I have a bad habbit: learning about the present state of affairs around the world tends to make me grumpy. Friends sometimes tell me, that I have to look at things in a broader perspective.
Well, I might improve in the future. At least my new computer monitor is wide screen…
Lightroom, which has become the hub in my digital photo workflow, has a user interface which is clearly designed for widescreen. But apart from a wider aspect ratio – and a larger screen in general – I wanted a monitor with better colour reproduction.
After a lot of research on the net, I ended up with a Dell 2408WFP. Its a 24″ screen with an S-PVA panel. That means its capable of showing 8 bit colours, contrary to the 6 bit panels used in most cheaper monitors. Coupled with a better lighting of the panel, it makes the monitor capable of reproducing a colour gamut which is aproximately 50% larger than a standard monitor.
The first time I fired up my new monitor, I immediately noticed that the colours were much more intense and saturated than on my old monitor. Furthermore, there was a deeper black and more pure white. However, strong colours are not everything – they also have to be natural. As a starting point I chose to reduce the brightness level from 50 to 33 and the RGB levels from 100 to 90. Following that, I calibrated the monitor with my Huey Pro.
I am very pleased with the end result. Checking with a reference photo from DFA, the colour rendering seems close to perfect – at least for my eyes. In other words: a very recommandable monitor for photo editing. [/]