Monitor recommendations?

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Tom30

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Any recommendations on a monitor up to £300? What features do I need to look out for?

Something decent for photography editing, and gaming. Although assuming if it's good enough for photography it is more than good enough for gaming.

Thanks in advance.
 
Gaming monitors are completely different to photography monitors.

For gaming you want a monitor with a fast refresh rate, whereas for photograph speed isn't that important but you want a monitor that can display a wide gamut of colours (something like 95%+ of Adobe RGB or more). You probably also want something with a high contrast ratio for both applications.

Can you get a monitor that's great for both? Honestly, I'm not sure but I doubt it for £300

My BenQ monitor which can display 99% Adobe RGB was £1300
My Office monitor which doesn't display anywhere near as many colours and also isn't particularly fast for gaming was £240

For £300 there is going to have to be a compromise. You could get something a bit faster but maybe only displays 100% sRGB (which is fine if all you do with your images is upload them to social media)
 
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The HP U28 is on sale for £350 at the moment. 28", 4K resolution with USB-C input and decent colour accuracy and coverage. But, it's only 60Hz so not great for gaming if you care about high refresh rates. A lot of really fast gaming monitors use a TN type panel which is useless for image editing.

As has been said above, gaming and editing monitors are two different things, and specs that are important for one are completely irrelevant to another. If you're just editing your own images and not printing them then 100% sRGB coverage and good accuracy are the most important things. To be honest at £300 you're going to have to compromise on something, either colour accuracy, resolution, refresh rate or connectivity.
 
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ecoleman said:
Gaming monitors are completely different to photography monitors.

For gaming you want a monitor with a fast refresh rate, whereas for photograph speed isn't that important but you want a monitor that can display a wide gamut of colours (something like 95%+ of Adobe RGB or more). You probably also want something with a high contrast ratio for both applications.

Can you get a monitor that's great for both? Honestly, I'm not sure but I doubt it for £300

My BenQ monitor which can display 99% Adobe RGB was £1300
My Office monitor which doesn't display anywhere near as many colours and also isn't particularly fast for gaming was £240

For £300 there is going to have to be a compromise. You could get something a bit faster but maybe only displays 100% sRGB (which is fine if all you do with your images is upload them to social media)
Click to expand...

RichardC27 said:
The HP U28 is on sale for £330 at the moment. 28", 4K resolution with USB-C input and decent colour accuracy and coverage. But, it's only 60Hz so not great for gaming if you care about high refresh rates. A lot of really fast gaming monitors use a TN type panel which is useless for image editing.

As has been said above, gaming and editing monitors are two different things, and specs that are important for one are completely irrelevant to another. If you're just editing your own images and not printing them then 100% sRGB coverage and good accuracy are the most important things.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the replies. This is my current monitor - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Samsung-C24F390-24-Inch-Curved-Monitor/dp/B01BCF06LE

It's absolutely fine for gaming, for me, so as long as the new monitor is as quick. No plans on printing images. I'll make a note of the HP monitor.

What about something like this?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/BenQ-Anima...sprefix=benq+monitor+srgb,computers,72&sr=1-3
 
If your current monitor is fine for gaming, what about a second one dedicated for use in photo editing?

The BenQ you link to is described as being aimed at the "graphics design" user and though the Gamut will be fine for photography I am unsure what if any downside there will be using such a graphics design monitor for photo editing :thinking:
 
Tom30 said:
Thanks for the replies. This is my current monitor - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Samsung-C24F390-24-Inch-Curved-Monitor/dp/B01BCF06LE

It's absolutely fine for gaming, for me, so as long as the new monitor is as quick. No plans on printing images. I'll make a note of the HP monitor.

What about something like this?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/BenQ-Animation-Darkroom-DualView-Flicker-Free/dp/B01NBH7IW2/ref=sr_1_3?crid=2PI0Q07IQX9JV&keywords=benq+monitor+srgb&qid=1662992491&refinements=p_n_feature_seventeen_browse-bin:27177625031|27177630031,p_36:-35000&rnid=27177623031&s=computers&sprefix=benq+monitor+srgb,computers,72&sr=1-3
Click to expand...
That's a good monitor, your compromise there is connectivity as it doesn't have USB-C. I'd also say QHD is a bit low for a 32" monitor, you'd want 4K at that size really. But if your primary use is photo editing that's a great choice, with good colour space coverage and 10-bit colour. It's a big step up in size and quality from your current monitor anyway
 
Have a look at the Gigabyte M27Q. Bought one a year ago, has a wider gamut than sRGB, decent IPS screen at 1440P resolution on 27", colour balance is pretty good out of the box, and it does high refresh rates if you need them for gaming. Mine was just under £300.

www.rtings.com

Gigabyte M27Q (rev. 1.0) Review

The Gigabyte M27Q (rev. 1.0) is a 27-inch 1440p budget-friendly gaming monitor with extra productivity features. It has a maximum refresh rate of 170Hz and VRR s...
www.rtings.com www.rtings.com
 
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do you want a 1080p monitor or a 4K monitor and what size are you thinking of. You don't say
 
realspeed said:
do you want a 1080p monitor or a 4K monitor and what size are you thinking of. You don't say
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No preference, it seems anything would be an upgrade. Looks like 4k would be better. Had a few good suggestions in this thread to go off.
 
I have 1080p on 13" Samsung laptop. And it's an annoying little pixelated screen. Even laptops require more. Look at Apple screen spec. These work ok. Anything less is annoying
 
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