What is Color Space and Why Does it Matter? https://petapixel.com/2024/01/03/what-is-color-space-and-why-does-it-matter/ #Post-Processing #photoediting #Educational #colorspaces #prophotorgb #colorspace #adobergb #Guides #guides #color #srgb

Adobe #RGB #Monitors cost like never before :flan_despair:

I am looking for a 27" #Monitor 2/4K that supports #AdobeRGB below the $600, do you know any?

Thanks... :flan_beg:

The Philips Momentum 8000 is a Super Color-Accurate 4K OLED Monitor

#equipment #news #27e1n8900 #adobergb #dcip3 #display #monitor #oled #philips #philipsmomentum8000 #srgb

Razer Blade 15 Advanced Review: Small Update, Huge Performance Gain

When Razer announced the "mid-2021" Blade 15 Advanced back in May, it seemed like a standard refresh. The company swapped out the 10th-Gen Intel CPUs in the "early-2021" model for 11th-Gen processors and added a new anti-fingerprint coating to the chassis. No big deal, right? Wrong -- that 11th-Gen processor has allowed Razer to upgrade just about everything under the hood of the latest Advanced model, leading to a huge performance uplift.

The switch to 11th-Gen Intel adds support for faster storage, faster RAM, and better connectivity, all while improving overall performance in every single benchmark that we've run.

Since we've already reviewed several Razer Blade laptops on PetaPixel in the past -including the AMD Ryzen-based Blade 14 just last month -- this is going to be a fairly straightforward review. I won't spend much time on the Blade's build quality or explain (again) why I approve of Razer trading a little bit of performance for a thin, sleek design that is, therefore, harder to cool.

The main point of this review is to compare the latest Blade 15 Advanced with the 11th-Gen Intel Core i9-11900H against the previous model that maxed out at a 10th-Gen Core i7-10875H and the ASUS G14 with the excellent AMD Ryzen 9 5900HS. I was lucky enough to have all three laptops on hand during this review, which allowed me to evaluate just how much the Blade 15 Advanced has improved with this one internal upgrade, and whether or not that upgrade alone makes the Blade 15 Advanced a worthwhile purchase.

The mid-2021 Blade 15 Advanced comes in several different configurations depending on the CPU, GPU, and display that you go with. We reviewed the $3,400 variant with the 4K OLED display. (click for high res)

Our review unit is the most expensive variant of the Blade 15 Advanced, which comes with the aforementioned Core i9 processor, NVIDIA RTX 3080 GPU with 16GB of VRAM (95W variant), 32GB of 3200MHz RAM, 1TB of PCIe 4.0 NVMe M.2 storage, and a 60Hz 4K OLED display that supposedly covers 100% of the DCI-P3 color gamut.

Weighing in at $3,400, it's definitely not a cheap computer, but it's also not outrageously priced given the quality of the hardware and the build quality of the computer itself.

Design and Build Quality

In terms of design and build quality, the latest Blade 15 Advanced is essentially identical to every other Razer laptop we've reviewed. Check out our review of the Blade 14 or the Blade Studio Edition if you want a deeper dive.

Suffice it to say that Razer puts a lot of emphasis on the strength and sleekness of this aluminum unibody design, opting for high-end components and a thin, rigid chassis that I personally quite like. I'll touch on the performance trade-off further down, but in terms of design, the keyboard is still excellent, the trackpad is still one of the smoothest and most responsive on the market, and the overall fit-and-finish is still Apple-esque in its attention to detail.

As such, I'm only going to call out four design elements from the mid-2021 Blade 15 Advanced. In order of importance, we have: the excellent OLED display, the improved port selection, the Full HD webcam, and the new anti-fingerprint coating.

The Display

The most expensive (and only the most expensive) variant of the Blade 15 Advanced comes with an excellent 4K OLED display that claims 100% coverage of the DCI-P3 color gamut. In our testing, the display only fell 1% short of that claim and did so with an excellent Delta E 2000 of less than 1. Anything below a Delta E of 2 is considered invisible to the human eye, and less than 1 is on par with the best displays we've ever tested.

