Lecture me on monitors. Very confused.

Lately I've been more and more wanting a monitor (instead of my 13" MBP), but I'm confused as to what I should be looking at.
It's only for photo (and a little video) editing/viewing. I don't really do gaming (maybe an hour a month, if that). I would buy the monitor for the better colors and true whites/blacks.
I did a little google research, but couldn't quite figure it out.

You have LED and LED-LCD screens, right? And then there's IPS versions of either (instead of VA or TN) that basically mean they're higher quality and produce a better image, right?

As far as I've understood I'm looking for a LED-LCD IPS for the stuff I want, is that correct? I've been looking around some and it looks like I can get those for a little under 200 bucks or so, or aren't they worth it?
I really don't have the money to dish out 400 bucks for a monitor. If the cheaper ones aren't worth it, I rather keep the money in my pocket.

Also, are there any other things to look at? Hertzes, wavelengths or the likes?

Thanks in advance.

TijmenDal wrote in post #14871493
Lately I've been more and more wanting a monitor (instead of my 13" MBP), but I'm confused as to what I should be looking at.
It's only for photo (and a little video) editing/viewing. I don't really do gaming (maybe an hour a month, if that). I would buy the monitor for the better colors and true whites/blacks.
I did a little google research, but couldn't quite figure it out.

You have LED and LED-LCD screens, right? And then there's IPS versions of either (instead of VA or TN) that basically mean they're higher quality and produce a better image, right?

As far as I've understood I'm looking for a LED-LCD IPS for the stuff I want, is that correct? I've been looking around some and it looks like I can get those for a little under 200 bucks or so, or aren't they worth it?
I really don't have the money to dish out 400 bucks for a monitor. If the cheaper ones aren't worth it, I rather keep the money in my pocket.

Also, are there any other things to look at? Hertzes, wavelengths or the likes?

Thanks in advance.

Hi TijmenDal, I saw your posts in the adapted manual focus thread, impressive stuff! I thought I could help you having just come across this here thread, so, here goes. I used to have a 24inch Dell TFT. While 'ok' for gaming, it was crap for films and photographic and graphic design. It wasn't impressive, (I'm proudly pedantic, so nothing is ever good enough for me :lol, so I decided to upgrade a few months ago.

Somewhere on the bay there's a few Korean guys selling a lesser known cabal of monitor brands such as PC Bank, Achieva Shimian, Yamakasi Catleap and the Crossover, (which I have - it's the best built monitor with the metal chassis and sole DVI port; less ports equals less lag in gaming, but then I decided I didn't need HDMI or display port or firewire port). They're all slightly different to one another and they each have mildly different flavours and price-brackets.

Some only have 1 DVI port, some have multiple ports, (HDMI, DVI, Display Port etc etc), but each has different build quality; some are very cheaply constructed, some are much better built.

The best thing is they're all the 'second', (think: A-,.. not A++), monitors made by LG for the BIG firms like Apple and Sony etc. So as a result they're cheaper, but may have the odd stuck or dead pixel or LED glow etc, but other than that they're AMAZING for the money. They're all 8-bit, (I THINK am not 100% sure tbh, best check elsewhere for that), and they all have fabulous colour rendition. Some have OSD some don't, some work with certain graphics cards, some don't work properly with certain graphics cards, but this is only a small percentage of cards, (a few incompatibility issues mean that some monitor/card combinations won't show the BIOS at start-up; but they're otherwise in full working order). Some even have the VESA mounts on the rear too, which is rather nice. There's a compatibility list on most of the bay seller's monitor listings, but, as I found out, my combination wasn't supposed to be fully compatible, but in fact it was ok, so don't take that compatibility list too seriously but do ask about for advice on what other people have experienced with your exact same graphics card and the monitor you have your eye on, be sure before you buy.

