Features to look for in a new computer...

[Deleted User] · December 6, 2012

I used to share a desktop computer at home. Once I started taking photography more seriously, I wanted a computer I didn't share, so purchased a Dell Studio 15 Notebook. It's taken with me on trips and locked with a password at home or away, so I'm the only user. I'll skip the boring details, but need to move back to a desktop...one that will mostly be used for photography. I'm not a pro, but want a good one...have been the Apple route and do not want to switch back, so am looking for a PC.

My question is about choosing a monitor. For quality, do I look at resolution? If so, what resolution should I be looking for. I want a large screen, maybe 22-24 inches. I've considered plugging my laptop into a second monitor, but have decided to go with a complete desktop.

Could someone give me suggestions of what I should look for in a new computer...not a particular one, but features that would work well with editing photographs? To those who respond, I appreciate your input.

cmason · December 6, 2012

For a monitor, get one that is an IPS monitor. It can be sometimes hard to find which ones are IPS, but I recommend the Dell Ultrasharp, which are very vocal about IPS: http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/sna.aspx?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs&~topic=ultrasharp_monitor (look for IPS logo). After that, its up to you regarding size and resolution, but more pixels are better. The Dell U2410 is an extremely well respected monitor.

As for the computer, it really depends on what software you plan to use and how you plan to use it. But in general, you want the best CPU you can afford, and put as much memory as the budget allows. If you plan to be a very heavy user of lots of filters in Photoshop, or do much video editing, getting a computer with a dedicated video card is helpful as well. If you will be using Lightroom, or basic Photoshop, you will do fine with the built-in Intel video.

So, I recommend getting a Core i5 or i7 machine, with 16GB of RAM. Built-in Intel video will be cheaper, or upgrade to a video card (NVidia, AMD, etc) if you want to play games or do the intense Photoshop/video.

If you do come over to the Mac side, the iMacs all sport IPS screens, offer i5 or i7 chips, and Nvidia cards, so simply purchase on screen size and budget. Go big, I always say. A good alternative is the Mac mini, which is available in i5 or i7 chips, and feature Intel video, except for the most expensive model. Of course, with the Mac mini, you add your own monitor, such as the Dell one recommended above (two if you really want to see how amazing Lightroom is)

Newsy · December 6, 2012

I'll address the monitor side of things....

There are still purists out there who swear by CRT's but almost all new monitors today are based around a LCD panel. Going forward, that is what you should be looking at.

Panel Type
- the starting point is, regardless of size, one with an IPS type or S-PLS type LCD panel. This is because these panel types provide excellent viewing angles with a minimal shift in gamma/color when viewed at angles other than straight on.

For example, from the TFT Central site...

IPS ........... http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/images/dell_u2412m/viewing_angles.jpg
S-PLS ....... http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/images/samsung_s27b970d/viewing_angles.jpg
A-MVA ...... http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/images/dell_s2440l/viewing_angles.jpg
TN ........... http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/images/benq_xl2420t/viewing_angles.jpg

Here's a page listing monitors with IPS panels. Some are better than others and this list looks to be a month or two out of date at best.
http://www.pchardwarehelp.com/guides/s-ips-lcd-list.php

An explanation of LCD panel matrices....
http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/articles/panel_technologies.htm
http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/articles/ips_technologies.htm

Budget $$
- what do you want to spend for a monitor? monitor + calibrator?

All prices below are "on sale" in $USD.
$139 .... LG 21.5" IPS 1920x1080 sRGB LED back light with a basic stand.
$249 .... Dell U2412M 24" IPS 1920x1200 sRGB LED back light with a quality stand.
$400-440 ... Dell U2410 24" IPS 1920x1200 Wide Gamut CCFL Back light (being discontinued)
$650 .... the latest Dell U2713HM 27" 2560x1440 sRGB LED back light
$679 .... Dell U2711 27" 2560x1440 Wide Gamut CCFL back light (being discontinued)
$780 .... NEC PA241w 24" 1920x1200 Wide Gamut CCFL back light
$950 ... NEC PA271w 27" 2560x1440 Wide Gamut CCFL back light (was $799 on Cyber Monday)

Calibrator
- do you want to get a hardware calibrator to ensure that what you see is as per standards? If so allow about $200 +/- $50 for this item. Some better quality lines, like the NEC PA series, Eizo's, and Lacie's - are offered with a calibrator kit tuned for that monitor. Caibrators to consider are....

