Help Me Buy a… Monitor
Plus three top picks for image editing
The latest digital cameras can deliver excellent image quality, but your photos will still look rubbish if you view them on a poor-quality screen. Worse still, you can spend ages at the editing stage, trying to make photos look good on an inaccurate screen, only to find you’ve made them a whole lot worse than when you started.
Some laptops have high-quality screens built into them, but they’re often too small to do your digital photos justice. Once you give some on-screen space to toolboxes in editing apps things can get even more cramped and hard to appreciate.
The sensible solution is to invest in a good computer monitor. It doesn’t need to cost a fortune – but, as is so often the case, the more you spend the more you can expect in terms of features, specifications and performance. Here are a few things to bear in mind when you’re choosing your next monitor.
Panel type
Low-budget monitors are usually based on TN (twisted nematic) screen panels. These have poor colour and tonal accuracy, and limited viewing angles. VA (vertical alignment) panels offer improved colour and tonal performance, but can still be found wanting. An IPS (in-plane switching) monitor gives optimum colour rendition, tonal range and uniformity across a screen.
Size matters
Nearly all computer screens are now widescreen format. Some ultra-wide screens are available, but regular widescreen is better for viewing and editing photos and video. Given a typical viewing distance, a 27-inch screen is ideal. 32-inch monitors are available, but can feel overly large for desktop viewing.
New resolutions
4K UHD (Ultra High Definition) is the not-so-new big thing, and monitors with a native resolution of 3,840 x 2,160 are becoming increasingly popular. They’ve also dropped considerably in price over the last year. A 27-inch UHD screen is capable of giving an amazingly detailed display, but you’ll need to check that your computer or laptop is capable of driving it at its native resolution to get the most out of it. 1080p Full HD is still a good budget option.
Colour quality
The colour space or ‘gamut’ of a screen is a measurement of how much of the visible spectrum can be displayed. Many upmarket monitors support 10-bit colour depth, theoretically being able to display 1.07 billion different colours. Manufacturers will often specify what percentage of the sRGB and extended Adobe RGB colour spaces can be displayed.
Ergonomically correct
Any computer screen is best viewed straight on, so it’s important that the stand features a tilt-and-swivel base, as well as height adjustment. This enables you to set the screen at its optimum viewing position. Some monitors also feature a pivot facility in their stands, enabling portrait-orientation viewing. This is an advantage for portrait photographers, enabling them to use the whole screen to view ‘upright’ images.
Well connected
Check what video ports are featured on your computer, and that they’re supported by your monitor of choice. One option for 4K UHD is DisplayPort. HDMI is the most common connection for multimedia equipment, but you’ll need the later HDMI 2 for 10-bit rather than 8-bit colour depth and 4K UHD transmission above 24fps. USB Type-C enables the transmission of video, audio, data and power.