Monitor Question - Lack of Adobe RGB important?

[Uncle Fester]

Hi

I’d appreciate your advice about a new monitor that I’m thinking of buying.

I’m a very casual photographer who only takes photos for my own pleasure, I have no interest in turning my hobby into a business. I also never print any of my photos. I don’t ever see myself getting into photographic printing.

I have never edited a photograph before, except for occasionally cropping the odd photo on my iPad.

I currently use a very elderly laptop whose screen is pretty diabolical, so I’m thinking of getting an external monitor and eventually replacing my laptop with a new desktop PC. It crosses my mind that I may eventually wish to get a little more ambitious with my editing, perhaps using something like Capture One or Lightroom.

The monitor that I’m thinking of getting is this one:

HUAWEI MateView 28.2 inch Monitor

https://consumer.huawei.com/uk/monitors/mateview/


I really like the unusual aspect ratio and the aesthetics of the display.

These are the specs.

Size 28.2 inches

Colour Accuracy ΔE<2

*ΔE<2 indicates the average colour standard value in the DCI-P3 colour gamut, and ΔE<1 indicates the average colour standard value in the sRGB colour gamut.

Aspect ratio 3:2

HDR HDR 400

Type IPS

Brightness 500 nits (typical)

Resolution 3840 x 2560

Eye comfort mode TÜV Rheinland Low Blue Light and Flicker-Free certification

Refresh rate 60 Hz

Contrast ratio 1200:1 (typical)

Colour gamut 98 % DCI-P3 (typical) / Covers 100 % sRGB

Screen-to-body ratio 94 %

Colours 1.07 billion



Some reviews I’ve watched on YouTube have criticised the monitor for its lack of brightness uniformity, especially at the edges. Though in day to use it isn’t supposed to be noticeable and that when measured it falls slightly short of its P3 and sRGB coverage.

However. it lacks Adobe RGB. Is that likely to be a big drawback? Should I rule out any monitor that lacks Adobe RGB? Is it critical?

What other features should I look for in a monitor for photo editing?

I should say that for at least 98% of the time the monitor will be used for web surfing and writing word documents, not photo editing.

Your advice about this monitor and what I should look for in an editing monitor is appreciated. I’m not a techie and don’t fully understand the concept of colour spaces or anything computer related, so please keep your comments simple and jargon-free.

Thanks

 

[Harlequin565]

The difference between Adobe RGB and sRGB falls mainly into the green spectrum.

The first question is "what are you doing with your images?"

You could spend hours editing a photo in Adobe RBG then show it on the internet, and (probably) most of your viewers will be looking at it on sRGB monitors so they won't see the change.
It's likely that only photographers with great eyesight would be able to tell the difference between the two colour spaces when looking at an image, on a monitor that can display Adobe RGB, and only then if compared side by side. A "normal" person probably wouldn't.

If you're printing, the colour space that the printer has (its gamut) then becomes relevant. Printers use the CMYK colour space and differ from monitors. A quick Google shows that the CMYK colour space kinda covers an area between sRGB and Adobe RGB, and every printer is different. As for the above, 2 prints made - 1 from Adobe RGB and 1 from sRGB would likely have a small noticeable difference in the greens (less so than on a monitor) and standalone, I doubt anyone would be able to tell.

The short answer, is that Adobe RGB is not critical based on your experience and what you want to achieve from your OP. If you worked in advertising and were doing catalogue photography where it was really important that the colours were true to life, perhaps it would be useful. Same if you were doing architectural, or other contract photography work where colour was super important.

Colour space really is a subject in its own right, but only worth delving into if you're *that* interested in it.

 

[ecoleman]

It doesn't lack Adobe RGB completely it just won't cover all of the colours within the aRGB spectrum.

DCI-P3 overlaps much of aRGB and is actually a little larger than aRGB in the yellows and reds but less so in the greens.
I would be more concerned of reports stating that it falls short in sRGB.

 

[Uncle Fester]

Thanks so much, that’s very helpfu.

I certainly won’t be printing my photos, nor would I ever be doing any commercial photography.

I guess I’ll be able to live without Adobe RGB.

 

[Uncle Fester]

It doesn't lack Adobe RGB completely it just won't cover all of the colours within the aRGB spectrum.

DCI-P3 overlaps much of aRGB and is actually a little larger than aRGB in the yellows and reds but less so in the greens.
I would be more concerned of reports stating that it falls short in sRGB.