As a bonus, it also covers nearly 98% of the AdobeRGB color gamut, making this one of the best laptop displays we have ever tested, even among 4K OLEDs.

This is a significant improvement over the previous 4K OLED in last year's Blade, which managed a full 100% of DCI-P3 but only 90% of AdobeRGB in my testing. That's significant for photographers who prefer to work in Adobe's color space rather than the cinema-standard DCI-P3.

Improved Port Selection

Razer also improved the port selection on the new Blade Advanced. You're still looking at three USB Type-A ports, two USB Type-C ports, an HDMI 2.1 port, an audio jack, and a UHS-III SD Card slot, but instead of one Thunderbolt 3 and USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 port, you now get two Thunderbolt 4 ports, one on each side of the computer.

That gives you two ports that can transfer data at 40Gbps, charge the device, and/or drive external displays up to 8K resolution at 30Hz uncompressed or 60Hz with Display Stream Compression (DSC).

For professional, color-critical workflows that rely on Thunderbolt, having two TB4 ports is a huge benefit. I also like it because the previous model had no markings on the chassis to tell you which USB-C port was Thunderbolt and which wasn't. Consider this the best way to say the problem has been solved.

Full HD Webcam

The vast majority of laptops, including extremely expensive top-shelf models, still use god-awful 720p webcams that have no business existing in the year 2021. I understand not spending a ridiculous amount of money putting a nice camera inside of a thin laptop bezel, but given the massive shift from office work to work-from-home, a nice webcam is practically a necessity.

The mid-2021 Blade 15 Advanced trades that poor 720p webcam for a 1080p Full HD camera that looks significantly better, without giving up nice-to-have features like Windows Hello facial recognition.

Anti-fingerprint Coating

The last and least important update was the addition of an anti-fingerprint coating. It seems silly to even mention it, but the previous model was just SO bad that I have to call this out. The moment you started using any previous Blade laptop with a black coating it was covered in smudges and fingerprints, making me wish that Razer offered a silver version of the Advanced model.

The new anti-fingerprint coating is not perfect, and I do still wish that there was a silver version of the Blade 15 Base and Advanced models, but the new coating represents a huge improvement over that fingerprint magnet that Razer used to use.

Photo Editing Performance

The main criticism leveled at Razer over the years is that it prioritize style over substance. By choosing to make the Blade laptops ever thinner, it is difficult to properly cool the components inside and so you either have to thermally throttle your CPU and GPU, or you have to go with a less powerful variant of the same.

To some extent, this is still the case with the latest Blade 15 Advanced.

In exchange for that sleek aluminum unibody design, you're limited to a Core i9-11900H instead of the more powerful i9-11980HK you'll find in top-tier gaming laptops, and the Blade uses the 95-105W variant of the NVIDIA RTX 3080 GPU instead of the maxed out 155-165W card that some beefier options are able to support. Personally, I've always thought that this trade-off is worth it (possibly because I've used Apple computers for so long), but still wanted to mention it.

If you're looking for a laptop that prioritizes performance above and beyond all else, there are other options out there. Just be prepared for a bulkier, louder laptop that won't put as much emphasis on design and build quality.

That said, the mid-2021 Blade 15 Advanced is no slouch in the performance department. In fact, it's downright excellent. The upgrade to 11th-Gen Intel doesn't just mean a faster CPU with a larger built-in cache, the new Blade 15 also supports up to 4TB of faster PCIe 4.0 storage and up to 64GB of faster 3200MHz RAM. And since the 11th-gen chips run a little bit cooler, the mid-2015 Blade is able to push the GPU a little bit harder, boosting to a TGP of 105W instead of 95W.

All of this together translates into a huge performance uplift in every benchmark we've run: Lightroom Classic, Photoshop, and Capture One 21 all benefit. For the benchmarks below, we tested three machines: the early-2021 Blade 15 Advanced, the 2021 ASUS Zephyrus G14, and the new mid-2021 Blade 15 Advanced.

Full specifications below:

Lightroom Classic

Import, preview generation, and export all see big gains with the latest Blade 15. Previously, the ASUS G14 was the fastest laptop we'd tested in Lightroom Classic thanks to the AMD Ryzen 9 CPU and that laptops's support for faster 3200MHz RAM. Now that Intel has caught up, the latest Blade 15 doesn't just match the Ryzen 9 5900HS, it exceeds it.

