Monitors (Again, I know)

[Peter De Smidt]

I may need to upgrade my monitor, as I may get a couple of commercial retouching jobs. One of them is very picky about color. Currently, I have a Dell 2209WA, an inexpensive monitor with an e-IPS panel. It's pretty good, but it does lose detail with tones over rgb 250 or so, and it's not all that uniform. (I do calibrate and profile it with a Spyder 3.)

I'm considering one of the NEC monitors with Spectraview II software, perhaps the PA-231W-BK. http://www.necdisplay.com/p/desktop-monitors/pa231w-bk . While it would be nice to get something bigger, like a PA241W, they get much more expensive. I'd use my Dell as a second monitor to hold Photoshop pallets.

While I have a Spyder 3, I've heard that being able to adjust the monitors LUT directly is better than calibrating color through the video card, hence the Spectraview II software. While the software can use the Spyder 3 puck, it might be better to get the recommended I1 Pro, although I'd probably buy a retail version that can be used on any monitor instead of the NEC specific version.

I'd appreciate comments as to whether this sounds like a good plan, or if there's other solutions around the same cost that might be better.

[Preston]

Peter,

I have an NEC P221W along with SpectraView and the NEC-branded iOne colorimeter. The software allows you to create various 'targets' (color gamut, white point, luminance, and contrast ratio) depending on your needs. Once you've defined your 'targets' calibration is basically a hands-off operation. Here's a tutorial from Image Science about calibrating a NEC monitor with SpectraView.

There are two things to be aware of. Ensure your video card is set to it's default values. Second, the latest version of SpectraViewII does not play well with the Wacom Intuos 4 tablet mouse; it works perfectly with the pen or a standard PS2 mouse, though.

I would love to get the 24" screen, but yikes! on the cost.

--P

[Robert Budding]

I have an NEC PA241W and the SpectraView package. Great monitor.

[bob carnie]

I have a Lacie 526 at work and a new Imac 27 at home.. I prefer the Lacie for only one reason, it seems softer to look at than the glossy Mac screen.
I use two monitors at both locations and personally Peter if you go by the numbers I think any monitor that calibrates would be good. I would never rely on what the image looks like on screen period. I need to see a test print... with that said my first test print pretty much looks like what I see on screen, but we always make some type of adjustment.

I know there are those here invested in Eizo $$$$ and are probably going to jump all over me here, but really it boils down to good vision, a good background in Colour Theory , and understanding how the numbers work.. I think that the monitor is overrated in the whole workflow thing.
As a professional printer, I have gotten over this issue years ago, about what equipment is better , thats just plain dumb, I still make test prints and adjust. For those saying they nailed it on screen, then I say they may be leaving quality at the screen.

NEC sound good and I did consider that brand when I bought the Lacie, I would not worry about your purchase and go within your budget limitations and do not get sucked into buying something that is probably not going to get you any better quality work.

[bob carnie]

btw It took two sessions to start liking the Mac monitor...

[Peter De Smidt]

Thanks for the input! Bob, I agree about the numbers, and I've had to work on some pretty poor monitors. In this case, though, the client will probably drop by regularly, and my current monitor has some fairly obvious defects.

[Doug Fisher]

>>if you go by the numbers I think any monitor that calibrates would be good.<<

Good point. I have not looked up the panel type for that NEC model but I have looked it up for other monitor sizes (at places like TFTCentral) and it was interesting to see that NEC and Eizo were both using the same panel assembly!

Doug

[Frank Petronio]

Back when I did retouching for a living, in the mid-90s, I blew $$$ on a couple of Radius Pressviews, etc. in part because they were better than what my clients had. They were very nice but not worth the extra cost... Except in perception. Which helped justify my rates. If I were using the same mediocre gear they had back at the ad agencies, then they would be apt to do it themselves.

Now that every bozo has a 5D, having a medium format digital or a view camera means the same thing.

Truth is, a smart, talented artist doesn't need fancy gear but some clients are silly.

[pherold]

Peter,
Just a small correction. The NEC-branded device they recommend is not an i1Pro but a re-branded i1 Display 2 - and I think you are perfectly fine using your Spyder 3 with that software.

I'm wondering if you deal with a lot of strongly saturated images? The real advantage of these mid-range NEC's is the wide gamut. If your particular clients really have a need to get saturated colors accurately, then an NEC is useful there as it will show you almost all of the color in the AdobeRGB gamut. If instead you do a lot of less vivid images, (ie portraits) you might not find a big difference between the NEC and your well-calibrated Dell.

I had a review of a PA241W a few years ago if it helps in your decision making:
http://www.colorwiki.com/wiki/NEC_PA241W_Review

[Peter De Smidt]

Hi Pat, Thanks for the info. It's a little challenging for me to keep all of the nomenclature strait. If I get to the point where I'm going to buy, I'll be happy to give you guys a call.

I was a little worried that I'd need a new video card to use 10-bit color, but it looks like my ATI does so through both the displayport and DVI connections. Since I'd like to run my low gamut Dell for palettes, I'm a little worried about combining multiple types of display color management systems. (Currently, I use my Spyder3 and datacolor software on both of my monitors.) If I got an NEC, I'd want to use Spectravision II for it, but I don't believe that it can also be used for the second non-NEC monitor. Is that so? If not, I'd ideally use datacolor cm for the Dell, as profiling it does make a big improvement, but I'm not sure that the SVII and datacolor solutions will play nicely on the same system.

This work will mainly be architectural work and high end interiors, the latter along the lines of yachts. As Bob said, maybe I should stick to regular gamut monitors and make a few prints! My potential clients use Imacs, and so that's another thing to consider.