Thanks, I didn’t realise that. As I said, I don’t really understand colour spaces.

I’ll see if I can find the specifics of how the monitor falls short of its sRGB coverage.

 

[Musicman]

Thanks, I didn’t realise that. As I said, I don’t really understand colour spaces.

I’ll see if I can find the specifics of how the monitor falls short of its sRGB coverage.

I was in the market very recently for a new UHD 27 inch monitor to go with a new MacBook Pro that's arriving in a week or two, and that Huawei caught my eye with its 3:2 aspect ratio

It tested at 98% sRGB and 94% of P3 here

Huawei MateView review: Worth the price of admission | Expert Reviews

Huawei’s debut monitor boasts style, features and simplicity, but the panel itself isn’t quite perfect

www.expertreviews.co.uk

The bigger problems for me were

- uniformity of the panel is poor - 20% variation in luminance around the edges
- no height adjustments with the supplied stand

I'm in a similar position where I print very rarely, but unfortunately there seems to be very few UHD monitors on the market that have good uniformity unless you spend the money on 100% AdobeRGB and hardware calibration, which is a big jump in price.

I ended up with a Dell U2720Q which is proving very enjoyable to use with my ageing 2012 Mac Pro for now.

There's a new Lenovo ThinkVision P27u-20 that was announced back in September for shipping in December that looks brilliant on paper (100% sRGB, 99.1% P3, 99.5% Adobe RGB, Thunderbolt 4 and built-in KVM).

The Lenovo ThinkVision P27u-20 goes official with a 27" 4K IPS display and Thunderbolt 4

Today at Tech World 2021, Lenovo announced the latest additions to its broad monitors portfolio, including an all-new ThinkVision P27u-20 professional display. The ThinkVision P27u-20 monitor offers dual-wide color gamut (99.1% DCI-P3, 99.5%...

www.displayspecifications.com

For me. at least, that ticks a lot of boxes if the panel is as good as those numbers might suggest.

Unfortunately there's no sign of it actually in stores yet, or even any out with reviewers and I couldn't wait any longer.

 

[Uncle Fester]

It doesn't lack Adobe RGB completely it just won't cover all of the colours within the aRGB spectrum.

DCI-P3 overlaps much of aRGB and is actually a little larger than aRGB in the yellows and reds but less so in the greens.
I would be more concerned of reports stating that it falls short in sRGB.

Actually, I think I may have misremembered some of the comments about P3 as being about sRGB. I've extracted some comments from a review below and bolded and underlined the ones that stuck in my mind:

Out of the box the Huawei MateView uses its DCI-P3 mode, and the panel does a decent job with colour reproduction. The MateView displayed 92.1% of the DCI-P3 gamut with a volume of 94.8%, which is a high enough figure to deliver bold, vibrant colours – even if it’s a little lower than Huawei’s claimed 98% coverage level.

Happily, the Delta E of 1.92 ensures those colours are displayed with ample accuracy. The colour temperature of 5996K is below the ideal 6500K figure and a tad warm, but it doesn’t cause issues and doesn’t leave the display looking oversaturated.

The initial brightness level of 185 nits is good enough for everyday use and is paired with a black point of 0.14 nits. That creates a contrast ratio of 1321:1, which is another good figure. The black point means loads of depth, and that contrast ratio creates satisfying levels of vibrancy and nuance.

The Huawei’s contrast, colour accuracy and DCI-P3 gamut handling means imagery is bright, bold and vibrant, and the colour temperature delivers warmth without going overboard. It may not be the most accurate panel, but it’s pleasing to the eye.

Switching over to the sRGB colour profile delivered an improved Delta E of 0.62 and a marginally better colour temperature of 6052K, so that’s worth using if you’d prefer a more realistic image. The MateView also displayed 99.6% of the sRGB gamut at 133.9%, so it’ll serve up every shade required with lashings of vitality. And, happily, these results were maintained at the Huawei’s maximum brightness of 500 nits.

The Huawei’s biggest issue comes in the uniformity test. The MateView lost 20% of its backlight strength along both edges, and that’s too high. It means the MateView loses some consistency.

The colour temperature figures and poor uniformity mean Huawei’s panel isn’t quite good enough to handle the trickiest colour-sensitive tasks. It can’t handle the Adobe RGB colour gamut, either. And while this panel uses the DCI-P3 gamut to deliver a wide range of colours, its sub-100% reproduction levels and meagre DisplayHDR 400 ability mean that it can’t render HDR content well.