You can read more about them, here: http://forums.overcloc​kers.co.uk/showthread.​php?t=18387717 and here: http://www.overclock.n​et …mdp-gold-led-monitor-club

Oh and the Korean sellers will ship all over the world. Nice eh? I have a metal chassis Crossover LED-P 27Q, (the P denotes it comes with a Pivoting stand. Let me know what you find and/or decide. Hope this helps.

Lastly,.. I forgot to say,.. these monitors are about a 5th the price of a Mac display and only 5% or so less in quality, (the odd dead or stuck pixel or glow, (IPS), as I mentioned).

Keep the money in your pocket. Save up and look for a deal on an NEC or Eizo. Until you've sat at a properly calibrated monitor that was made with image editing in mind, it's hard to understand the difference. I had an HP Elite with their 22" monitor. Got rid of that and bought a 27" iMac (custom ordered with all the bells and whistles) , got rid of that and went with a custom machine with an NEC monitor. The difference is huge. I can't stand to look at images with either of my laptops now. Was it a lot of money? Yes. Was it worth it? Absolutely. It's certainly worth saving up for.

PhotoNitrate wrote in post #14882592
Hi TijmenDal, I saw your posts in the adapted manual focus thread, impressive stuff!

Thanks so much!

And thanks for all the other helpful info!

How bad are dead pixels though? My mother's laptop had a broken line in her screen (magenta line from top to bottom), but I can imagine that even having a few of those pixels must be quite annoying. Personally I'm all up for the cheaper non-OEM stuff because I really feel that you pay for the name in most cases (think batteries etc.) and this probably isn't much different. I've heard a lot of good stuff about the catleap and similar monitors!
Also: would the graphicscard of my 13" MBP be able to handle supporting a monitor like the Catleap?

Scatterbrained wrote in post #14882662
Keep the money in your pocket. Save up and look for a deal on an NEC or Eizo. Until you've sat at a properly calibrated monitor that was made with image editing in mind, it's hard to understand the difference. I had an HP Elite with their 22" monitor. Got rid of that and bought a 27" iMac (custom ordered with all the bells and whistles) , got rid of that and went with a custom machine with an NEC monitor. The difference is huge. I can't stand to look at images with either of my laptops now. Was it a lot of money? Yes. Was it worth it? Absolutely. It's certainly worth saving up for.

What price range am I looking at for the NEC/Eizo kind of monitors? I'm just a poor college student so saving up doesn't go so quickly.
I mean, I'm not professional, so paying a ton of money for a monitor isn't really something I can justify.

I'm happy with my Dell LED monitor, the Spyder 4 express does a good job of calibration too.

TijmenDal wrote in post #14885681
Thanks so much!

And thanks for all the other helpful info!

How bad are dead pixels though? My mother's laptop had a broken line in her screen (magenta line from top to bottom), but I can imagine that even having a few of those pixels must be quite annoying. Personally I'm all up for the cheaper non-OEM stuff because I really feel that you pay for the name in most cases (think batteries etc.) and this probably isn't much different. I've heard a lot of good stuff about the catleap and similar monitors!
Also: would the graphicscard of my 13" MBP be able to handle supporting a monitor like the Catleap?

The Catleaps, Shimians et al are pretty well built, (chassis), but some, (Crossover = all-metal chassis), are better built. The bay sellers will usually be happy to check your monitor for a small fee if you request it, otherwise it's luck of the draw,.. but most do say they will accept returns if there are more than 5 dead/stuck pixels, but I'd recommend you check carefully with them, don't take my word for it because it's been a while since I was reading up on them.

My monitor has one stuck pixel, but if you're lucky, these can be stimulated back to life by following some simple techniques, but again it's luck of the draw, some might come back ok, some might remain stuck, but I very much doubt you'd get a whole line on a new monitor, remember, the panels are A- not A++, so they'll still be extremely good for what you pay for - bang to buck = excellent.

