display 98% to 100% of the Adobe RGB (1998) color gamut. That will include sRGB, so the monitor will be able to display all the colors in either space. Such monitors can be found for $400 and up. BenQ, Dell, NEC, and several other companies make them.
DO NOT buy a monitor for gaming. You want a monitor made specifically for photo and video editing. They are optimized differently! Gaming monitors are way too bright and contrasty. Photo monitors are made for precision.
Whatever your budget, if you really are looking for accurate color, it must include a color calibration and profiling kit, either sold with the monitor, or as an add-on item. Datacolor and X-Rite are the companies that sell the add-ons.
It is very important to calibrate your monitor monthly. Let the software create a custom ICC profile for it, and then activate it. That will ensure that you are looking at accurate, international standard color.
DON'T make it too bright! The #1 complaint from users who print at home or use a lab is that their prints come out darker than their monitor. Photo monitors need to be used in a dimly lit room, with no bright colors on the screen or in the user's peripheral field of view. So:
Black Point aim is 0.5 candelas per square meter (cd/m^2)
White Point aim is 105 cd/m^2 (80 to 120 is the range)
Gamma is 2.2
Color Temperature depends on brightness. Follow the software's recommendation. It's usually 5800K, give or take 800K (5000K to 6500K).
I can't stress enough that if you throw money at a monitor without understanding ICC color management's role in keeping it honest, you will not see an improvement in your prints.
"But Bill, I don't print. I just post images on the Internet — on social media and sharing sites. Why do I need to calibrate when almost no one else does?"
The answer is that even when others' monitors are not calibrated perfectly, your images will look better to a wider number of people on a wider array of devices if they appear perfect to YOU on YOUR calibrated monitor.