Displays Monitor recommendations for amateur photographer

My friend is getting into photography and post-processing and is looking for a display to connect to his laptop.

I've recommended a Dell UltraSharp 27. He will watch some movies on it, edit photos and probably do some office type work on it. He doesn't play video games.

What other options can I recommend him to look at in the sub-£500 range?

 

tbh the Dell is probably the best recommendation you could make. One addition, though, is that I would recommend that your friend gets some sort of calibration device, like a Spider - it makes such a difference, and goes some way towards the complaint that "my photos look different when I print them out".

 

The funny thing is that he bought one last week, now he needs something worth calibrating.

 

I'd recommend the U2715H bought one for myself a month or so ago, looks brilliant compared to my old 1080P IPS Acer.

 

I'm surprised that dell dominates some much in the 27" non-gaming recommendation.

 

It's because Dell monitors are cheap for what they offer. Anything better, like an EIZO or NEC for example, will cost significantly more and takes you into the territory of pro hardware.

For an amateur photographer, any semi-decent IPS (or PLS) monitor will suffice, be it Dell or ASUS. None of them are going to offer (meaningful) hardware calibration so I wouldn't get hung up on that point, and I'd argue that luminance is a more important consideration than colour fidelity. No use having accurate colours if your highlights or shadows are blown out.

Be sure to check NRG:IT for good deals on refurbished Dell monitors, all with 3yr warranty. They are mostly in the £300-400 bracket.

 

I checked, the older 27" dells are all 1080p.
Also, the U2717D is on sale for under 400 at a few place right now.

I know that EIZO or NEC aren't priced for the home market, but I would think that Acer, Asus, Benq, Samsung would try to compete with the U2717D.

 

There are plenty 27" QHD monitors by Dell - you just have to check properly!

U2717D currently £399
UP2716D currently £429
U2715H £319 but currently out of stock @ NRG:IT
U2713 various prices 2nd hand
U2711 bit of a dinosaur now...

By all means your friend can get another brand, for example the Acer BE270U or Benq GW2765HT. It's all much of a muchness tbh.

 

I was recommending the U2717D.
Some of the older models are only 1080p which is not ideal for 17".
The new u2718 is great if you are in the US but UK prices are terrible.

 

The Dell U2715H is the best bang per buck if you looking to watch the pennies and still get a good quality monitor. I've seen it going for less than £300 and that's nothing to be sniffed at. The U2717D is a minor improvement over the U2715H and a better model, but LG 27UD68-W bests it with better contrast, illumination, and color reproduction IMHO. The LG 27UD68-W is what I'd recommend if your friend wants stay under £500.

There are more options that open up at the sub £600 mark from likes of LG, AOC, and BenQ. They're all still 27" 16:9 ratio IPS panels of a high standard too, but they and everything so far recommended are all plain native 10-bit panels IIRC with no high bit look up tables (LUT).

Your friend has already bought a Spyder spectrometer and that would indicate to me they're probably serious about color accuracy then there is one monitor at sub £600 that is a worthy contender. The Eizo CS2420. It's a 24" 16:10 native 10-bit IPS panel with a 16-bit LUT which basically boils down to far superior color reproduction. Wex Photgraphy and Native Digital are both selling it just shy over £500. I own its predecessor the Eizo CS240 and I paid about £700 in a sale about 4 years ago so an Eizo isn't necessarily now out of reach for the average person wanting the best. I have had my CS240 side by side with friend's Dell 24" Ultrasharp both calibrated with an i1 Display Pro spectrometer at 6500 Kelvin and the CS240 dumped all over the Dell. It was like night and day.

 

^ All true (except for the native 10-bit part... most of these displays are 8-bit or perhaps 10-bit achieved with FRC), but anybody using a display with programmable LUTs would be expected to have a colour managed workflow, including camera and printer, and also have working knowledge of colour profiles and colour spaces. Like I said in my post above, the Eizo is bona fide pro hardware and it'd be silly for a learner or hobbyist to purchase it.

I'd agree with the recommendation for the U2715H as it's a nice balance between cost and functionality.

 

It's amazing what can get published and on what hardware. I have some friends that are in travel writing and publish for major outlets with photos taken from an old iphone. I agree that going with something like an Eizo is too much for him. I know the Dell Ultrasharp series is well regarded. I just wanted to know if anything had changed and what was comparable in case he can find a good sale.