Image Editing Monitors: Dell, EIZO, and ViewSonic Round-up
- Dell UltraSharp UP2720Q
- EIZO ColorEdge CS2740 Printer
- Viewsonic Color Pro VP2786-4K
Briefly
Dell UP2720Q is a high-end 27-inch IPS 4K monitor for image editing, equipped with a built-in colorimeter. This allows you to optimally adjust the screen directly via the OSD. This works very well; For sRGB, AdobeRGB and Display P3 it’s color accuracy is yet top level. With handy Thunderbolt connections, you can connect a second monitor via a single cable, but Dell doesn’t have KVM functionality. The UP2720Q can’t display HDR very well either, though that’s also true of competing AdobeRGB monitors. The UP2720Q has adequate brightness and contrast for SDR, with white uniformity at a standard thanks to uniformity compensation, but black uniformity in our sample is disappointing.
Briefly
EIZO CS2740 is a 27 inch 4k high quality monitor for photo editing. The IPS panel has a wide color gamut that includes AdobeRGB, but it doesn’t fully cover the Display P3. And considering the features, the screen is quite expensive; Integrated or built-in there is no colorimeter and you also have to pay extra for a lens hood. EIZO, on the other hand, gives no less than a five-year warranty. Based on the test results, the screen gives an excellent impression. The screen is very well modified at the factory, better than competing models with calibration performance, and the CS2740 does not drop stitches in terms of viewing angles and uniformity. The downside is the rather high power consumption.
Briefly
The ViewSonic VP2786-4K is a high quality 27-inch 4k monitor for photo editing. It has a modern design with a nice metal base, which makes its stability somewhat disappointing. The benefit of some extra functionality we missed a bit, for example HDR support, which the VP2786-4K technically lacks. ViewSonic supplies the colorimeter attached to the console with the monitor. This ColorPro wheel doesn’t fare well in either area. In test results, the VP2786-4K generally scores slightly lower than competitive models, even if you calibrate the screen, viewing angles and white uniformity are good.
At Tweakers we often discuss monitors that are specifically suitable for gaming. The high refresh rate and excellent response times are extremely important for this. Those who don’t primarily use their screens for gaming, but instead for graphic design, photo editing, or web design will, of course, benefit even less. In this case, the best possible color reproduction plays a major role.
Photo editing screens come in all shapes and sizes, from affordable high-resolution screens to ultra-wide screens. In this roundup, we take a look at three 27-inch luxury models priced at over €1,000. The most expensive and newest of the trio is the ViewSonic ColorPro VP2786-4K, which is equipped with a built-in colorimeter: the ColorPro wheel Dell’s UltraSharp UP2720Q is a little more expensive and with this screen the colorimeter is integrated behind a flap in the front panel that opens mechanically if the monitor needs adjustment. From EIZO, traditionally strong when it comes to monitors for photo editing, I received the ColorEdge CS2740. This screen is the only one that does not have a built-in or built-in colorimeter, but it is the most expensive at around € 1,500. EIZO has a newer monitor in its range that has a built-in colorimeter, the CG2700X, but it comes in at about €3,000 outside the scope of this roundup.
comprehensive to the demands of users
The three monitors we selected are true all-around monitors that are suitable for various forms of photo editing, with the exception of HDR video editing. All three are equipped with a 27-inch IPS LCD panel that promises the best viewing angles on paper. The 4K resolution (3840 x 2160 pixels) produces a sharp picture (163 pixels per inch). Monitors support 10-bit color, which at least produces smoother gradations compared to the popular 8-bit. And it has a color gamut that includes sRGB, which is common for photos and illustrations on the web, as well as AdobeRGB, which is suitable if you edit photos and images for print. The last range is not possible for most screens to be displayed correctly.
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The other advantage that all these other monitors have that cheaper IPS monitors generally don’t have is hardware calibration. Based on measurements using the built-in colorimeter or another instance, internal lookup table from the modified screen. This is not the case with common software calibration that you can do with any monitor. The signal from the video card adapts to the deviations in the screen. Hardware calibration has the advantage that the monitor can calculate internally with a higher precision than the video signal sent to the monitor; Even with a 10-bit signal, there are only 1,024 steps for each primary color. This means that an issue like banding, or “hard” transitions in color gradients, won’t happen as quickly if you calibrate your monitor. With hardware calibration, the screen is also instantly set correctly for all other devices you connect to it, which is not the case with software calibration.
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