Monitor contrast ratio question
Jack'll do
Registered Users Posts: 2,977 Major grins
I'm am about to move up from my iMac to a Mac Pro. I want a 30" monitor but I don't like the utilitarian appearance of the Apple Cinema Display. I am considering the Dell 3008WFP which has a contrast ratio 0f 3000:1 whereas the ACD has 1000:1. I almost always boost the contrast of my images during PP. My question is this. If I adjust contrast to what I like on the Dell 3008, will it appear somewhat bland when viewed by others on a monitor with less contrast ratio?
If the answer to the above is yes, would I be better off going with the Dell 3007?
If the answer to the above is yes, would I be better off going with the Dell 3007?
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That 3000:1 ratio is with "Dynamic Contrast" enabled.
In the real world when editing images you would not have it enabled. Furthermore, after using a hardware colorimeter, such as the Colorvision Spyder3 Elite or Xrite i1 Display2, you will find your calibrated contrast ratio likely to fall in between 400:1 and 800:1.
You can confirm this by reading the reviews at these three sites - check out their calibrated CR's.
http://www.prad.de/en/monitore/reviews.html
http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/
http://www.flatpanelshd.com/reviews.php
There are some arguments that a lower contrast ratio, around 300:1, is better for print matching.
Personally, I think this may be true for some matte & similar papers but not for the best glossy paper. Regardless, I like my images on screen with a little more contrast and three dimensional effect. It looks more like how I remember the reality.
I would not take the 3007 over the 3008WFP. Read the reviews to find out why.
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Thnks Newsy
I believe I'll go with the 3008WFP
Jack
(My real name is John but Jack'll do)
I'm going to post my answer to your PM here so all can share in it and be able to reference it in the future.
Here's why I said to take the 3008WFP over the 3007.
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The 3008WFP is superior to the 3007 as it has an On Screen Display (OSD) menu to adjust its' various settings for calibration.
http://www.prad.de/en/monitore/review/2008/review-dell-3008wfp-part5.html
The 3007WFP has no OSD menu. You cannot adjust anything other than brightness and contrast from controls on the monitor. No RGB, no sharpness, nothing! Any adjustments have to be done via the operating system video card utility which is generally very limited.
http://www.prad.de/en/monitore/review-dell-3007wfp-part6.html
Per the conclusion of the Prad.de 3007WFP review.
"We would have probably excused the inconvenient feel of the sensor buttons, but to omit an OSD altogether and not replace it by including screen control software is just a major setback for user-friendliness."
How can you easily and effectively calibrate your monitor without an OSD menu and hardware controls???
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Also, Prad comments that the 3007, while having a broad color space, did not have the best color fidelity.
"The reproducible color space of this display is quite large and the subjective image quality it can deliver looks very good. Quite contrary to color fidelity, which did not prove to be one of the Dell 3007WFP's strengths. Thus, we deem this display rather unsuited for more demanding domains such as graphics work, picture editing or design."
I believe the 3007WFP is a standard gamut display offering something like 100% of the sRGB color space but NOT covering enough of the AdobeRGB space to be considered Wide Gamut. The 3007WFP-HC is wide gamut (HC = High Color or something like that).
The 3008WFP does cover close to 100% of both the sRGB and AdobeRGB color spaces allowing it to earn the designation of being a Wide Gamut monitor.
Wide Gamut is desirable if you work in the AdobeRGB or ProPhotoRGB color spaces. However, it can be problematic if you don't understand the issues of wide gamut and do not color manage your work space. Reds and Greens will appear over saturated in non-color managed applications.
Most Windows browsers (except for FireFox) are NOT color managed so any images you view off a web page will look strange. Fortunately Safari for Apple IS color managed.
One point in favour of the 3008WFP is that there are preset sRGB and AdobeRGB modes available via the OSD (which the 3007WFP lacks). You can also use the User or Custom mode and calibrate it yourself, which is what most people do.
http://www.prad.de/en/monitore/review/2008/review-dell-3008wfp-part6.html
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As to your question on contrast....
Dynamic contrast is never to be enabled for editing images - it is only used for watching movies. People far too often fall for the high figures stated for a monitor's contrast - 30,000:1, 1,000,000:1, etc. These are irrelevant to editing and viewing photographic images. Don't get sucked in by the Marketing Hype! So forget about the stated 3000:1 CR of the Dell 3008WFP. It is only available when dynamic contrast is enabled.
600:1 or 800:1 is typical of a properly calibrated monitor with static contrast enabled.
I only mentioned the low 300:1 CR as there are a couple of articles floating around at the moment that insist a lower contrast is desirable and all Dell monitors are inferior because they can't be adjusted to this level. I don't agree with much of the article.
If you're not printing much, don't waste a second more worrying about it.
If you're sending out images to a printer (like Costco or a local photography store) don't worry about it.
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Connectivity...
I believe the 3007WFP only offers Dual-Link DVI to provide a high bandwidth pathway required by the 2560x1600 resolution of this monitor.
The 3008WFP offers this and also DisplayPort which for a Mac is the easiest way to connect the monitor I believe.
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Jack
(My real name is John but Jack'll do)
Check out this post on their forums
Jack
(My real name is John but Jack'll do)