Datacolor Spyder 4 series - Express/Pro/Elite
Xrite i1 Display Pro
Xrite Colorvision Display

Gamut
- standard sRGB or wide gamut (sRGB + AdobeRGB)? For the majority of hobbyist photographers, standard sRGB is enough, wide gamut can actually be more trouble than it is worth. You will find mostly sRGB monitors below $400. 24" wide gamut monitors start at about $400 with the Dell U2410 often being on sale in the low 400's.

Screen Finish
- Matte or Glossy? Matte keeps down reflections which may be useful in a brighter room or one with windows facing the monitor. Glossy provides a sense of increased contrast or black depth which some people prefer; it could be my preference if I used my monitor mostly for watching videos but for editing images I prefer matte.

FYI... there are some complaints over the coarseness of some matte finishes, particularly on the Dell U2711. People post about a sparkly granular appearance. The latest generation of IPS panels have just arrived with smoother finishes.

Resolution
- most current new monitors are widescreens with a 16:9 or 16:10 width to height ratio. There are some new 21:9 29" monitors entering the market. If you still prefer 4:3 1600x1200 you may be able to find this in smaller 21" that can still be found though they were designed up to 7 years ago.

So, you can commonly find a 21.5" 1680x1050, 21.5" 1920x1080, 23" 1920x1080, 24" 1920x1080, 24" 1920x1200, 27" 1920x1080, 27" 2560x1440, and 30" 2560x1600.

That size in inches is measured on the diagonal from a top corner to opposite side bottom corner.

Note... If you're running an old PC or a laptop, you have to be careful with the 2560xNNNN monitors as these require a high bandwidth Dual Link DVI-D or Displayport connection. HDMI is technically capable of handling this high bandwidth resolution but practically it is a gamble that it will work. There are a number of posts in various forums of people with laptops having an HDMI port struggling to connect their new 27".

Note... LCD monitors should be used at their full native resolution. You may have a 2560x1440 (16:9) monitor but want to run it at 1920x1080 (16:9) so that the text is larger and easier to read. DON'T! Run it at its' native 2560x1440 and use OS software to increase font size. If you run an LCD monitor at less than native what often happens in the scaling of the resolution is that you will find jaggy edges or stair stepping on curved edges.

Bits, Color Depth and LUT
- most monitors under $400 have a pseudo 8bit color depth of 16.7 million colors. Above $400 you start to find pseudo 10bit color depth, and above $1000 a true 10bit color depth. The internal electronics of the monitor will be 8bit, 10bit, 12bit or 14bit.

Pseudo? as in 6bit plus use of Advanced Frame Rate Control (AFRC) to simulate an 8bit color depth; or 8bit + AFRC to simulate 10bit. The benefit of a higher bit rate is less banding in color gradients in your image. TFT Central has an article on this as well.

Does it matter in an under $400 monitor? Imho, no. Read the reviews. The latest monitors with 6bit+AFRC get very good results, almost like a true 8bit. Better in fact than some true 8bit IPS monitors that were very popular 5 or 6 years ago.

Contrast Ratio
- you can generally ignore specs for "Dynamic Contrast Ratio" and/or marketing statements like "2 MILLION to 1 CR !!!!!!!! OMG BUY IT NOW!!!".

Pure carpet bagging. With a better quality monitor set-up and calibrated for image editing, it will be used in a mode that disables the DCR and properly calibrated will yield a contrast ratio somewhere between 650:1 and 900:1.

A more useful bit of info is the calibrated black depth which can be found in reviews from several sites - it should be at around 0.15 cd/m2 for an IPS type matrice.

