Monitor for HD video editing

I have been researching for days and nights on a good monitor to buy for a Mac Pro with an ATI Radeon 2600 XT (256mb). It will be used extensively for HD video editing (1080p) and photo editing, and likely also digital/3D animation next year(a lot of FCP + CS4).

I am a student, so money is a little bit of an issue, but I want something that I'll be able to use semi-professionally after I'm done school, and am willing to finance something if it is worth the cost. I'm HOPING for something under $1000 though.

The IPS Ultrasharps from Dell seem to be getting good reviews from other video editors. Accurate colour correction is a concern for me (hopefully something that covers Adobe spectrum), as well as a decent response time, HD resolutions, and DVI port. Also something with good gradient/definition in black areas, as this is difficult for editing on most LCDs. 1X1 pixel, brightness, good DVD playback etc. Hopefully this is not impossible to find for under $2000!

Kato

Posted 2009-10-21T22:33:59.610

Reputation: 349

Answers

I think it should depend on your target. If you work in standard sRGB gamut most of the time, the U2410 or the old 2407WFP is a good option. If you want more NTSC gamut/AdobeRGB gamut like editing, then consider the HP LP2475W, Dell 2408WFP, the LG W2600HP (not H) or the NEC 2690WUXI. All screens mentioned here are IPS based, thus stable images with accurate colour, except the 2408, which is a S-PVA display, another high quality panel type, used by most Eizo's.

You can also consider some 30 inches with 2560x1600 pixels. They are not so great for 1:1 full screen pixel viewing, but they have plenty of room for editing panels next to a 1:1 fullHD preview! The LG W3000H, The DELL 3008WFP or the Samsung 305T is a good deal for a 30 inch S-IPS/S-PVA wide gamut display, the old DELL 3007WFP is standard gamut.

bert

Posted 2009-10-21T22:33:59.610

Reputation: 931

I ended up going with a Dell U2410. It seemed like this monitor covered a good amount of the AdobeRGB spectrum when I was looking up specs, but it seemed like a good compromise between my budget and the performance I was looking for. So far, no complaints!

Thanks for the comment though! – Kato – 2009-10-25T09:27:28.530

I have a Dell Ultrasharp 24 inch on my desk at work, and I don't think you'll find a better monitor for the price under $1000. It's rock-solid stable, and the colors (at least to my eye) are always accurate. It's 1920x1200 native resolution is, of course, perfect for 1080P editing (albeit with thin black bars at the top and bottom).

That said, I don't use it for video editing.

Robert Harvey

Posted 2009-10-21T22:33:59.610

Reputation: 1 826

Hmmm...do you know which ultrasharp it is? – Kato – 2009-10-21T23:57:40.877