Options
Photo Monitor
AforAperture
Registered Users Posts: 20 Big grins
Wondering if anyone owns one of these and your opinions on it: NEC LCD2490WUXi2-BK 24" WIDESREEN LCD MONITOR 24 INCH
I'm thinking about ordering one because I'm in need of a new monitor. One thats hopefully better at showing what my photos actually look like for print.
Also, if you love your current photo monitor - what is it?
I'm thinking about ordering one because I'm in need of a new monitor. One thats hopefully better at showing what my photos actually look like for print.
Also, if you love your current photo monitor - what is it?
0
Comments
Carry on.
Moderator of the Cameras and Accessories forums
There are some more expensive ones out there, but I don't see the advantage in paying big $$$ for a built in calibration puck when I can buy what I want + monitor for cheaper.
That is a pretty good monitor but said to be not as good as it's predecessor, the LCD2490WUXi-BK. Note that your model number has a "2" in the "WUXi2". This is primarily because the original had the A-TW polarizing filter in the screen (A-TW = Advanced True White).
This part number does not indicate it includes the SpectraView calibration kit. Usually, if it includes the kit the model number would look something like this... LCD2490WUXi2-BK-SV. The SpectraView accessory is NOT a built in calibrator. It is actually a separate external hardware puck and software combination very similar to the Xrite i1 Display2 - it uses the Xrite i1 puck but the NEC software has unique data pertaining to the NEC screen to make the calibration more accurate AND it also has the ability to write directly to the internal LUT (Look Up Table) of the NEC monitor. Most 3rd party calibrators can only write to the LUT of the video card.
Notably, this model LCD2490WUXi2-BK is NOT a wide gamut, offering only a standard sRGB gamut. Many people prefer standard sRGB over a wide gamut which I'll explain later.
If you don't do a lot of your own printing and mostly send out images to an off site printer, and you primarily edit images for uploading to a web site like Smugmug, to share in forum posts... then a standard sRGB gamut monitor is all you need.
If you take a lot of shots of ultra colorful subjects like flowers, parrots, sunsets, etc etc, and you shoot with your DSLR set in the AdobeRGB mode or you shoot to a RAW file and later extract to an image in the AdobeRGB space, then you should consider a wide gamut monitor.
But if you are doing a lot of printing on a high quality multi ink printer using Photoshop CS3/4/5 and/or Lightroom and you want to match what you see on your monitor as close as possible to your prints.... then you should get a wide gamut monitor.
Btw... LR3's working gamut is ProPhotoRGB which is even larger/wider than AdobeRGB. You cannot change this to sRGB - it is only and always ProPhotoRGB.
The problem with wide gamut for many people is that they do not have a good grasp of color management best practices in terms of understanding ICC profiles, assigning the profiles, and using software that is truly color managed. This color managed software has to include viewers, editors, and web browsers. If not managed properly, you may find that reds, greens and skin tones are overly saturated (though blues will show this as well, the reds & greens are what usually catches the eye first).
PhotoShop CS3/4/5 has full color management. ACDSee Pro v2.5/3.0 has full color management. FireFox 3.6.x.x has full color management but has a bug preventing it from using ICC v4 profiles, v2 work fine. More here...
http://www.color.org/version4html.xalter
http://www.gballard.net/psd/go_live_page_profile/embeddedJPEGprofiles.html#
The latest top end 24" monitor from NEC is the PA241w; in essence it supercedes the LCD2490WUXi-BK. It is a very good wide gamut monitor with an accurate sRGB mode (selectable from the OSD menu and the gamut is adjusted). It runs about $900 in the USA or about $1200 with the SpectraView II kit. This monitor has a pseudo 10bit panel (over 1 billion colors) and a 14bit writable LUT.
Another 24" monitor that has been getting good reviews is the HP ZR24w. It offers only a standard sRGB gamut but as noted, many people prefer this. It uses a 8bit IPS tft panel - 8bit RGB has been the standard until recently. It can be found for about $400 USD when not sold out.
The HP LP2475w is a 24" wide gamut monitor with an 8bit panel but may no longer be in production - you can find it for about $500 USD. The LP2475w has had reports of tinting issues - it uses almost the exact same H-IPS tft panel as the Dell U2410..
Dell has the U2410 24" wide gamut with a pseudo 10bit H-IPS tft panel and 12bit processing and non-writable LUT for as low as $450 USD with a coupon. I strongly suggest avoiding this monitor as many many users have reported tinting issues (green on left, red on right).
A promising new arrival is the ASUS ProArt PA246Q - a 24" wide gamut with a pseudo 10bit IPS tft panel and 12bit processing and non-writable LUT. It can be found for about $499.
To calibrate these wide gamut monitors, you should consider the DataColor Spyder3 Elite which can be found at B&H for under $200.
.
.
Author "Color Management for Photographers"
http://www.digitaldog.net/
I love mine! Looks like prices have come down a bit, so thats good news. The Calibration piece and its operation is supremely easy!
Glad to know you love it, I'm currently looking at that one and the NEC LCD2490WUXi2-BK 24" WIDESREEN LCD MONITOR 24 INCH! Decisions. Decisions.
For calibration, would I be better off going with the SpectraView II kit or a Spyder unit? I know the Spyder would work with other monitors. Would the SpectraView II work with non NEC monitors or at least other models of NEC monitors?
If just the PA241w alone - imho, SpectraViewII.
If others... I'm not sure how the SpectraViewII kit would work. Good question to direct to NEC support.
Over on DPReview forums you will find Art Marshall and Will Hollingworth of NEC checking in from time to time. They've been very good in clarifying SpectraView issues.
Art ... http://www.dpreview.com/members/7505270079
Will ... http://www.dpreview.com/members/657037741
Ben Vaccaro from Datacolor (Spyder3's) chimes in from time to time as well. This was a recent post of his...
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1004&message=37813638
.
.
Author "Color Management for Photographers"
http://www.digitaldog.net/