So, what can this display do? Its DCI-P3 coverage level is still easily good enough (along with its sRGB performance) to ensure that movies and TV shows, photos, websites, casual games and everyday workloads look bold bright and attractive, with loads of depth and detail. You can use the Huawei for mainstream photo-editing and video work, even if professionals need to look elsewhere.



https://www.trustedreviews.com/reviews/huawei-mateview

 

[Mintchocs]

From what you said I wouldn’t be too bothered about the lack of Adobe RGB. Just make sure to buy a calibration device for whichever monitor you buy and add the profile to your OS/editing software.

 

[Uncle Fester]

I was in the market very recently for a new UHD 27 inch monitor to go with a new MacBook Pro that's arriving in a week or two, and that Huawei caught my eye with its 3:2 aspect ratio

It tested at 98% sRGB and 94% of P3 here

Huawei MateView review: Worth the price of admission | Expert Reviews

Huawei’s debut monitor boasts style, features and simplicity, but the panel itself isn’t quite perfect

www.expertreviews.co.uk

The bigger problems for me were

- uniformity of the panel is poor - 20% variation in luminance around the edges
- no height adjustments with the supplied stand

I'm in a similar position where I print very rarely, but unfortunately there seems to be very few UHD monitors on the market that have good uniformity unless you spend the money on 100% AdobeRGB and hardware calibration, which is a big jump in price.

I ended up with a Dell U2720Q which is proving very enjoyable to use with my ageing 2012 Mac Pro for now.

There's a new Lenovo ThinkVision P27u-20 that was announced back in September for shipping in December that looks brilliant on paper (100% sRGB, 99.1% P3, 99.5% Adobe RGB, Thunderbolt 4 and built-in KVM).

The Lenovo ThinkVision P27u-20 goes official with a 27" 4K IPS display and Thunderbolt 4

Today at Tech World 2021, Lenovo announced the latest additions to its broad monitors portfolio, including an all-new ThinkVision P27u-20 professional display. The ThinkVision P27u-20 monitor offers dual-wide color gamut (99.1% DCI-P3, 99.5%...

www.displayspecifications.com

For me. at least, that ticks a lot of boxes if the panel is as good as those numbers might suggest.

Unfortunately there's no sign of it actually in stores yet, or even any out with reviewers and I couldn't wait any longer.

Thanks, very helpful comments.

When you say there's no height adjustment with the supplied stand, I don't quite understand. I believe you can adjust the height of the monitor on the supplied stand?

A few of the reviews I've read/seen refer to the panel uniformity issue, but don't seem to think it's a big drawback in day-to-day use. I'm not sure what to think.

I'll certainly check out the other monitors you refer to.

 

[Uncle Fester]

From what you said I wouldn’t be too bothered about the lack of Adobe RGB. Just make sure to buy a calibration device for whichever monitor you buy and add the profile to your OS/editing software.

Thanks.

I'm sure that whenever I get a monitor (whatever it is) I'll be asking questions about calibration as that's another subject I'm totally ignorant about!

 

[Musicman]

When you say there's no height adjustment with the supplied stand, I don't quite understand. I believe you can adjust the height of the monitor on the supplied stand?

I must admit I found that rather confusing. There are plenty of comments in Amazon user reviews that seem to say you can't adjust the height of the monitor and that implementation of the implementation of the VESA mount makes it difficult to use other stand options, apparently.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09C6JZPZG

I almost wondered if there are two versions of the stand in circulation, or if people have missed something obvious, like leaving a transport lock in place.

In the end, I think I decided for a few quid extra I would trust the Dell more; their UltraSharps have a fairly solid track record. The Dell tested at 89% of Adobe RGB, and it could supply 90W to charge my work laptop over USB-C, which the Huawei doesn't do, so I didn't pursue the point on the stand much more deeply.

 

[Uncle Fester]

I must admit I found that rather confusing. There are plenty of comments in Amazon user reviews that seem to say you can't adjust the height of the monitor and that implementation of the implementation of the VESA mount makes it difficult to use other stand options, apparently.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09C6JZPZG

I almost wondered if there are two versions of the stand in circulation, or if people have missed something obvious, like leaving a transport lock in place.