But... if you do watch a lot of video, dynamic CR may be more important in your criteria.

Connectivity
- Some monitors offer Dual Link DVI-D, Displayport, HDMI, and more; others only DVI-D and Analog VGA. You can get adapters to go from DVI to HDMI or Displayport to HDMI for about $20.

Stands
- you can find a 21.5" IPS monitor for as low as $159 if not lower but take note of the stand, usually just a simple tilt adjustment. Better business class monitors offer stands with vertical height and tilt adjustments along with a pathway to hide cables.

Review Sites

http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/reviews.htm
http://www.prad.de/en/monitore/reviews.html

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nak · December 6, 2012

There is a lot to be said for a large (like 24") monitor. That way you can see life size views of your prints. For example, the native print size of a Canon 5D2 on a normal printer is 12 inches by 18 inches, and a 24 inch monitor will show that size (at lower resolution, but it will get the size right). It is very nice to see what will be an 8x10 print at 8x10 on your monitor.

Resolution is a mixed bag. A 24" monitor runs say, 1900 x 1200 pixels or so. There are 24s with higher and lower resolution. Too little is a stupid waste of real estate. Too much can be a royal pain in eyeballs. As the pixel density increases, fine lines get finer, thus harder to see! Some people have no trouble seeing those razor thin lines, others get headaches. Your images want higher resolution, but there is a sharp usability cutoff on everything else - especially text. In short, you want as much resolution as you can stand, but no more.

[Deleted User] · December 6, 2012

cmason, Newsy, and nak...Thank you so much for this thorough information. Way more than I can retain at one sitting, so have printed your suggestions and will use your ideas when shopping for the new computer. Greatly appreciate you taking the time to respond. Super ideas from all three of you.

To address a few comments...I do not do video. I'm not a gamer unless an occasional game of Solitaire counts. I have upgraded to LR4 and CS6. Around here I usually shoot with a Canon50D in RAW and on manual 95% of the time...recently was second shooter for a small wedding and used Jpg at request of person I was helping. When traveling by bicycle I'm more likely to be using my Canon G12 due to weight and space. Within the year, I've bought studio strobes and peripherals for indoor portaiture. I do watch a lot of podcasts and online tutorials. My internet connection is pretty lousy, so will still use my laptop to travel to the library where I can smack a large amount of pictures onto SmugMug very quickly. Our local professional lab will calibrate a desktop monitor for you, but not a laptop. I have been using a Spyder on my laptop. Thanks again for the information.

Newsy · December 7, 2012

Which Spyder?

[Deleted User] · December 7, 2012

Newsy, it's a Data-Color Spyder 3 Pro ($124.99 from B&H 4/4/11).

Newsy · December 7, 2012

KYLady wrote: »

Newsy, it's a Data-Color Spyder 3 Pro ($124.99 from B&H 4/4/11).

Good! It is wide gamut ready if you go that way. I believe that although it does not have the module to specifically to measure monitor brightness, there is a screen during calibration that will show the measured cd/m2 value for white luminance. I think you only see that screen if you are not using the "Easy" (auto) method to calibrate, the one where you have to manually tweak the RGB sliders on the monitors' OSD menu.

MomaZunk · December 15, 2012

I have the HP 24ZW and the EIZO ColorEdge CG243W , both are 16:10 ratios which I like better than the 16:9. I am very happy with them.
The HP is sRGB, and the EIZO is wide gamut. I have the monitors calibrated very close, but the EIZO does show green tint that is there when the HP sRGB does not. This is only important if your output is printing.

I recommend the Xrite i1 Display Pro over the spyder. It is a different technology and can also do monitors.

Also, you should get a separate video card and not rely on the integrated graphics. There is a big difference.

Go with the iC7 minimum. There is a step change between the iC5 and the 7.

[Deleted User] · December 18, 2012

Thanks, Wayonbird and MomaZunk.

MomaZunk · December 18, 2012

I meant to say the Xrite can do projectors in addition to monitors.

Features to look for in a new computer...

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