Monitor Selector

Monitors that support the process of Direct Hardware Calibration - that is, calibrating directly into the monitor's hardware. This is both more accurate, and simpler, than traditional monitor calibration.

(Note: this does not necessarily mean that all hardware/software needed is included - click More Info and see the Calibration Information section for full details on a specific monitor).

Essentially there are two classes of monitors currently - those that display the traditional gamut of monitors (essentially the gamut of the sRGB colour space), and modern Wide Gamut monitors that display a wider range of more saturated colours (essentially the gamut of AdobeRGB - about 25% more saturated colour).

Modern digital cameras easily capture colours in this wider gamut range, and particularly if you use saturated colours in your work, you'll want to look for wide gamut support. Wide gamut monitors have standard gamut emulation modes so there's really no disadvantage to wide gamut monitors now.

If you want the easiest to use, completely integrated monitor calibration solution, these are the models you want. These models feature a full monitor calibration system with the sensor built in to the monitor's bezel.

You simply set up calibration once, schedule it, and then forget about it! The calibrator comes out of the bezel at the appointed time and the monitor performs fully automatic calibration (even to multiple targets if defined). The computer doesn't even need to be turned on. I run mine on Sunday nights at 1am.

Put simply, there's no better system.

Models with an automatic correction system need to be calibrated with an external sensor less frequently.

These models reduce the labour burden of calibration significantly, so they're perfect for e.g. labs scenarios.

Every 6 months or so you still need to perform a full calibration using an external sensor (like the i1Display Pro), but between these calibrations the monitor uses it's own in-built sensor to do automatic back-to-profile correction.

The most common and best modern monitor input for video. It looks similar to HDMI, but note the slightly different shape - DP is notched on one side only, HDMI on two.

Note, DisplayPort is also used with Thunderbolt ports on Macs.Thunderbolt is plug compatible with Mini-Display Port, so you use a cable with one end a Mini DisplayPort (male) and the other end a full size DisplayPort (male) - and simply plug directly in to your Thunderbolt port.

Most monitors with a DisplayPort input now include this cable (check the What's In The Box section of your specific monitor)

HDMI is very digital common in the video world and a well known connection. You also find it commonly on laptops, the new Mac 'cylinder' desktop and some PC desktops.

HDMI is a good connection to use, but be aware if your hardware is older or more basic, the HDMI port you have may not support monitors with a resolution about 1920 by 1200.

DVI is an older digital video standard. It's still in pretty common use, although if possible use HDMI or even better DisplayPort instead as they're much more reliable.

DVI cable heads are about an inch wide and have numerous exposed pins, making them vulnerable to failure - if any one pin gets bent or fails to make full contact, you will very quickly experience a whole array of odd visual artefacts such as shifted colour, flickering, lines etc - almost anything!

There are also many forms of DVI - in most cases you will nowadays just want to use 'Dual Link' DVI (which does not involve two cables - just one with more pins - and the stupidest name ever!). Dual Link DVI cables can support monitors with resolution up to 2560 by 1600.

VGA, also known as d-sub, is the older type on monitor connection - 15 pin port, often blue.

It is an analogue connection and thus be avoided wherever there is a digital option instead.

USB-C is a universal connector that can carry both data and video. The video signal transport is the DisplayPort protocol sent over USB-C.

USB-C is found as the only connector on all modern Macbooks (approximately from 2017 onwards) and on newer iMacs etc. Whilst it is nice that the cable can be plugged in both ways, and that in theory the same cable can be used in multiple ways, in practise there are often issues with USB-C.

Some example issues: USB-C connections tend to feel a bit loose, and it's not unheard of for the cable to simply drop out of the monitor (there is no locking mechanism as with DisplayPort). Some USB-C cables are data only, and will not carry video (and many sites that sell them are not good at identifying which are which). In theory, USB-C cables can be used for video whilst also charging your laptop - however most monitor makers have avoided actually implementing this feature because in practise it rarely works well and it adds significant complexity (i.e. cost) to the production of the monitor.

We have two useful articles on USB-C - how to get the right cables and general notes on USB-C monitor hookups.