My choice of LCD display for photography - HP LP2475w

Saturday, January 03, 2009
By keiji
Category: PC
When I started to select my new LCD display, I had two goals for my new LCD display.

1. Semi-pro level photography editing
2. Programming

So, the color accuracy and high screen resolution are two essential considerations for me.
Therefore, I have considered following four points:

  • LCD panel type: At least PVA, or ISP if possible.
  • Scree size and resolution: 22 inches or higher with 1920 x 1080 - best with 24 inches and WUXGA (1920 x 1200)
  • LED-backlit if possible - (I guess this is too new for now, thus could be expensive...)
  • The color accuracy after a hardware calibration

The panel type is very important if you try to choose the LCD display for photography editing.
Most of the cheep LCD display use TN panel, which has only 6 bit color depth and narrow viewing angle.
Whereas, the PVA or IPS panel has at lease 8 bit color depth and better viewing angle.
So, the IPS or PVA are considered to be the best suite for photo editing purpose.
Regarding the difference between IPS and PVA, I have read many review articles on Internet, and people says that IPS is better than PVA regarding smoothness of image (PVA is a little bit glaring)

You can use this site (Panel Search Database by TFT Central) to find out which panel the monitor is using.

Another very important point if you try to use the LCD display for photographic editing is that you must have a hardware calibration tool. Most of the displays is not well setup from out-of-the box and you always need to calibrate it to make sure the display output an accurate image.
I have Spyder 2 Pro - so, I'm particularly interested reviews which mention after-the-calibration results.

Regarding a display maker, in general, NEC or Eizo are the best choice for professional purpose - well, they are extremely expensive though.

Anyway, the selections in my first round were these ones:
  1. Apple LED Cinema Display (PVA or IPS)
  2. DELL ULTRASHARP 2408WFP (S-PVA)
  3. NEC MultiSync LCD2470WNX-BK (S-PVA)
  4. HP LP2475w (H-IPS)

Apple's newest Cinema Display has now LED back light. It's reputation is quite good. The only drawback is it's glossy surface. I have MacBook Pro and it's LED backlit display is quite nice and I liked it very much.
However, one thing I really worried is that it has the glossy surface, which is almost like a mirror. Also only a display port as a input is kind of incovinent to be used for PC.
See the review from AppleInsider: http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/08/12/07/apples_led_cinema_display_the_review.html

The Dell's 2408WFP is also a good one. See the review by TFT Central:
http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/reviews/dell_2408wfp.htm

The NEC's LCD2470WNX-BK is the best choice, I thought. It's for professional use. The NEC's reputation as a professional level LCD display maker is also famous.
See the review by TrustedReviews: http://www.trustedreviews.com/displays/review/2007/08/28/NEC-MultiSync-LCD2470WNX/p1
If you have plenty of budget, the go for NEC. There are more better choices like NEC MultiSync 2490WUXi or NEC MultiSync 2690WUXi. Those are very good ones.

The HP's LP2475w is another best choice, which I found later.
This display uses IPS panel and overall very good quality.
See the review by TFT Central:
http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/reviews/hp_lp2475w.htm

Whichever of these you choose, I believe you will be satisfied with it very much.

Finally, the price, which is very important too.
Apple and NEC's are both almost $900. Dell's and HP's are around $600. (as of December 2008)

Based on the review results and the price, I selected the HP's LP2475w.
I'll write a review of LP2475w later.

Comments

N/A

Reply to

Subject:
Name:
E-Mail:
Comment:
(Max 1000 chars)
Confirmation Key:
Please enter the value displayed in the image.
Send Send