Suggest Monitors for Grading...

[Bob Gruen]

NEC Multisync PA271W w/ calibrator.

The NEC is a pretty nice monitor and does 10 bit (although I'm only running 8 bit at the moment). It sports an onboard processing engine and multiple LUTs along with a software system to switch between them (I have mine set to Video / REC709). Unlike most calibration systems the calibrator does not alter the signal to the monitor, rather it updates the engine's settings in the monitor. The NEC can be had at a few different sizes; I have the 27 centered in front of my keyboard with 2 15" 'wing' monitors on each side. It also has a 2 channel USB keyboard/mouse switch built in.

I think it's a better choice to the DreamColor as the DC hasn't been updated in a few years and still sports the intro pricing while other competitors have entered the market. When compared to the NEC the DC is way overpriced. The 24" NEC is cheap enough that I'd not hesitate to take it on set.

Bob

[Andrew Wagnitz]

Great post thanks!

[Steve Shaw]

Kevin, with probes you really pay your money and take your chances.

The most cost effective probe for its level of accuracy/cost is probably the X-Rite i1 Display Pro - we have a lot of customers using that.

For better accuracy and faster calibration the Hubble is great.

For the best possible accuracy the Jeti 1211 and Klein K-10 are hard to better, along with the PR-655...

Personally I use the Jeti, Hubble and i1 Display Pro, depending on the job.

Cheers,

Steve

[Steve Shaw]

Bob, I've never used the NEC displays, but they says they use ICC profiles for calibration.

If so, it is possible the 3D LUTs are actually 1D data, as ICC profiles when used for display calibration do not use 3D data (in graphics cards applications).

I'm obviously not 100% on the way NEC uses ICC profiles, but it's worth checking if you can.

The way to check is to see if saturation can be controlled - can you make the display mono via the LUTs for example?

In normal use ICC profiles used for display calibration cannot control saturation, so cannot control colour gamut.

The other way to have a quick check of this is how many colour patches are used during calibration - if grey scale plus RGB primary only the same is probably true - no gamut control. If a complex selection of colours is used (not just pure RGB) it's more likely that gamut control is possible.

I will see if I can get my hands on a display to check as well.

Cheers,

Steve

[Christian Stoehr]

I am about to buy a color monitor for grading and am seriously looking at the Flanders Scientific 2461 $5300 with shipping and already calibrated. I read here from Steve that they are poorly calibrated out of the box, but I belief they recently acquired a high end calibration system, and offer free recalibration at any time if needed.

Should I be looking at any other monitors in this price range, or maybe a little less, so I can also afford part of a Tangent Panel :)

[Luis Otero]

I do not know if I can buy into the idea of a "pre-calibrated" monitor. As soon as you plug it into a system, it must be profiled: it is a "combo" type of stuff that one interact one with another, not an independent element...