Computer Monitors

I searched for monitors and saw some older posts last being 2018.
So i thought it maybe worth asking again.

Do you use 4k monitors? If yes, do you use them on 32” or 27”?

Why and why not?

Any specific recommendations? I was looking at the Asus ProArt series and an LG UN650

I found so many conflicting and confusing info on scaling, sizing and viewing distance so i thought my favorite creative community must have answers :sweat_smile:

I have had an LG 32QN 650 for some time now and love it. The central column adjusts to suit your viewing comfort, the 32" is wide enough for any common Photoshop job (I felt 27’ would be too narrow) and the colour fidelity and resolution are excellent. I think the UN which you are considering has even better resolution. I am not a techie, however, and I don’t know the Asus. Just a happy user, 90% of the time on photos with a desktop computer. Hope this helps.

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Hi,
I don’t think 4k is necessary. I use a BenQ and an old NEC multisync, neither of which are 4k.
I think as photographers, we’re looking for monitors that display the widest color gamut possible. Also nice to have are manual adjustments for colors, brightness, and contrast for calibration.

My main editing monitor is a BenQ 4k 32" monitor and I love it. The difference is night and day for editing… and if you do any video at all its kind of a must have IMO. My monitor is also 99% SRGB calibrated so I’m not really worried about color shift etc.

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That is great @Matt_Payne
Was it just a generic 4K? I have a calibrator as well so i am not super worried about the colors.
This LG i was talking about has a 95% P3 gamut which is wider than sRGB. I assume that means full sRGB coverage😅 i am not sure.

The Asus ProArt is 100sRGB but i was worried 27” is small for 4K.

I currently have a 32” 1440 p monitor (QHD).

I do video projects every now and then that is why i wanted a 4K panel.

It is good to hear from you Matt because i know you print. Some people say 4K is not good for printing

There’s literally only one person who says 4k is bad for printing from what I know and he tends to be a bit hyperbolic in general, in my opinion. I think 4K is GREAT for printing. You can really immerse yourself into the photograph for editing, especially big panoramas. The argument against 4K monitors is scaling in LR/PS but I’ve never ever noticed a problem here.

Keep in mind you’ll need a very nice video card and CPU to handle 4k in LR/PS, especially with big files.

My monitor is no longer made but the equivalent is this one:

Another thing that people are shocked to learn. I have never, not once, calibrated my BenQ monitor.

Sorry, Aref, I should have made clear that I am shooting stills only, so didn’t see a need for 4k. I can see how that might be mandatory for video editing.

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Thanks again Matt.
I got both monitors to test then i will return one of them.
My work laptop could not handle both :sweat_smile: it made my QHD monitor a 1080 P one.

I did notice the scaling. I have not tested the Lr/Ps yet. But yeah i was a little concerned that scaling my lose the details.

About calibration. That BenQ monitor (at least the one you posted) is very accurate from what I understand. It is made for designers i think it is as good as using any Mac monitor which are usually great out of the box (regarding colors i mean).

Let’s see how the test goes
So far i am loving the crispy details even reading text.
But my work set up is going to suffer. I still work from home :smile: so set up has to be good for photo editing and for my day job

So in regard to Mac monitors - this is something to be wary of - they do alter the display for higher definition and it can really mess up your edits.

I see.
So i guess it won’t be a good idea to ever use it with my mac book
Thanks for the tip
My main machine is a PC

I’ve been editing on an iMac 27" 5K monitor for the past 5 years. All you have to do is calibrate. Yes, out of the box they are very bright, but a simple calibration solves all of that. What you stated is one of those old myths about using a Mac Monitor. The fact is I’ve never seen a monitor of any kind that came out of the bo and wasn’t set to a brightness level that was far too high.

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I think he was talking about hooking up a 4K external monitor with a size that does not drive with a mac resolution. Then the Mac scaling causes issues.

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You would know better than me. I don’t own a mac anymore… my understanding is that the HDR settings on the Mac monitors can provide resolution that’s not accurate, meaning, something may “look” sharp, but isn’t.

@Matt_Payne - That’s a new one for me. Checked around quickly to see if I could learn more about it. Didn’t find anything, but the HDR setting is just a check box in System Preferences for Displays. Uncheck it, and it’s off.

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I am purchasing an Eizo cs2740 4k monitor to handle the higher image quality of my cameras. 27 inches is perfect for my workstation. I chose Eizo for quality reasons–5 year warranty and exceptional color accuracy with wide color gamut. Calibration adjusts the LUT (Look Up Table) in the monitor rather than on the video card. One important feature is to have a graphics card that has enough memory and can handle 4k and 10 bit graphics in photoshop. I am using an Nvidia Geforce RTX 2060 video card with the studio drivers and should be able to handle a 4k monitor with memory to spare. Most 4k monitors have HDMI, display port, and USB C/Thunderbolt connectors. For PC’s display ports are the best interface for connecting the monitor to the computer. Macs, of course, and some pc based laptops have USB C/Thunderbolt ports for extra monitor connectivity. …Jim