NEC PA272W

[Ryan Lightbourn]

I'm about to sell my 27" Apple Cinema Display and buy an NEC PA272W (w/ SpectraViewII Color Calibration Kit) to upgrade my color grading workflow, and was wondering the following:

Will the NEC monitor improve my brightness/gamma/curve accuracy, or more so color range & color accuracy?

I ask because I viewed a trailer of mine that looks ok on the internet, but shite on any TV screen (even when compared to other, similar looking trailers).

I can't afford any additional tools yet, so I appreciate the recommendations but that will have to come later!

Thanks in advance for the advice.

-Ryan

 

[Pax]

I use the 30" versions of this NEC( PA301W-BK-SV) for all my color correcting- they are the best monitors I own, it has much better gamma and contrast than the Apple Cinema Displays (I still use Apple Cinema Displays for non-color critical work). But you can't expect to do color correction on GREAT monitors and expect it to look great on not-so-great monitors and TVs. TVs have a much less color gamut than pro displays, and most people have really terrible PC displays. The old joke used to be "NTSC: Never The Same Color", but the same joke is not true with online delivery and TV displays- you are never going to see it as good as on your calibrated high-end monitor.. That's why it's best to have different reference TVs connected to your workstation:

(thanks to Eric Z)

Most HDTVs use Rec. 709 color space, at least that's the spec. One easy way manufacturers use to gauge a monitor is what percentage Adobe RGB it can display up to 100%- the NEC is rated at 99.3%.

Check out the UHD spec (Rec. 2020), it's great: