# Monitor recommendations?



## DrongoPhoto (Aug 18, 2010)

I have a 15"  2.8 GHz MBP.  I spend a lot of time using Aperture 3 and  FCP and I want a bigger screen.  I would buy one of the 27" Apple  screens but the glossy surface drives me crazy.  Do any of you know of a  good anti-glare screen that will suit my needs?

I found one (NEC LCD2490WUXI2-BK) on another thread but it's smaller than the Apple screen and costs $900.  
Here's a link to it: http://www.necdisplay.com/Products/Prod ... b8823de971

Anybody have a great idea?

Thank you.


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## table1349 (Aug 18, 2010)

DrongoPhoto said:


> I have a 15"  2.8 GHz MBP.  I spend a lot of time using Aperture 3 and  FCP and I want a bigger screen.  I would buy one of the 27" Apple  screens but the glossy surface drives me crazy.  Do any of you know of a  good anti-glare screen that will suit my needs?
> 
> I found one (NEC LCD2490WUXI2-BK) on another thread but it's smaller than the Apple screen and costs $900.
> Here's a link to it: http://www.necdisplay.com/Products/Prod ... b8823de971
> ...



Are you sure the NEC has an antiglare screen?  Didn't see any reference as such in the literature.


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## DrongoPhoto (Aug 18, 2010)

gryphonslair99 said:


> Are you sure the NEC has an antiglare screen?  Didn't see any reference as such in the literature.



No I'm not.  The person who recommended it said as much.  I would call and confirm that before purchasing.

Good looking out.


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## Scatterbrained (Aug 18, 2010)

If it's anything like my NEC MultiSync PA241w screen glare won't really be a problem. I don't notice any on my screen. As far as the price, well worth it in my opinion. I had a 27" iMac and this screen blows the apple screen away.


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## Garbz (Aug 19, 2010)

Wait! Define!

I don't know a single semi decent glossy screen on the market which doesn't have an antiglare coating on it. 

Matte screens are not anti-glare they simply have a matte finish which diffuses the light. The NEC is a matte screen. 

As for your choice of screen, they are worth every last cent, remember size isn't everything. The apple screen is 27" but is it a larger resolution or not? Because the difference can be made up by moving it 10cm closer to your eyes. I would go for the NEC screen simply because ... I have one, the 26" model, and I wholeheartedly recommend it in every way. The NECs also feature an internal 12bit lookup table and play along very nicely with a whole host of hardware calibrators.


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## DrongoPhoto (Aug 19, 2010)

I want a matte screen.  I called it anti-glare because that's what the upgrade on my MBP was called.  I guess I don't have my terminology dialed in yet.

Thanks for the input on the NEC.  It keeps coming up as I scour the web for insight.  Guess I better start paying attention.


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## thetathink (Aug 19, 2010)

I use a 24" Eizo ColorEdge. The surface isn't reflective at all, and the color reproduction is great.


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## lalo56 (Aug 19, 2010)

Look into the Hanns-G 28" $279. I own this one and i love it.

Costco - $279.99 after $50 OFF HannsG 28" Wide LCD Monitor True 1080P with HDMI 400 cd/m2

Reviews 

http://reviews.costco.com/2070/11236988/reviews.htm


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## Garbz (Aug 20, 2010)

lalo56 said:


> Look into the Hanns-G 28" $279



Really? We're talking about high end displays for photography. You're quoting a TN film panel which is by far the worst possible thing you can get for any photographic work. Colours, contrast, tone changes with viewing angles, and heck the display itself can't even display 8bit colours since the technology is fundamentally limited to 6bit. 

Games machine, yeah, office machine you need to stare at for 8 hours a day, errr, photo editing, HELL NO!


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## lalo56 (Aug 20, 2010)

Garbz said:


> lalo56 said:
> 
> 
> > Look into the Hanns-G 28" $279
> ...


 
I was expenting this...I knew about the panels. Just that i am color blind and have a hard time distinguishing certain colors. i just deal with it and do my best.


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## Garbz (Aug 21, 2010)

That doesn't mean you wouldn't get a benefit from an IPS or even a PVA panel. 

With a TN panel you'd be very lucky to have one display smooth gradients without any banding also the tone still changes with viewing angle. This is why you get a lot of threads on this forum saying why do the blacks in photo x look so bad, it didn't look like this when I edited them on my laptop. 

Although if you're colour blind a wide gamut monitor will probably be of little benefit.


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## lalo56 (Aug 21, 2010)

Garbz said:


> That doesn't mean you wouldn't get a benefit from an IPS or even a PVA panel.
> 
> With a TN panel you'd be very lucky to have one display smooth gradients without any banding also the tone still changes with viewing angle. This is why you get a lot of threads on this forum saying why do the blacks in photo x look so bad, it didn't look like this when I edited them on my laptop.
> 
> Although if you're colour blind a wide gamut monitor will probably be of little benefit.


 
I still have a couple of CRT monitors laying around some where that i know show better colors than some LCD's.


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## DrongoPhoto (Aug 21, 2010)

Garbz: How are the NECs for eye strain?  Do you find it easy to work on for hours at a time?  At this point I'm just trying to figure out if the 24" or the 26" is the one.


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## Garbz (Aug 21, 2010)

lalo56 said:


> I still have a couple of CRT monitors laying around some where that i know show better colors than some LCD's.



Definitely the result of a cheap LCD. I would say CRTs would produce a nicer result than *most* LCDs. Simply because most of them are geared to the lowest common denominator, the consumer who doesn't care. But you don't need to spend the earth either. Dell have that amazing 23" IPS screen for around $250. I couldn't imagine staring into a CRT for hours per day anymore.  



DrongoPhoto said:


> Garbz: How are the NECs for eye strain?  Do you find it easy to work on for hours at a time?  At this point I'm just trying to figure out if the 24" or the 26" is the one.



Eyestrain, doesn't exist. Maybe because I have the big screen and it's sitting far enough away, but also because some of the design decision went to ensuring a reduced eyestrain. You know those "dynamic contrast ratio" things advertised on most screens? What they do is increase the brightness of the backlight when the screen is very white, and reduce it when it's dark. Well it work the exact opposite on the NEC specifically to reduce eyestrain.

Our operators at the refinery where I work stare at screens for 12 hours per shift and they don't seem to have a problem with the NEC 2090UXi, but I think this is true of any sharp screen that isn't too small to see.

One thing I've noticed though is that my specific model if the brightness drops below 30% you can see slight waves as a result of the powersupply, though I've heard that the 2690WUXi^2 has addressed this.


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