Looking for < $1000 27inch monitor for photo and video editing

O

ObviousManiac

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Aug 21, 2013
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Total noob here. Basically, I'm a professional photographer/videographer who's sick of working off my laptop at home. I got used to the Apple Cinema Displays at my last job, and I need something at home to re-create that feel.

At first I was locked into the Dell Ultrasharp U2713H, but after browsing the web and discovering NCX's reviews, I'm thinking of getting the ViewSonic VP2770.

Any other thoughts? Like I said, I'm a noob, but I do care about quality.
 
Since it doesn't appear you are looking for a monitor that has built in calibration capabilities then you may want to look for the threads that discuss the Korean monitors (catleap is one of them). I purchased one last year and absolutely love it. I used my fathers colorimeter and we were unable to tell the difference between the uncalibrated profile and the calibrated profile.
 
Why not just get an ACD? They can be had for under $1000 easily unless you're looking for the Thunderbolt model or something (which is pointless unless you have a Thunderbolt-capable laptop/PC already, since so few devices support it atm).

Reason I say this is because you may be surprised at how different it is to work on a large matte display like the ones you listed instead of a glossy ACD or equivalent panel.

You can also go Korean (I have two, a 30" and 27"), but I know some people prefer to spend extra for reliable customer support and warranty. This is even more important in a professional setting, since downtime means money. Would you really want to be without a monitor for more than a week having to haggle with a Korean seller over shipping fees?

Even with "pixel perfect" Korean panels, you're really playing the lottery, and most of the affordable ones do not support anything but sRGB. Luckily for me I don't need extended gamut, and I won the lottery with both of mine. Only downside is the bezels on both are huge compared to most domestic offerings, so I'd never go Korean for multi-monitor unless I felt like debezeling (each is set up for two different machines atm).
 
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I have this display and I believe it's the same panel that goes into Apple units. However, I seem to recall that the LED lighting in use on this unit produces less accurate colors than a CCFL... Not sure on that count.
 
Do you need S-RGB or Adobe color? Would you like hardware calibration?

Very few pros would choose one of the Korean displays to work on. The Viewsonic is probably a decent mid-level choice. Depending on your needs, an NEC or Eizo may be a bit better.
 
Only get an ACD if you are ok with having a mirror & grayish blacks at home.

Left glass vs. right semi-glossy (same-ish coating as matte Qnix/X-Star)

Example 2

Glass Left vs. Glossy

It might be wise to wait for the NEC PA272W to be released since it will feature proper hardware calibration & properly cover both the sRGB & Adobe RGB color space but lack the obvious ghosting issues the Dell U2713H has. For standard gamut work one can't go wrong with the Viewsonic VP2770.

The PA271W uses a grainy matte coating which adds a noticeable film grain/noise affect when viewing whits & light colors. Can't imagine an ACD user not being disgusted by it.
 
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Xinmosni said:
Why not just get an ACD? They can be had for under $1000 easily unless you're looking for the Thunderbolt model or something (which is pointless unless you have a Thunderbolt-capable laptop/PC already, since so few devices support it atm).

Reason I say this is because you may be surprised at how different it is to work on a large matte display like the ones you listed instead of a glossy ACD or equivalent panel.
Click to expand...

My desk at home is right next to a wall-to-wall window, and even with blinds glare can be a pretty big issue. I don't see myself having a pleasant time with a glossy ACD. It'll definitely be different, but way more practical to have a semi-glossy/matte screen. Also I'd like to have the ability to move the monitor into a portrait position (ACD only tilts).
 
I recently purchased two 24", 1920 x 1200 monitors but was considering going to 27" instead. I was looking for sRGB color range and pretty much decided on the Viewsonic VP2770 from the reviews and forum comments.

I did look at the LG 27EA83D as well (which also gets good reviews), but for the money, a 1yr warranty put me off. May not make a difference in your decision making process, but did in mine.
 
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