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Photo Editing Monitors – How to choose?
by Matt Meisenheimer
A Guide to Monitors for Photography
Whether you’re a professional photographer, an avid hobbyist, or just a beginner, a quality monitor is a crucial part of your photography setup. All of us love being the field and experiencing the challenges of getting shot. We love finding that perfect composition, we love enduring the conditions to wait for the best light, and we flat out just like using our cameras to capture the world through our perspective. But, what comes after that? We need a means to view our captured images and to post-process them. That’s where a monitor comes in, and the specific monitor is very important to your post-capture process. Not all monitors share the same resolution, the same color gamut coverage, and the same cost. Without a doubt, the best monitors available are EIZO monitors. They have the most gamut coverage, excellent color accuracy, and offer the best performance. But, with all those great features comes a hefty price tag. BenQ and NEC produce very good monitors, just a tier below. If you’re looking for a budget option, Dell makes great monitors for a relatively low price.
Things to Look For in a Monitor
I spend a lot of time post-processing images and there are a few points that are very important to me. I began editing images on a screen size of 15 inches, I then moved up to 24 inches, and I currently use a 27 inch a monitor. Screen size makes a huge different in my opinion. It’s MUCH more difficult for me to edit an image on 15 inch laptop screen, sometimes I even feel like my 27 inch monitor isn’t enough. But, most of the time I find 27 inches to be a great size to target, especially if you shoot with a high resolution camera. Color accuracy is a priority for me as well. I post and print on many different mediums and use multiple color spaces (sRGB, ProPhoto, and AdobeRGB), thus I like a monitor with a wide gamut. I’ve had a hard time keeping contrast consistent from display to display, and that can be a problem. Either your images have way too much contrast or appear washed out if your monitor doesn’t have good black and contrast specs. I look for a native contrast of 1000:1, for me, that ratio has resolved well when I transfer my images over to my iPhone and other monitors.
Monitors to Consider
Whether you’re a professional photographer, an avid hobbyist, or just a beginner, a quality monitor is a crucial part of your photography setup. All of us love being the field and experiencing the challenges of getting shot. We love finding that perfect composition, we love enduring the conditions to wait for the best light, and we flat out just like using our cameras to capture the world through our perspective. But, what comes after that? We need a means to view our captured images and to post-process them. That’s where a monitor comes in, and the specific monitor is very important to your post-capture process. Not all monitors share the same resolution, the same color gamut coverage, and the same cost. Without a doubt, the best monitors available are EIZO monitors. They have the most gamut coverage, excellent color accuracy, and offer the best performance. But, with all those great features comes a hefty price tag. BenQ and NEC produce very good monitors, just a tier below. If you’re looking for a budget option, Dell makes great monitors for a relatively low price.
Things to Look For in a Monitor
- 8-bit to 10-bit+ wide gamut
- IPS panel type – offers the best color accuracy
- 24-32 inches
- Wide-viewing angles
- Good contrast ratio
- Uniformity, no color tinting or pixel issues
- At least 1 DP connection
- Minimum resolutions of 1920×1200, maximum resolution of 3,840×2160
I spend a lot of time post-processing images and there are a few points that are very important to me. I began editing images on a screen size of 15 inches, I then moved up to 24 inches, and I currently use a 27 inch a monitor. Screen size makes a huge different in my opinion. It’s MUCH more difficult for me to edit an image on 15 inch laptop screen, sometimes I even feel like my 27 inch monitor isn’t enough. But, most of the time I find 27 inches to be a great size to target, especially if you shoot with a high resolution camera. Color accuracy is a priority for me as well. I post and print on many different mediums and use multiple color spaces (sRGB, ProPhoto, and AdobeRGB), thus I like a monitor with a wide gamut. I’ve had a hard time keeping contrast consistent from display to display, and that can be a problem. Either your images have way too much contrast or appear washed out if your monitor doesn’t have good black and contrast specs. I look for a native contrast of 1000:1, for me, that ratio has resolved well when I transfer my images over to my iPhone and other monitors.