First, we imported and generated 1:1 previews, using 110 Sony a7R IV and 150 PhaseOne XF RAW files:

The results were kind of shocking, but we ran these tests a minimum of three times in a row on all three machines using the exact same settings. Ultimately, import and preview generation is heavily dependent on raw CPU performance, and the 11th-Gen i9 flexes serious muscle here.

We then applied a custom preset to each batch of RAW photos and exported them as both full-res 100% JPEGs and 16-bit TIFFs:

As you can see, the early-2021 Blade 15 can't quite keep up with the ASUS G14 despite the Core i7-10875H's crazy 5.1GHz boost clock. Being limited to 2933MHz RAM and struggling to stay cool inside the Blade's thin aluminum chassis, it falls short. According to Adobe, import, preview generation, and export do not use GPU acceleration in Lightroom Classic, so these numbers are all down to CPU, RAM amount, and RAM speed.

Capture One 21

When we run these same tests in Capture One 21, the mid-2021 Blade 15 Advanced yet again steals the crown from the ASUS G14 in all but one test, and outperforms the early-2021 model by a lot more than we initially expected.

As before, import generation sees a substantial boost. Although it's worth pointing out that Capture One is creating smaller 2560px previews, so these results are not comparable between programs:

In terms of export performance, the Blade makes a much bigger leap when encoding TIFFs as opposed to JPEGs. Exporting 100% JPEGs still saw a big jump, helping the Blade to (almost) match the ASUS G14, but when it comes to TIFFs the Blade reigns supreme:

Because Capture One is using hardware acceleration for both import/preview generation and export, the Blade 15 was always supposed to win this contest -- it contains a beefier NVIDIA RTX 3080 with way more VRAM and at least 25W more power. Surprisingly, the early-2021 model lost to the ASUS G14 in every category, but now that the Intel CPU is pulling its own weight, we see the results we've always expected.

Photoshop

Last but certainly not least, Photoshop performance also benefits significantly from the faster CPU and faster RAM in the latest Blade 15 Advanced. We ran Puget Systems' excellent PugetBench benchmark (v0.8, the last version to include Photo Merge), and saw a significant improvement in every single category.

Despite the lower TurboBoost clock speed of the i9-11900H (4.9GHz instead of 5.1GHz), the new CPU's faster base clock (2.5GHz instead of 2.3GHz), increased CPU cache (24MB instead of 16MB), and support for 3200MHz RAM helps the mid-2021 Blade 15 Advanced earn the highest score we've ever seen from any computer we've tested, including the M1 Mac mini.

As a reminder, the scores break down into an Overall scores and four category scores: General, GPU, Filter, and Photo Merge:

I'm no huge fan of the Intel versus AMD discussion -- just give me the one that works best -- but it's not an exaggeration to say that the 11th-Gen Core i9 has transformed the mid-2021 Blade 15 Advanced into a much better value than the early-2021 model. The new CPU has allowed Razer to produce a lot more performance out of the same exact chassis. That's no small feat.

As a bonus, it puts some pressure on AMD, who has been kicking Intel's butt all over the playground for the last couple of years. If the performance above is anything to judge by, Intel is finally ready to strike back.

A Huge Performance Leap

On the surface, the upgrade from the "early-2021" version of the Blade 15 Advanced to the "mid-2021" version seems pretty minor -- jumping up to the latest generation of Intel processor doesn't always mean much. But in this particular case, it has totally transformed this computer.

We were already fans of Razer's design and build quality, and occasionally cut the Blade series a bit of slack on that account, but this latest build doesn't really require us to do that. Thanks to the faster CPU, faster RAM, faster storage, better display, and better ports, there is very little to legitimately complain about.

