Best display < 350€ / 500$ for Mac Pro

[carlosgavina]

Hi guys, I really need some advice in the displays department, most of my budget was spent in the Mac Pro, and I will spent a bit less on the display, and then when I become rich, I buy a real pro display

So for less than 500 dollars (350€) which display do you recommend?

Most work I do is, web design, graphic design, video editing, photography and some 3D (not much), I was thinking display a from 22" to 24" with at least 1920x1200 or 1920x1080 resolution

The Samsung 23-inch SM2343BW (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Samsung-23-i...pr_product_top) seems nice, any comments?

thanks in advance,
Carlos Gavina

[TheStrudel]

If at all possible, you want to get a monitor with a PVA or IPS panel. You have selected a lower quality TN panel monitor. Usually the way to tell this from specs is viewing angle - you want a viewing angle of 178°/178°, which suggests the higher quality panels. If you want it to cost less than $500, I therefore suggest the Dell Ultrasharp 2408, which is a decent quality PVA panel at a fairly low cost.

The reason TN panels are bad is low viewing angle - you will see color shift from one side of the monitor to the other - and lower color fidelity; most TN panels are 6-bit, and must dither to achieve the millions of colors you want to work with.

Any work where color is important - in other words, most of the things you listed - is best done on a PVA, or better still, IPS panel.

Hope that helps.

[carlosgavina]

Originally Posted by TheStrudel

If at all possible, you want to get a monitor with a PVA or IPS panel. You have selected a lower quality TN panel monitor. Usually the way to tell this from specs is viewing angle - you want a viewing angle of 178°/178°, which suggests the higher quality panels. If you want it to cost less than $500, I therefore suggest the Dell Ultrasharp 2408, which is a decent quality PVA panel at a fairly low cost.

The reason TN panels are bad is low viewing angle - you will see color shift from one side of the monitor to the other - and lower color fidelity; most TN panels are 6-bit, and must dither to achieve the millions of colors you want to work with.

Any work where color is important - in other words, most of the things you listed - is best done on a PVA, or better still, IPS panel.

Hope that helps.

Thanks for the response, i've read a lot about this by now, and I begin to understand the differences

I've seen some great reviews about the DELL ultrasharp 2408wfp, but also some horrid reviews about it's color performance with sRGB color profiles (which i will use a lot)

Doing some research i founded the HP LP2475w, which is a h-IPS panel and costs almost 500 euros, although its a bit huge and heavy and not that aesthetically pretty, the performance with colors birghtness and blacks seem nice.

But I'm still a bit lost as, I can't afford now the display plus a color hardware calibration tool

Thanks in advance!
Carlos Gavina

[TheStrudel]

The HP is better, though a bit more expensive, which is why I didn't suggest it - as far as I'm aware, most cost at least $500.

I should point out that most of those reviews are done on PCs, which really struggle with wide gamut monitors - they complain everything looks oversaturated. These customers tend to see wide gamut as a negative. We don't really have that problem on Macs - at the very least, I've yet to see a Mac user complain about wide gamut. Your monitor can display a wider gamut than sRGB and still reproduce all of sRGB for use in your work. I myself use a Doublesight DS-263N, which is wide gamut but has no issues with sRGB work. Though admittedly, I shoot and edit in Adobe RGB, because my screen and camera both work well with it.

Calibration is important. But you can also buy a calibrator used, on eBay or elsewhere, or even borrow somebody's tool for a while.

[OnYourKnees]

I have a calibrated 2408WFP and it is glorious. Here are some CNET choices from late last year.

http://reviews.cnet.com/best-lcd-mon...av;component.0

http://reviews.cnet.com/best-23-inch-lcd-monitors/

[illibball087]

dell ultrasharp 2209wa is a must stay away from TN crap

[Thiol]

Here's a list of potential IPS monitors for you needs:

http://www.pchardwarehelp.com/guides/s-ips-lcd-list.php

The Dell 2209WA seems like your best bet.