Looking at getting a 24" or 27" monitor to plug in to my laptop to use to edit photos.
Was just going to purchase a normal monitor.
LED are the go at the moment and I can get a 27" one for around $300
Will this display from the laptop without any problems?
Anything in the specs that I should be sure to have for photography purposes?
Any brands that are better than others or ones I should steer away from?
Any advice appreciated.
Thanks
I think you need an IPS monitor. I have 2 Dell Ultrasharp IPS monitors, they are good value for money (although beware of their dead pixel policy):
//accessories.ap.dell.com/sna/sna.aspx?~topic=ultrasharp_monitor They are running a lot of specials before Christmas, look for coupon codes for up to 30% off the retail price. You just missed a special $120 off on their 24" model. It cost $269 with free delivery last week.
Thinking that when I use lightroom with the both side panels up there is still a good amount of monitor left to display the image. Is my thinking correct? Anyone think 27" is too big and why?
Are the specs OK. Looks like you can adjust the colors via the six color palettes RGBCYM
I won't be calibrating the monitor. I have a spyder but as I don't print my own work I need my monitor to match where I get my images printed so I will be adjusting the monitor by using a number of prints make it look as close to the prints as possible. Have the six color spaces will help with this (I'm guessing). It is supposed to have been set from the factory so I'm hoping the colors are pretty spot on and a few comments I have read have mentioned that not much adjusting has been required. Hoping this is the case.
Well, I bought this exact monitor in July, and I have been *very* impressed with it. I felt that I got a good deal, and looking at what you'd pay now, I'm almost embarrassed to say that I paid $830 in July. That's one helluva price reduction! It wa a good deal in July, it's a smokin' deal now!
Thinking that when I use lightroom with the both side panels up there is still a good amount of monitor left to display the image. Is my thinking correct? Anyone think 27" is too big and why?
Are the specs OK. Looks like you can adjust the colors via the six color palettes RGBCYM
I won't be calibrating the monitor. I have a spyder but as I don't print my own work I need my monitor to match where I get my images printed so I will be adjusting the monitor by using a number of prints make it look as close to the prints as possible. Have the six color spaces will help with this (I'm guessing). It is supposed to have been set from the factory so I'm hoping the colors are pretty spot on and a few comments I have read have mentioned that not much adjusting has been required. Hoping this is the case.
Would appreciate advice and comments.
Thanks all
Be careful not to confuse monitor calibration with color space and ICC profiling. Calibrate your monitor to display accurately in the sRGB colorspace and then use the normally downloadable ICC profiles from your print vendor and do soft proofing etc. to match it to their printer.
Never tried it but I heard good things about it.
Given you mentioned your laptop, if this has an integrated videocard I would suggest checking what's the max resolution supported for an external monitor, and for which outputs.
I have a 21" NEC Accusync. Paid $230 for it 3 or 4 years ago. I've not yet found an inexpensive monitor that beats this for color, detail and showing me the subtleties in an image. I bought my wife a 23" ASUS monitor a few months back and a second for myself. One of the Asus's had dead backlighting so I returned it, but since the NEC has a superior picture, I decided to just stick with a slightly smaller monitor with a great image.
A few more thoughts on the 2711:
- It is absolutely the shizzle for Lr. The extra screen real estate is really a big improvement over most smaller monitors. For comparison, the 2711 at 2560x1440 is 2.1 times the real estate compared to a typical 21" monitor (at 1680x1050) and 1.8 times the real estate compared to "HD" resolution (1920x1080).
- As Mcaldo posted, *do* check that this high resolution is supported by your computer's video card.
- From a physical size perspective, I don't think you will have a problem, unless you are in a very confined space. Heck, I've got the 2711 with a 22" Samsung next to it (turned portrait). I use the Samsung for all the clutter like Win7 Gadgets, Outlook, my media player (KM Player)...
- The calibration is pretty good out of the box. If you are not doing hardware calibration, then read through this page. I know it's kind of a lot, but if you set it up with the right brightness, black point, and gamma, you will be way ahead.
Where do I look to see if my video card will support this monitor?
Would hate to purchase it only to find that it won't work.
Maria
Go to this page and click on the Specifications tab. Scroll down. The maximum digital resolution is what you are interested in. The maximum resolution given is 2560x1600, which meets the need. In fact, that's the resolution of most of the 30" monitors out there (not a great advantage over the 27", but way pricier). So now we know the video hardware supports it. that's step 1.
Next step, because we are dealing with a laptop, is to figure out what outputs are available. We need a digital connection that matches one of the ones available on the monitor. Candidates would be either Dual-link DVI or DisplayPort. In order to determine what display outputs your laptop has, we need to know what make and model. The best place to get the model information is off the tag on the bottom of the laptop. We need the full model number.
Oh great.
It will be fine then.
My laptop has VGA and HDMI output
I have an HDMI to DVI converter at work so I might just use that and the DVI cable as they don't usually supply a HDMI cable.
Is there any reason I would want to purchase the HDMI cable over using the converter above?
Oh great.
It will be fine then.
My laptop has VGA and HDMI output
I have an HDMI to DVI converter at work so I might just use that and the DVI cable.
Thanks heaps Kerbic
Uh-oh. Looks like we do have an issue. HDMI will only provide up to HDTV resolution (1920x1080). It won't drive the monitor at its native resolution, and that is a big disadvantage.
Uh-oh. Looks like we do have an issue. HDMI will only provide up to HDTV resolution (1920x1080). It won't drive the monitor at its native resolution, and that is a big disadvantage.
Will you be able to use it at native resolution over VGA? Flat panels really requires running a native resolution to keep image quality as it should.
For instance, on my laptop I have an hdmi and a VGA, the VGA will go only to 1600X1200 on my old CRT, and at only 60hz refresh, hdmi won't go over hd resolution :S
but, if you are getting another pc that shouldn't be a problem
