Monitor for Photo and Video Editing (PC)

[Jesse Rambis]

Hey All,

I wanted to check and see if anyone was in the same boat is me and had recommendations for a new monitor setup. I currently have a PC with two HP monitors that are not very good, but an excellent FSI CM250 monitor I use for grading. So, I am looking at replacing my two HP monitors with new monitors that would work well for (primarily) for photo editing, but also to give me a different reference for video. My FSI works fantastic, but I unfortunately can't use it for any photo editing.

I also put out a lot of content to the web, so having something like an Apple Thunderbolt display would be perfect (since so many people view things on Apple devices). It doesn't really seem like there is a reliable/confirmed way to connect a Thunderbolt Display to a PC (I used dual GTX 1080s in case anyone knows of a way to do this). I have also research the "LG Electronics 4K UHD 27UD88-W 27" LED-Lit Monitor" and "Dell Computer Ultrasharp U2415 24.0-Inch Screen LED Monitor" that seem to get great reviews, but haven't been able to see these in person anywhere.

I guess my question is, can anyone recommend a monitor that will have the same look as a Thunderbolt Display (which seems to work great for photo editing), but be usable for PC?

 

[Jesse Rambis]

I guess a simpler question would be - does anyone have experience with either the LG Electronics 4K UHD 27UD88-W 27" LED-Lit Monitor or Dell Computer Ultrasharp U2415 24.0-Inch Screen LED Monitor for photo and video editing?

 

[L. Langer]

After NAB and Computex, you'll have some great options on the table. Samsung will be introducing some great professional-grade Quantum Dot displays that are good for media work and other companies will introduce new DP 1.4 monitors with the latest panel tech.

 

[Ty Maier]

I guess a simpler question would be - does anyone have experience with either the LG Electronics 4K UHD 27UD88-W 27" LED-Lit Monitor or Dell Computer Ultrasharp U2415 24.0-Inch Screen LED Monitor for photo and video editing?

I have the 27UD88-W for our Mac Pro and hate it. I need something new ASAP to replace it. I am never satisfied with how my videos translates when I grade on it.

When I grade on our 5K iMac the colors translate pretty fair across the board. Not 100% but very close for our needs. I'm not sure what direction to go in for a new monitor. I was looking at HP DreamColor monitors but am not sold yet.

 

[Kazu Okuda]

Eizo. You cant lose.. hp dreamcolor is ok... good enough for gui, and web QC. but you should be grading off a reference monitor.

 

[Jesse Rambis]

Thanks for all the input guys!

Good call Langer, I'll probably hold off and see what comes out then.

Ty Maier, thats good to know you aren't a fan of that monitor. Do you know if its possible to use the Mac 5k Monitor on a PC?

Kazu, thanks for those options too. We primarily grade off our CM250 for video, but I'm not able to use that for my newly acquired taste in photo retouching.

 

[Ty Maier]

Thanks for suggesting Eizo, Kazu! Looks like a safe route to go.

Jesse, as of now, Apple only sells a 5K iMac and not a standalone monitor. There is no way I know of to utilize the iMac as an effective monitor.

 

[Sergei Franklin]

You can convert your photos to DNG and grade them in Davinci Resolve.

 

[David Moffitt]

There is no way I know of to utilize the iMac as an effective monitor.

This is correct, but my understanding is that when Apple releases an updated 5k iMac (likely this year) with ThunderBolt 3, it will be supported again - the reason it doesn't work now is TB2 just doesn't have enough bandwidth for 5k.