[atomiccow]

A new computer is on the way and I'm having a lot of trouble choosing a monitor.

I know that it must have a resolution of 1920 x 1200, must not be a TN film, it must have 1:1 pixel mapping, and it must not have a glossy screen.

I've narrowed my search to the HP LP2475W, the NEC 2490, and the Lenovo L220X. The HP and Lenovo being wide gamut and the NEC being normal.

My question is: does wide gamut cause over saturation in non-colour aware apps which is 90% of what I'm going to be using the monitor for. I'm not talking about 'technically' over saturated by the numbers but visually over saturated like neon colours. I've seen wide gamut, glossy, TN screens in stores before and they've all seem horribly over saturated to me but I've never seen a high end wide gamut monitor like the LP2475W displaying non colour-aware data before so I don't know what to expect.

 

[lan]

Well if it stretches the numbers numerically, it'll be that way visually as it remaps points from srgb gamut to the larger one. Do the monitors you've chosen have en emulated srgb mode? You can use that.

I'd get the NEC 2490WUXi as it can hardware calibrate. The gradients can be smoother that way.

 

[Wodgy]

Is this just a problem with Windows XP? I don't really understand why the operating system's color management doesn't take care of this in a modern operating system (OS X or Vista). The sRGB gamut should be mapped to the sRGB gamut subset of the output device, otherwise what is the point of a wide gamut monitor?

 

[poo]

Depends on the software you are using, but colour space & profiles (including gamut) can be managed depending on the program you are using (or in some cases the device you want to output to).

In general if anything, I would have expected a wider gamut to produce less saturation if anything. The monitor is built with the capability to produce a larger range of colour (in simple terms) so why would it over saturate? The real world isn't over-saturated is it?

Buy the best you can, but gamut isn't the only (or even major) concern. You might want to add Eizo to your list.

 

[jude]

I have the HP LP2475w, and, on my Windows XP machines, it often appeared over-saturated. On my Mac, however, this hasn't been an issue. Honestly, I'm not exactly sure why this is, but maybe someone else here can explain it.

 

[atomiccow]

Quote:

Depends on the software you are using, but colour space & profiles (including gamut) can be managed depending on the program you are using (or in some cases the device you want to output to). In general if anything, I would have expected a wider gamut to produce less saturation if anything. The monitor is built with the capability to produce a larger range of colour (in simple terms) so why would it over saturate? The real world isn't over-saturated is it? Buy the best you can, but gamut isn't the only (or even major) concern. You might want to add Eizo to your list.

It has to do with the fact that nearly all digital content were and probably still continues to be created on standard gamut therefor don't contain the proper information for to be displayed in wide gamut. Colour aware apps are built to display wide gamut colours properly therefor over saturation doesn't occur in them. I'm not sure of the details of how wide gamut monitors handle standard gamut and why over saturation occurs due to it but I know the effect exists. I just want to know whether the effect is bearable.

Quote:

I have the HP LP2475w, and, on my Windows XP machines, it often appeared over-saturated. On my Mac, however, this hasn't been an issue. Honestly, I'm not exactly sure why this is, but maybe someone else here can explain it.

Maybe Mac OS and most Mac apps are colour aware. I think that if you were ever to play games or movies on your Mac, they would appear similarly to your Windows XP in terms of over saturation as I know games and movie apps are never colour aware.

 

[analogbox]

It would look over saturated for sure since LP2475W doesn't support color management natively, it solely depends on third party software. Some people find that it's no big deal and it's not as bad as it sounds, but if I have the money, I'd rather get NEC which does have native support for color management.

 

[Wodgy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by atomiccow /img/forum/go_quote.gif Maybe Mac OS and most Mac apps are colour aware. I think that if you were ever to play games or movies on your Mac, they would appear similarly to your Windows XP in terms of over saturation as I know games and movie apps are never colour aware.

Yes, virtually all Mac apps are color-aware. And, actually, the video playback subsystem is too. (Games generally aren't, beyond applying the gamma curve, which is done in the video card LUT.)

Pro applications are generally color aware on both platforms. Firefox 3.0 isn't by default, but you can enable it. IE still isn't, as far as I know.

Quote:

Originally Posted by analogbox It would look over saturated for sure since LP2475W doesn't support color management natively, it solely depends on third party software. Some people find that it's no big deal and it's not as bad as it sounds, but if I have the money, I'd rather get NEC which does have native support for color management.

Color management can't be done by the monitor in hardware. The display has no concept of windows, subregions of the display, and does not receive color space or rendering intent information. It's just a display. At best it can simulate the sRGB gamut, which means throwing away the benefits of a wide gamut monitor.

 

[meemorize]

Quote:

Originally Posted by poo /img/forum/go_quote.gif Buy the best you can, but gamut isn't the only (or even major) concern. You might want to add Eizo to your list.

I second that. I have been working on an S2410W (old model by now) for the past 4 years in a graphic design, colour critical work environment and Eizo has never let me down!

 

[atomiccow]

I'm not a graphic designer, I'm an engineer.. lol. I know my way around Photoshop but I only use it as a hobby, not for work. I won't be working in a colour - aware environment. The only reason I'm considering a freakishly expensive monitor like the NEC 2490 is because I can get it at a reasonable price (less than 600 USD) so I'm afraid Eizo's are out of the question. Really, colour accuracy is just my... pet peeve I guess. I don't need it, I want it because I hate the way pictures on current displays (ie the one on the laptop I'm using right now) don't look the same as when I see them in real life.

 

[analogbox]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wodgy /img/forum/go_quote.gif Color management can't be done by the monitor in hardware. The display has no concept of windows, subregions of the display, and does not receive color space or rendering intent information. It's just a display. At best it can simulate the sRGB gamut, which means throwing away the benefits of a wide gamut monitor.

I was in a market for IPS monitors, also, and from what I've heard, 2490WUXI does support color management natively therefore enabling you to see the calibrated colors in non-color-aware programs. Is it done in hardware level or software level, that I don't know.

 

[Wodgy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by atomiccow /img/forum/go_quote.gif Really, colour accuracy is just my... pet peeve I guess. I don't need it, I want it because I hate the way pictures on current displays (ie the one on the laptop I'm using right now) don't look the same as when I see them in real life.

You may just want to calibrate your current display and assign it a profile. I believe the picture preview application that's built into XP (if you have nothing else installed that opens when you double-click JPGs) is color aware, and whatever the Vista equivalent is almost certainly must be. Turn on color management in Firefox too. You'll have most of what you want, even though you're not using pro applications most of the time (Photoshop, Lightroom, etc.).

 

[meemorize]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wodgy /img/forum/go_quote.gif You may just want to calibrate your current display and assign it a profile. I believe the picture preview application that's built into XP (if you have nothing else installed that opens when you double-click JPGs) is color aware, and whatever the Vista equivalent is almost certainly must be. Turn on color management in Firefox too. You'll have most of what you want, even though you're not using pro applications most of the time (Photoshop, Lightroom, etc.).

If colour accuracy is not a major concern but you are concerned with the way things look then buying any screen that can be 'hardware calibrated' and then calibrating it with a tool such as the i1 Display 2 or the less professional but cheaper Pantone Huey should give you great results.

PS: They even work on non-hardware calibrateable displays relatively well, but if then I would only go for a Pantone Huey as the results will probably suffice.

Good luck choosing the right display!