If you're new to colour accurate monitors, start here to know what to look for, and why.
Monitors have become the single most important tool in the modern imaging workflow.
We've worked hard to become Australia's high end monitor experts. We're the only company to carry all the major brands in this area - Eizo, BenQ and NEC, and we have developed excellent relationships with these companies.
We offer unbiased advice on all brands and love to sit down and help our clients make the right investment in what has become perhaps the single most important tool in the modern imaging workflow.
We're based in Melbourne but we supply and support monitors to image makers all over the country.
These monitors are the Best of the Best for still image work. If you really love colour, want unparalleled accuracy, and ease of use, then these are the monitors for you.
These Eizo CG monitors have fully automatic direct hardware calibration and an inbuilt full calibration sensor.
You can set this up once (takes about 10 minutes) - and then sit back and enjoy your monitor for the next 5+ years as it self-calibrates with absolutely no further intervention required. It can even do this in the middle of the night so it doesn't interrupt your workflow! It simply doesn't come any better, or easier to use, than this.
Eizo don't currently make a model larger than 27", other than their very expensive 4K model, so we've also included BenQs best larger model as the best of the large screen options at a reasonable price...but do note it's standard gamut and not really in the same league as the Eizo CGs so we recommend sticking to 27" unless you absolutely need a bigger size or 4K.
On my own desk sits an Eizo CG277W at the moment - and it's the finest monitor I've ever owned. I find it more comfortable than the 4K models where you can hit tiny text issues, and the colour accuracy and ease of use is quite simply as good as it gets. The CG2730 listed below is a newer model recommended for still image work.
The big question of late is 4K or not 4K?
Colour accurate 4K monitors remain generally very expensive and in practise 4K makes very little difference in the image editing context. Yes, your images render a bit more sharply on 4K screens, but this is of far less importance than colour accuracy. (4K is only slightly noticeable with full screen images - the only context you really notice it is with thumbnails and text rendering).
Our advice is definitely buy a better colour accurate model before buying one with a lot of pixels.
If you do really want the extra sharpness (e.g. you work in desktop publishing where it will have a lot of impact) - then the BenQ below provides quite good colour accuracy and performance for a very reasonable price.
Of course if you do have the funds, then the 4K wide gamut hardware calibration options from Eizo are simply exquisite and as good as monitors get right now. The CG318 is, quite simply, the absolute best of the best right now.
While Eizo's CG monitors remain the king of the best-of-the-best, most people will find a model from Eizo's CS or BenQ's PV ranges a great choice for general imaging work.
BenQs are priced very competitively. With BenQ you tend to lose just a little refinement in the screen itself – you get
slightly lower quality neutrals, slightly less uniformity and the BenQ warranty (3 years) is not as long as Eizos (5 years).
However, they still have excellent reliability (much better than general consumer brands), offer good uniformity, and excellent clarity. We strongly suggest adding a compatible calibrator and with BenQ PVs this really means i1Display Pro.
We use a BenQ PV270 on our client machine at Image Science, where customer's check their colour before printing. It really is a remarkably good screen for the price (read a fuller evaluation here).
The Eizo CS models are their entry level ColorEdge models.
They are very similar to the NEC PA and BenQ PV models but slightly more refined - most noticeable in deep shadows and the quality of neutral tones, and the extremely refined software for calibration.
They come with Eizo's calibration software, ColorNavigator, included and with two years extra warranty over the BenQ/NECs, so they offer great value - you just need to add a calibrator and you've got everything you need.
On a budget or just getting to that level where you want a significant improvement over your typical desktop monitors from office brands like Dell, Apple etc?
The best value options below $1000 currently are probably the smaller models in the Eizo EV range. These are perfect for those amongst you on a budget, who work in sRGB (so people still shooting jpgs and not yet RAW, web designers, people who shoot exclusively for the web etc.).
While they don’t support direct hardware calibration, they calibrate very well with a traditional calibration approach. They’re not as good at things like contrast simulation for print work, but they definitely give you the ability to do good quality, accurate editing and soft proofing.
These monitors are the first big step up from your standard computer monitors.
And yes, overall they are a BIG step up from popular 'higher quality' models like Dell Ultra-Sharps and Apple Cinema Displays etc. These are simply a lot more accurate, respond better to calibration, and have better attention paid to ergonomics, particularly with respect to issues like eye fatigue.
They also come with longer warranties and these are really the minimum monitor anyone with a serious interest in imaging should aim for.
BenQ's SW2700 model is a relative new comer and very popular - a good quality colour accurate 27" screen for under $1000 is hard to argue against! So well worth checking out too, if your budget is in this range. If you're looking at this consider also the improved, uniformity corrected model than is BenQ's excellent PV270.