Pros

• Much faster CPU
• Support for up to 64GB of 3200MHz RAM
• Support for up to 4TB of PCIe 4.0 NVMe storage via two M.2 slots
• Exceptional 4K OLED display with excellent coverage of both DCI-P3 and AdobeRGB
• Extensive I/O with HDMI 2.1, two Thunderbolt 4 Ports, and a UHS-III SD card slot
• 1080p Full HD webcam with Windows Hello support
• New anti-fingerprint coating

Cons

• Poor battery life when doing serious computing
• OLED display only available on most expensive model
• Core i9 CPU only available on most expensive model
• Expensive

I've said it before and I'll say it again: if you're looking for the best combination of price-to-performance, then a Blade laptop probably isn't for you. You can almost always cobble together the same CPU, GPU, RAM, storage, etc. in a cheaper chassis for a little less money. But you're going to give up a lot more than you realize when you chase affordability or prioritize specs like a 165W TGP and an ever-so-slightly faster CPU.

To me, a slight decrease in overall performance -- probably meager when it comes to photo and video editing application -- compared to the top-shelf gaming PCs on the market is worth it when you factor in the quality of key components like the display, the keyboard, the trackpad, the webcam, and the I/O.

But the TL;DR comes down to this : with the release of the mid-2021 Razer Blade 15 Advanced, Razer has added way more than $100 worth of performance for only $100 more in MSRP.

Are There Alternatives?

Every time Intel unveils its latest generation of CPUs, you can expect most PC makers to release updated versions of flagship laptops. That's what happen with the "mid-2021" Razer Blade 15 Advanced, which was joined by alternatives like the latest [MSI GS76 Stealth](https://www.adorama.com/msigs7611078.html?kbid=67085” rel=“norewrite sponsored”) or the latest Dell XPS 17. These two models in particular feature 4K UHD displays that claim 100% coverage of Adobe RGB, making them both a solid choice for content creation.

If you want to go even more powerful, you can go with something like the Lenovo Legion 7i Gen 6, Alienware x17, or MSI GE76 Raider, which all feature the more powerful i9-11980HK CPU and an NVIDIA RTX 3080 GPU that can handle 155W - 165W of juice -- that's pretty much the most powerful GPU you can currently put in a laptop until you start cramming in desktop components and adding a second AC adapter. Unfortunately, of these three options, only the Alienware x17 features a color-accurate 4K display; the other two use high-refresh-rate Full HD displays that are aimed at gamers, not creative professionals.

Finally, another great option is to go with an AMD Ryzen system like the ASUS Zephyrus G14 we tested, its big brother the ASUS Zephyrus G15, the Lenovo Legion 7 or Legion Slim 7, or Razer's own Blade 14. All of these are fantastic options, but pay attention to the display configuration since most offer a choice between a high-refresh-rate Full HD display with 100% sRGB coverage, or a slower but more color-accurate QHD display that can covers 100% of DCI-P3.

Should You Buy It?

Yes.

With the early-2021 model of the Blade 15 Advanced, we were on the fence. With faster, cheaper, cooler processors like the Ryzen 9 5900HS and HX often selling in computers there were $500 to $1,000 cheaper, the entire justification for going Razer came down to design, build quality, and usability.

With the addition of an 11th-Gen Intel CPU, an even better OLED display that covers over 97% of both DCI-P3 and AdobeRGB, faster memory, faster storage, and a killer port selection, the mid-2021 Blade 15 Advanced is no longer "on the fence." It's actually a great value for the hardware that's packed inside.

At the time of publication, I have no problem recommending the $3,400 model to any creative who wants a professional-grade laptop and/or desktop replacement.

#equipment #reviews #adobergb #blade15 #computerreview #dcip3 #laptopreview #oled #pc #photoediting #postprocessing #razer #razerblade15 #razerblade152021 #razerblade15advanced #razerreview #review #srgb

Dell U4021QW Review: The Premiere Ultra-Wide Monitor for Photo Editing

The Dell U4021QW is, quite literally, one of a kind. It's the world's first 40-inch curved ultra-wide WUHD 5K2K monitor -- a 21:9 aspect ratio monster that boasts a color-accurate 10-bit panel. In our testing, it's performed beautifully. But while it's definitely the premiere ultra-wide monitor for photo editing, it's not the best photo editing monitor overall.

