PC Monitors

greylag
greylag Forum Participant Posts: 584

Can any of our photographers recommend a quality monitor.  I have decided to return to using a PC with a good monitor as I have been struggling with the iMac.  It is so different and I am fed up trying to understand why it does what it does.

The iMac picture quality is excellent and I want the same from the PC.

Comments

  • Freddy55
    Freddy55 Club Member Posts: 1,809 ✭✭✭✭
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    edited November 6 #2

    Hiya. Before you take the plunge, have you exhausted all avenues? I’m guessing there are useful tutorials on YouTube? 

  • DavidKlyne
    DavidKlyne Club Member Posts: 13,856 ✭✭✭
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    edited November 6 #3

    I have got nothing really to compare with but last couple of monitors have been HP HD. My current one is a few years old so I am sure there are even better ones available now. I used to do a lot of photo editing for my website, much less now we have given up touring, and it has been fine for that. May be an idea to look at some specialist review websites?

    David

  • LLM
    LLM Forum Participant Posts: 1,555 ✭✭
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    edited November 6 #4

    Go for any one with OLED technology assuming the PC you chose has an appropriate driver.   

  • Cornersteady
    Cornersteady Club Member Posts: 14,425 ✭✭✭
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    edited November 6 #5

    I've never had a 'specialist' monitor for my photos and I would  perhaps class myself as a photographer, and the last 20 years plus have been with digital images.

    I know all the reasons why one should have one, such as colour accuracy, supporting Adobe RGB, resolution and the need to calibrate it... but really all the 'standard monitors' I've had have worked fine. Whenever I have pictures printed, either at A4 at home or by an outside provider if I'm printing bigger than A4, I've never noticed any differences to the monitor and/or original colours when possible to look at. So the question is, do you need one to be that accurate? 

    For myself no, but I make sure the PC has the processing speed to run the photo editing software.

    A simple search throws up a few results, one of which:

    https://www.techradar.com/news/best-monitor-for-photo-editing   

  • mickysf
    mickysf Forum Participant Posts: 6,474 ✭✭✭
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    edited November 6 #6

    Have you considered that it may be the photography software you are using. Macs are generally considered exceptionally good but lend themselves to the real professionals and cutting edge photographers amongst us. However, there are some very good less complex packages out there for the amateurs like me.

    Here

  • richardandros
    richardandros Club Member Posts: 2,680 ✭✭✭
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    edited November 7 #7

     I'm most surprised, greylag, that you want to revert to using a PC.  I made the switch to an iMac about 10 years ago and there's no way, I would go back. I've also got a MacBook Air for use in the van. Yes, I accept they take a bit of getting used to but once you have done so, they're light years ahead of a Windows PC (in my opinion, anyway!). Is there anything I can help you with? (Although I'm not an expert on photo editing!!)

  • greylag
    greylag Forum Participant Posts: 584
    edited November 7 #8

    From the above, it seems foolish to spend more money, when the present monitor is probably as good as any new one.

    Richard......A simple click and drag of a 100 photos to another folder finished up with the photos in a diagonal line across the screen..........?  

    Time to sit and ponder.

    Many thanks for the replies.

     

  • richardandros
    richardandros Club Member Posts: 2,680 ✭✭✭
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    edited November 7 #9

    greylag - that is strangeundecided I've just tried it - but with just 35 photos instead of 100.  Went into Finder / Documents and created a new folder called "Test".  Then went into My Photos - picked and opened an album and selected Edit / Select All. Dragged them all across (as one) into Test Folder and there they were. I'm at a loss as to how they ended up on the screen unless you attempted to place them on your Desktop????

    Edit - what you can also do is - in the folder you have created - go to Edit in Finder and then 'Select All'. Then left click with your mouse (it might be right click on yours because I have my mouse set up the other way!). Select "Open" or even "Open With" and a preview screen will come up with a strip of thumbnails down the left hand side and the selected photo showing in the main screen.  You can then select which photo you want to view from the column on the left.  I suppose there's no reason why you can't choose "Open with" and specify your photo editing software ?????

  • Graydjames
    Graydjames Forum Participant Posts: 440 ✭✭✭
    edited November 7 #10

    I have used Adobe products for video editing, photo editing, graphic design and layout work since the early 2000s. I have always used PCs, albeit expensive ones with lots of memory, storage and processing power. Macs were popular with publishers, editors, photographers, graphic designers, etc., in the early days and the notion arose that everyone in that industry uses Macs therefore they must be good and better than PCs. I've never been convinced that a Mac would be intrinsically better for what I do, but Macs have an aura surrounding them suggesting they are superior. You'll see them in private clinics and expensive solicitors on the reception desk, monitors showing off that little bitten apple.  This marketing is what Apple have always been good at. At the end of the day what matters is the quality of my output and I cannot imagine, even for a minute, that it would be any better if I had used a Mac or that it would have been any easier. Watch any training video for Photoshop, for example, and everything is the same - just that some keys are called different things.

    On the question of monitors, I must confess I have never really been too much concerned with those. Perhaps I should have been, but I don't really get into worrying too much about colour differentials and stuff like that. As big as possible and at least two or three and obviously not really cheap is my only advice. I currently have two Samsung monitors and two LG monitors on two different computers. All 27 inch (I think).             

  • greylag
    greylag Forum Participant Posts: 584
    edited November 8 #11

    Many thanks for all of the replies.

    As I write, I am going to make an appointment to get some face to face tuition in the Apple Store in Norwich.  Depending on the outcome of this, it will be decision day.

    I have decided following advice on here to shelve the new monitor.

    I really appreciate the time taken by you to help me out.