While the Eizo and Hazro monitor's panels will be A++, I have read some reports of the chassis being, 'mediocre', (gaps in the glass frontage where there shouldn't be, etc), so bang for buck is less than the Catleaps, Shimians, PCBanks and Crossovers. I got my Crossover with a pivoting stand and a sole DVI port, for £243 inc' of delivery. So far, I've had no issues whatsoever, it's a pleasure to work with.

As for your graphics card, if you can find out what card it is, you can find out from this list if it will be compatible or not:

TijmenDal wrote in post #14885681
I mean, I'm not professional, so paying a ton of money for a monitor isn't really something I can justify.

The Dell U2412M is popular and most seem to be very happy with it. It can be bought in the US for under $300US. I purchased a HP2311xi
recently for $230 US.

Thanks for the info everyone.
So basically I'm looking at somehwere between 200-300$ for a decent size, good quality monitor, depending on if I'm willing to take the 'risky' route with any of the korean A- brands. That's not too shabby really.
The thing is, I'd rather get a 24" than 27" monitor, just because of the size really. I'm living abroad now for half a year and it would be a pain getting it back home. It might even be an idea to wait with this purchase till I'm back home and get it then. Then I'll just get a 27" screen, because I wouldn't be moving it around anyway The Korean monitors really look amazing and would like to give them a shot.

They have 23 inch monitors too...

MAMEDIA wrote in post #14901989
They have 23 inch monitors too...

Aaaah! They do, yes! Good news. I really don't have space for a 27". Nor do I need the size really.

EDIT: Looks like they only have the Catleap in 23". No biggy, but a metal Crossover would've been nice. Saving 100$ on a monitor that fits my needs better doesn't hurt.
They are 1080 screens instead of 1440 screens though. Or wouldn't you notice the difference because of the smaller screen size?

Just do yourself a favor and avoid a glossy monitor. Look for a matte screen.

Scatterbrained wrote in post #14902257
Just do yourself a favor and avoid a glossy monitor. Look for a matte screen.

Oh definitely. Aren't the 23' catleaps matte?

TijmenDal wrote in post #14902218
Aaaah! They do, yes! Good news. I really don't have space for a 27". Nor do I need the size really.

EDIT: Looks like they only have the Catleap in 23". No biggy, but a metal Crossover would've been nice. Saving 100$ on a monitor that fits my needs better doesn't hurt.
They are 1080 screens instead of 1440 screens though. Or wouldn't you notice the difference because of the smaller screen size?

1080p on a 23inch,.. compared to 1440 on a 27inch,.. yeah, you do notice the difference in size and picture, but it's not like the quality of the picture is adversely affected. Though, full-screening a 1080p movie on a 1440 is a little odd looking, hehe, but it's not bad by any stretch of the imagination - it's still very watchable.
Continue to read those forums TijmenDal, they practically tell you everything you'll ever want to know.

I love, I mean, I LOOOOOOOOOVE my EIZOs. Wouldn't use anything else.

If color accuracy is of importance to you, and not just accuracy but overall accuracy with backlighting, smooth gradients, etc etc etc... eizo, nec, lacie, etc are all going to be worth every penny.

The CG241w is an older model eizo, that afaik is still produced. They can likely be found much cheaper now since of their age and newer models with built in colorimeters and other features.

Find a monitor that makes sense for what you do.

As others have said a monitor with a resolution higher than 1080p will induce scaling to full screen 1080p footage. This will cause a degradation in quality, and since it is now scaling you're not seeing your native video. If video is a big thing in your workflow, I would highly rec a 1080p native screen as well as a tv in your workflow. This way you can send your final output to a display device that your audience will likely be using. This helps you in mastering to work off of what your audience will likely be using and see it how they'll likely see it.

If still is more of what you do, go with a screen that gives you the greatest benefits you can afford/need. If you need really high res, so with the largest good screen you can afford.

IMHO finding the most accurate screen before screen size is the most important but ymmv.

just my .02c

TL;DR

I got a LG235V and returned it and got a Dell 2412m... Absolutely loved my decision. I am looking at doubling up on the 2412m when i rearrange a work area/desk for myself.