Monitors to Consider
- Eizo ColorEdge CG277 27”- $2,426.00 on B&H
Product Highlights
- 27” In-Plane Switching (IPS) Technology
- DisplayPort + HDMI + DVI-D Inputs
- 2560 x 1440 Native Resolution
- 1000:1 Contrast Ratio
- 300 cd/m² Brightness
- 178°/178° Viewing Angle
- 6 ms Response Time
- Built-In Self Calibration Sensor
- 10-Bit Simultaneous Display
- ColorNavigator Software
- BenQ SW271 27” – $1,099.00 on B&H
Product Highlights
- 27″ In-Plane Switching (IPS) Monitor
- USB Type-C / HDMI / DP Inputs
- 3840 x 2160 Resolution
- 1000:1 Contrast Ratio
- 350 cd/m² Brightness
- 178°/178° Viewing Angles
- 5 ms Response Time (GtG)
- 07 Billion Colors
- 99% Adobe RGB Color Coverage
- Built-In USB Hub
- Dell UltraSharp U2415 24” – $209.00 on B&H
Product Highlights
- In-Plane Switching (IPS) Technology
- HDMI/Mini DisplayPort/DisplayPort Inputs
- 1920 x 1200 Resolution
- 1,000:1 Contrast Ratio
- 300 cd/m² Brightness
- 178°/178° Viewing Angles
- 6 ms Response Time
- 78 Million Color Support
- Built-In USB 3.0 Hub
- NEC EA234WMI 23″- $269.00 on B&H
Product Highlights
- 1920 x 1080 Resolution
- 250cd/m² Brightness
- 1000 : 1 Contrast Ratio
- 178°/178° Viewing Angle
- 6 ms Response Time
- 7 Million Colors
- 4-Port USB Hub
- HDMI/DisplayPort/DVI-D/VGA
- Eizo ColorEdge CS2730 27″- $1177.00 on B&H
Product Highlights
- In-Plane Switching (IPS) Technology
- DVI-D + DisplayPort + HDMI Inputs
- 2560 x 1440 Screen Resolution
- 1,000:1 Static Contrast Ratio
- 350 cd/m² Brightness
- 178°/178° Viewing Angles
- 10 ms Response Time
- 07 Billion Colors
- Built-In USB 3.0 Hub
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AUTHOR
Matt Meisenheimer is a photographer based in Wisconsin. His artistry revolves around finding unique compositions and exploring locations that few have seen. He strives to capture those brief moments of dramatic light and weather, which make our grand landscapes so special. Matt loves the process of photography – from planning trips and scouting locations, taking the shot in-field, to post-processing the final image.
Matt is an active adventurer and wildlife enthusiast as well. He graduated with a degree in wildlife ecology and worked in Denali National Park and Mount Rainier National Park as a biologist. He also spent 6 months working in the deserts of Namibia before finding his path in photography. Matt’s passion for the wilderness has taken him to many beautiful places around the world.
As a former university teaching assistant, Matt is passionate about instruction. It is his goal to give his students the technical and creative knowledge they need to achieve their own photographic vision. He truly enjoys working with photographers on a personal level and helping them reach their goals.
You can see Matt’s work and portfolio on his webpage at www.meisphotography.com
Matt is an active adventurer and wildlife enthusiast as well. He graduated with a degree in wildlife ecology and worked in Denali National Park and Mount Rainier National Park as a biologist. He also spent 6 months working in the deserts of Namibia before finding his path in photography. Matt’s passion for the wilderness has taken him to many beautiful places around the world.
As a former university teaching assistant, Matt is passionate about instruction. It is his goal to give his students the technical and creative knowledge they need to achieve their own photographic vision. He truly enjoys working with photographers on a personal level and helping them reach their goals.
You can see Matt’s work and portfolio on his webpage at www.meisphotography.com
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BACKCOUNTRY JOURNEYS
"Backcountry Journeys offers guests the unique opportunity to explore our natural world from behind their own lens. We run a selection of hand-crafted Photo Tours, Workshops & Safaris connecting passionate people to exceptional experiences. Locations include Yosemite, Alaska, Yellowstone, Glacier National Park, Hawaii, Utah as well as Botswana & Costa Rica."
All Images & Content are property of Backcountry Journeys Photography Tours, Workshops & Safaris LLC - Copyright 2024
TRIP CATALOG
Download our Trip Catalog for detailed information on our many destinations for photography tours, workshops, and safaris.