Monitors and color accuracy

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Bart avatar
Hi , 
I'm in the market for a desktop PC monitor and curious about what AstroBin folks use or recommend.
Do you use a so-called color-accurate monitor like the BENQ or a regular (and cheaper) sRGB screen? you think it makes a difference for editing astrophotography?
Engaging
Wei-Hao Wang avatar
In my experience, the most important thing for a monitor for image process is to get one with an IPS panel.  It tends to have better color uniformity because of its wider viewing angle.

The second thing is to get a hardware calibration device.  You can't rely on monitor manufacture's color calibration.

Once you have the above two checked, then you may worry about the rests, depending on your budget.
Helpful Concise
thesiles avatar
Working with a lot of digital artists for years has teached me that the best solution is to include a monitor calibraing tool.

​​​​​If you don't want to print your pictures, just a good monitor will be enough.
Bart avatar
Thanks for your replies!
Adding a calibration device to the budget seems like sound advice - not worth having a slightly better monitor if you can't be sure you use it at is best configuration
alexbb avatar
Dell also have their UltraSharp series. Not cheap, but not expensive either.
I'm happy with mine.
https://www.dell.com/en-us/work/lp/dell-ultrasharp-monitors
Accurate color, out of the box: Each UltraSharp monitor is factory color calibrated and comes with a complete factory calibration report, giving users the confidence that colors will be accurate right from the start.
Bart avatar
Thanks for the link, @alexbb - those check indeed a lot of boxes
There's a new model (U3223QE) released last month - that seems like monitor that will keep me happy for many years
Thomas 🌈🦄 avatar
A monitor with accurate color reproduction that's good enough for professional use will run you at least $1,500, probably more.

E.g. DELL Premiercolor 27" 4K: https://www.dell.com/en-us/work/shop/dell-ultrasharp-27-4k-premiercolor-monitor-up2720q/apd/210-avbp/monitors-monitor-accessories

Cheaper monitors aren't useful for professional-level photo editing, even when calibrated (out of the factory or manually) because they either can be bright or accurate but not both at the same time--which isn't a problem for most applications, like office stuff or gaming; but for photos it is.

There's a reason the best monitors cost a lot, e.g. the Apple Pro Display XDR has 32 inches in 6K with full P3 color gamut w/ 10-bit color and is super bright but also will set you back by at least 5 kilodollars.

That said:
* Get the monitor with the widest color gamut and bit-depth you can afford
* Get the highest resolution possible, for astrophotography you will often have to deal with stars which sometimes are only visible in a single pixel in the data
* Work in a darkened room, this makes it possible to turn down the monitor brightness and gives better colors on cheaper monitors
Helpful
Bart avatar
Thanks @Thomas Fuchs - very helpful!
according to specs the new U2723QE covers 98% of  DCI-P3 - for €800 this seems to have a good gamut/euro ratio! I look forward to pro tests comparing it to the apple display
Daniel Arenas avatar
Wei-Hao Wang:
In my experience, the most important thing for a monitor for image process is to get one with an IPS panel.  It tends to have better color uniformity because of its wider viewing angle.

The second thing is to get a hardware calibration device.  You can't rely on monitor manufacture's color calibration.

Once you have the above two checked, then you may worry about the rests, depending on your budget.

Totally agree with you.
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