In the end, I think I decided for a few quid extra I would trust the Dell more; their UltraSharps have a fairly solid track record. The Dell tested at 89% of Adobe RGB, and it could supply 90W to charge my work laptop over USB-C, which the Huawei doesn't do, so I didn't pursue the point on the stand much more deeply.

Thanks. Yes, it's frustrating when there is seemingly contradictory information out there.

I've had a very quick look at the Dell, and it certainly seems like a lovely monitor. No doubt it is far better specced for photo editing than the Huawei.

My hesitation comes from the fact, that in real use, photo editing will only be a very small part of what it will be used for and I do like the aspect ratio of the Huawei - plus it is (currently) £100+ cheaper than the Dell.

I feel that I'm starting to talk myself into buying the Huawei!

 

[Box Brownie]

I must admit I found that rather confusing. There are plenty of comments in Amazon user reviews that seem to say you can't adjust the height of the monitor and that implementation of the implementation of the VESA mount makes it difficult to use other stand options, apparently.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09C6JZPZG

I almost wondered if there are two versions of the stand in circulation, or if people have missed something obvious, like leaving a transport lock in place.

In the end, I think I decided for a few quid extra I would trust the Dell more; their UltraSharps have a fairly solid track record. The Dell tested at 89% of Adobe RGB, and it could supply 90W to charge my work laptop over USB-C, which the Huawei doesn't do, so I didn't pursue the point on the stand much more deeply.

Thanks. Yes, it's frustrating when there is seemingly contradictory information out there.

I've had a very quick look at the Dell, and it certainly seems like a lovely monitor. No doubt it is far better specced for photo editing than the Huawei.

My hesitation comes from the fact, that in real use, photo editing will only be a very small part of what it will be used for and I do like the aspect ratio of the Huawei - plus it is (currently) £100+ cheaper than the Dell.

I feel that I'm starting to talk myself into buying the Huawei!

It does look like an interesting monitor.

In regard to the stand.....looking at the page you linked to, Danny @Uncle Fester, they seem to say that the power supply is an external brick and the all the wiring (and ports etc) are in the stand.....and one of the small videos they have on the page shows the up & down movements and tilt.

But as Rob @Musicman says it does seem to use a non-industry standard attachment, whether that is a deal breaker is moot!

The lack of uniformity does AFAIK express itself in regard to viewing angles i.e. the poorer the uniformity the less easy to view at extreme angles which are one of the benefits of an IPS screen.

All the best with whatever you decide to buy

 

[Uncle Fester]

The lack of uniformity does AFAIK express itself in regard to viewing angles i.e. the poorer the uniformity the less easy to view at extreme angles which are one of the benefits of an IPS screen.

Thanks.

I will be using the monitor straight on, I won't be viewing it at an angle. There won't be anyone else also viewing
the monitor, from the side. So, I wonder if the lack of uniformity won't be an issue (or at least not a significant one) for me?

 

[Musicman]

The lack of uniformity does AFAIK express itself in regard to viewing angles i.e. the poorer the uniformity the less easy to view at extreme angles which are one of the benefits of an IPS screen

The Huawei is an IPS display, it has the same 178 degree spec as other IPS monitors like my Dell.

The variance in uniformity is down to the backlight, which is measurable and independent of the viewing angle.

 

[Box Brownie]

The Huawei is an IPS display, it has the same 178 degree spec as other IPS monitors like my Dell.

The variance in uniformity is down to the backlight, which is measurable and independent of the viewing angle.

Hmmmm! yes but if the uniformity as reported (I think?) can be as much as 20% lower at the edges of the screen, the reduced illumination may (just?) impact on the viewing experience when seen at the extreme of the viewing angle???

PS I wonder if in respect of 'normal' usage, as Danny describes, where the brightness might be lower the lack of uniformity may be more obvious compared to someone who 'prefers' their screen wound up to max or close to max brightness???

 

[Bristolian]

Hi

I’d appreciate your advice about a new monitor that I’m thinking of buying.

Hi Danny, I have no direct experience of the Huawei monitor but if it is anything like the one on my MagicBook Pro laptop I'd say you'll love it.

 

[Uncle Fester]

Hi Danny, I have no direct experience of the Huawei monitor but if it is anything like the one on my MagicBook Pro laptop I'd say you'll love it.

Thanks, appreciate the vote of confidence in the HUAWEI.