Dell u2410 - color management

[Yzerguy]

My new MBP 17 just arrived today, yeah! I eventually want to get an external monitor for it, so in searching the web today I see the Dell has the u2410 on sale for $500.

I have the 2408wfp on my Win7 machine at work, and I love it (using mostly general apps, plus CS5 Design Standard).

As the 2408wfp is no longer available, I thought the u2410 was the natural choice, but I see that it's wide gamut.

Although I've got basic understanding of color spaces, I'll admit the topic is still a bit over my head.

My basic question is: If I get the u2410 and hook it up to my MBP via mini-DVI to DVI, and calibrate the monitor with something like coloreyes, will my photo editing (mostly for web, but some printing) suffer?

I like all of the other features of the u2410, if I could order it just sRGB I would, but that's not an option. I realize that Snow Leopard is color managed, but again, will calibration of my MBP with the dell external monitor keep me from posting images to the web that look completely different on the "average sRGB" monitor?

I realize the u2410 has a sRGB mode, but I've also read that profile isn't great.

Any insights appreciated. In researching this I see most people avoid wide gamut for ease of use -- if that's the case, why did Dell add this feature to a previously great monitor (2408wfp)?

Cheers, Sean

 

[TheStrudel]

What you've read about avoiding wide gamut applied to windows users primarily using XP. I don't know if Win7 is less stupid about this, but it might be.

Color management is baked into OS X all over the place (Colorsync). There is no penalty to using a wide gamut monitor whatsoever. And if you're concerned about your images not being color managed on the monitors of users on the other side, don't be. You can either convert it to sRGB, which is trivially easy.

Alternatively, you can stop pandering to the lowest common denominator (Why are VGA ports still coming on new hardware?!?).

Modern web browsers are incorporating color management. Safari has it, as does Firefox. Most people are coming around to Firefox, and you really don't need to pander to the IE6 (computer-challenged) segment. So again, properly tagged images will be handled by the browser and OS, so again, wide gamut is not a problem. Encourage your target audience (that is, assuming it's not just friends and family) to use firefox or a color managed browser.

Don't let the software of clueless end-users influence your decisions. Wide gamut is a feature, not a bug and has been this way on OS X for years.

But, if wide gamut really bugs you, and I don't think it should, you actually have options - HP's ZR24 and ZR22 are IPS displays that are not wide gamut, as are Dell's U2211H and U2311H, and NEC's EA221WMi.

You've got lots of decent choices now, and all of them benefit from calibration. Your work should not suffer at all from wide gamut, though wide gamut may not be something you need if your photos are shot in sRGB to begin with. I shoot Adobe RGB, so it's handy for me.

But I would encourage you not to let the tyranny of the majority determine your buying decisions. Tech never moves forward that way. Yes, I think flash needs to die out of use in photo and video applications, because HTML5 rocks.

VGA needed to die nearly a decade ago, and DVI is not as good as Display Port and others.

Also, correct me if I'm wrong, but couldn't you just connect the U2410 to your MBP with Display Port? Just buy a Mini Display Port to Display Port cable, and you're all good.