Monitor recommendation

[LadyG]

I'm looking for some advice on a new monitor. Currently using an HP S2231a which is now refusing to calibrate. It owes me nothing, I've had it for well over 10 years and I'll pass it on to my other half, Dave - it'll be fine for the gaming he does.

I picked up an ASUS LCD but sent it back because I'd bought it as an LED. So - which is better? I'm totally confused!

Due to the size of where my PC is set up, 27-28" is the maximum (currently have 22").

Any recommendations? Preferably less than £500, if possible!

[Keith-369]

I've been extremely happy with my Dell Ultrasharp. No calibrations needed IMHO.

[Bikie John]

I have been running a Benq SW2700 for a few years now and find it excellent. 27 inches is a nice size, for me anyway. Any larger and I find it difficult to see the whole screen. As it is, I tend to run things in windows that I used to do in full screen - this is quite convenient.

I doubt it is still available. I got it from Fotospeed, you could have a look at their website https://fotospeed.com/ . They list a 27 inch Benq at a smidge under £300, since they know what they are doing I doubt that it's rubbish. They are friendly and helpful if you phone them up.

John

[LadyG]

I've heard that the Benq are better from Macs than PC's. Am I right in thinking that you run a Mac, John?

[Bikie John]

Nope - PC with Windows. Was Win 10, now 11, no probs with either.

[Nutmeg47]

I've been very happy with my Asus ProArt pa248qv, a 24.1 inch monitor with a 16:10 aspect ratio which is well suited to a four-thirds image. WUXGA led screen, 100% sRGB, Calman verified. Good stand which is height and rake adjustable. Not expensive compared to some.

[LadyG]

Funnily enough, Bill, that was the one I bought. However, when it arrived, it's LCD, not LED which is why I returned it - because I'd seen research that LED is better than LED - but is that true? Not asking you, it's just a general question from a confused ex-techie!

[BDennis]

You know I’ve forgotten that really they’re all LCDs and it’s just about the backlighting, LED is just LED backlighting of the LCD, LCD uses cathode fluorescent lamps. For me LCD brings to mind those Casio watches from the 1970s! From what I understand LED monitors are better than LCD. The next level up is OLED. It’s explained well in this article https://www.hp.com/us-en/shop/tech-t...nd-lcd-monitor

Now I’m wondering about my old ASUS monitor being out of date!

Good luck with the search / purchase

Bill

[LadyG]

Thank you Bill - that was an excellent link. I'm going off for a wander around Cambridge tomorrow (first time in the centre, so I'll be using my bus pass in this county for the first time!)

I want to have a better look at that OM-3 for a start off, and see if any of the camera shops have a decent monitor.

The one thing that concerns me is that I think my computer might not be able to cope - it's pretty old, a custom-built SCAN machine from 9 years ago and was top grade at the time (!) but the graphics card can struggle now.

[Ian]

I've had a 27" 4K monitor for 6 or 7 years now. The problem I have is that it's not easy to balance graphics with icon and text sizes.

I'd prefer the web browser to show images at 1:1 but that inevitably makes text and icons too small. I suspect 32" would be a maid improvement.

Ian

[MJ224]

My Dell screen (Flat Panel Monitor) has worked well for a few years now.

I bought a Calibration thing, but the Dell did not need it, colours etc are good...


Bought it as it on offer for about £90 or so...

[blackfox]

Another vote for dell from me ,I bought a 27inch screen to match my now departed I.mac but it’s actully smaller if I go5 another it would have a 32” screen .. but as mark says the colours are perfect out of the box . And a good match for the colours on my I.pad

[LadyG]

I'm rather tempted by the BenQ. I don't think that the one BikieJohn currently has is now available, but I've seen the SW2705 on Amazon which looks good - and is just slightly cheaper than that Asus I returned this morning!

Thank you for all the recommendations - more food for thought (and research)

[Bikie John]

A bit more about the BenQ monitor. I use it with Windows, a few years on Win 10 and now Win 11, no problems with either. I calibrate using a Spyder, once done the colours seem very stable. These days I only do a re-calibrate after a major software or hardware upgrade (in case the update somehow changes the rendering, for example a driver upgrade for the video card might change things).

When I was looking, Fotospeed had 2 or 3 models at different prices so I phoned them up and explained that the major use would be editing still photos. They were very good and said that the more expensive versions would only be worth the extra if I was into video editing or heavy gaming, so I went for the cheapest option and have been very pleased with it.

As Ian says, one problem with high resolution monitors is that text in some applications can come out rather small. I do find this a minor pain at times. I seem to have got most apps sorted, but folder names in Lightroom Classic still appear in text that can be quite hard to read. I don't think there is really a way round it, it is just a consequence of having so many dots.

Good luck with whatever you decide to go far. I expect that it is a bit like cameras - there are no bad ones nowadays unless you get unlucky and pick up a lemon!

John

[LadyG]

Thanks John, very interesting - as was the link that Bill shared. And I definitely might struggle with the text... my eyesight is pretty poor so the giglamps are strong!

[Downwind Dec]

I have the exact same model and am very happy with it. At the time I bought it, it seemed a lot better value then the competition. I was after a calibrated 27" monitor with a wide colour gamut. If anything happened it, I'd probably check Benq's current offerings before casting my net.

[LadyG]

Thank you all for your advice - I did go with the Benq 2705 and it arrived yesterday. Himself and I put it together this morning and ended up on the Wex help line. The first one I spoke to (a lass) was telling me that my computer was too old to update the drivers. Luckily the line was lost as I was being sarcastic, and I rang back in and got a very helpful chap - all it was was the USB C connection not working. Switched to HDMI and bingo.... I thought for a moment that old age was beginning to strike...

Still setting it up gradually but very pleased with it. Now off to look at Lightroom!

[MJ224]

Appalling service in the first chat. Those chats can cost a lot of cash if you follow their erroneous advice. Complaint to the management I reckon...

[Bikie John]

Well done! Good luck with the rest of the setting up.

[LadyG]

I shan't bother complaining... I'm still deciding on whether to upgrade to the OM-3 and Wex are giving me a better price than the other Cambridge camera shop... although I have managed to get their offer up by £100 (it was originally pitiful) but I'd still be around £70 down if I went with them. However, they have asked me to be a speaker about music photography at the Cambridge Camera Show that they run, lol - with my partner so knowing him he'll take over anyway...