Laptop Display for Photo Editing

Ken K · August 2, 2011

I can glean all the suggestions from the various forums about the specs required to put together a decent laptop for photo editing purposes. What I don't seem to find is a current discussion or recommendations as to which laptop screens are suitable for photo editing purposes. I would be using Lightroom and Photoshop while traveling and on vacation. I would always have the ability to "finish" editing on my desktop machine and good monitor at home. But I would not want to have to go thru every image again.

So can anyone point me towards a discussion, contribute to one here, about what makes a good laptop screen or specific models to look at or avoid?

Thanks
Ken

colourbox · August 2, 2011

The things that make a good laptop screen are the same as what make a good desktop screen: good panel, uniform backlight, calibration. The difference is laptops have more constrained specs because of size, weight, and power issues; and while you'd want IPS on a desktop display, it's hard to find IPS panels in laptops. There don't seem to be many overviews of the subject, but this photographers' discussion of the MacBook Pro screen may help and links to the previous article in the series that mentions PC laptop displays they also like, for comparison. Unfortunately the articles are getting old, and it would be nice to see an update for current PC/Mac laptops.

Overfocused · August 3, 2011

I'd get a normal laptop with a bright and uniformly lit screen; just make you sure calibrate your screen properly and then you can edit everything very accurately except the color, which you can quickly deal with back at home. When I travel and want to edit, I calibrate my netbook before I go and I'm set. It has an extremely strong backlight so I know I'm getting a good representation of contrast and value. The screen does shift pretty quickly with angle but its not hard to move your head around just a little bit before you make your final save

The ASUS UL80VT is what I use and has an incredibly uniform and bright screen. It is a powerful dual core hybrid netbook so it can run photoshop just fine, and even some beefier 3D games on lower settings. It can go so bright that its possible to use it outside in the sun if you max the brightness (I wouldnt edit this way though, lol) I love it for travel since its small but not too small to edit with resolution wise, and generally lasts 6-12 hours on battery depending on what you do with it and don't max everything out the whole time.

I'm not selling you on this netbook, its a couple years old now so you may want to find something similar and next generation and go with that. So if you're prepared for some research - search for hybrid netbooks/laptops. It's the right path to go down if you want something for travel - they've got (or are supposed to have) super awesome battery life and power in the same package.

http://www.notebookcheck.net/ - this place is awesome for checking out screen backlight uniformity on laptops

Newsy · August 3, 2011

Yes, pretty much all the same things as a good desktop monitor....

The first is an IPS tft LCD panel so you don't have to deal with the off angle viewing issues found with the TN tft panels used in most laptops. There seems to be a typical TN panel found in budget laptops and a premium TN panel found in better quality laptops such as the MacBook Pro, Sony's, Dells, and a couple of other brands. Regardless of being standard or premium, they will all exhibit a gamma/color shift at off angles. The larger the screen and the closer you sit to it the greater the potential to observe the shift on the outer edges (left and right) of the panel while the top and bottom will appear to be darker.

Examples

TN tft panel .... http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/images/benq_xl2410t/viewing_angles.jpg
(per TFT Central BenQ XL2410T review http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/reviews.htm )

IPS tft panel .... http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/images/nec_ea232wmi/viewing_angles.jpg
(per TFT Central NEC EA232w review http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/reviews.htm )

After several years of not being available, there are now several laptops on the market with IPS panels. Note: tech info is from memory so don't trust it.

The king is the HP 8740w which is about to be replaced by a newer model.
... 17" 1920x1200 10bit IPS tft panel in "Dreamcolor II" screen
... RGB-LED back light for wide gamut sRGB + AdobeRGB coverage
... 12 or 14 bit non-writable LUT
... very expensive! $3000 to $4000

http://forum.notebookreview.com/hp-business-class-notebooks/470406-hp-elitebook-8740w-owners-lounge-part-1-a-224.html#post6470413

There are also several 8bit (or 6bit +AFRC) sRGB IPS models available.

HP 8540w
... 15.6" 1920x1080 screen
... new model pending

Dell M4600
... 15.6" 1920x1080 IPS Premium Ultrasharp screen

Dell M6600
... 17" 1920x1200
... last time I looked this model was not going to be available until later this year with the IPS panel screen
... when available it may be closer to the HP 8740w in specs - i.e. wide gamut, 10bit panel, etc

Lenovo X220
... geared to portability and extra long battery life
... 12.5" 1366x768 IPS tft panel
.... docking station with great connectivity options and well priced

and I think the latest Lenovo W520 was rumoured to have an IPS option but all I have seen is the FHD screen which uses a TN tft panel.

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Laptop Display for Photo Editing

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