Compared to many other ultra-wide monitors on the market, the Dell delivers a more well-rounded experience. Most ultra-wides focus all of their attention on either productivity or gaming, putting little-to-no emphasis on color accuracy. Despite the fact that many photo and video editors find it downright necessary to work on multiple monitors side-by-side, there are precious few color-accurate panels in the 21:9 aspect ratio, which translates into precious few color-accurate ultra-wide monitors.

More than anything else we'll talk about, that's what makes the Dell U4021QW special. Not only is it large and high resolution -- 40-inches and 5K2K resolution is nothing to scoff at -- it uses a true 10-bit panel with a (claimed) DCI-P3 gamut coverage of 98% and a Delta E of less than 2. What's special about the Dell U4021QW is that it exists at all, and with a price of $1,700, it's quite a bit cheaper than picking up two similarly accurate 4K monitors and placing them side-by-side.

Design and Build Quality

My first impression upon unboxing and setting up the Dell U4021QW was, " I am overwhelmed." I typically work off of one 32-inch or 27-inch 16:9 monitor (depending on what we're currently reviewing at PetaPixel ) and the switch to an ultra-wide was a bit staggering at first.

You can comfortably set up three windows side-by-side-by-side without anything feeling cramped. If you're feeling especially masochistic, you could break the monitor into 6 sections and put a window in each -- there really is enough resolution to accommodate it. But personally, it took me about a day of regular use before I filled up the entirety to do anything at all.

Setup was a breeze. The monitor "clicks in" to the stand while it's still in the box, and then you use the stand to lift it out and set it on your desk. Ideally, you'd have a little help with this, because it is not a small monitor, but this easy-to-unbox setup is appreciated by those of us who live alone… or, in my case, with a dog who really wasn't much help at all.

The stand itself is sturdy, with a reasonably small footprint and lots of positioning control. You can tilt, swivel, and adjust the height of the monitor with a single hand no problem, and the little hole for cable management is a nice touch. Bezels are minimal, about 0.4 inches (1cm), and the 2500R curve is just enough to eliminate any off-axis color shift at the edges when you're sitting right in the middle of the screen.

In terms of controls, there's only a power button and a joystick, the latter of which you press to access both the quick-access menus and the full settings of your display. The full menu is extensive, but the quick-access menus are all you'll need most of the time. That includes Brightness/Contrast, Input, Volume, Preset Color Modes, and the Picture-in-Picture (PIP) and Picture-by-Picture (PBP) modes that are available only when you have two devices connected at the same time.

The U4021QW includes a USB-A and USB-C port on the bottom of the monitor, allowing you to charge small electronics like headphones or a smartphone.

Speaking of connectivity, the monitor comes with plenty of ports to suit whatever laptop or desktop you'd like to hook up. There are two HDMI 2.0 ports, one DisplayPort 1.4, one Thunderbolt 3 USB Type-C with 90W power delivery, an Ethernet port, a headphone jack, and a USB Type-B upstream port that powers four USB Type-A ports and one USB Type-C downstream, all of which can transfer data at 10Gbps. Two of these ports -- the USB Type-C downstream and one of those USB Type-A ports -- are found under the display for easy access, and these two ports also feature power delivery.

It's worth mentioning the built-in dual 9W speakers, which were surprisingly powerful and a nice touch for users who don't have a set of monitors or computer speakers handy. They certainly made the built-in speaker on my Mac mini sound like trash, which it is, although they obviously can't compete with even a cheap set of proper desktop speakers.

Overall, the Dell U4021QW delivered all of the features that I want from a monitor like this. The main things I look for are Thunderbolt connectivity so that I can use a single cable for audio/video/data, sufficient power delivery to charge most laptops (90W is plenty), and a few easy-access convenience ports when I need to plug in a phone or charge my wireless keyboard and mouse. The Dell delivers all of this and more, wrapped up in classic Dell styling that really hasn't changed much over the past several years.

If you like Dell's monitors, you'll like this one. If you hate them, Dell hasn't given you any compelling reason to like the U4021QW's design and build quality any better.

Gamut Coverage and Uniformity

In our testing, the Dell U4021QW managed to cover 95% of DCI-P3 (left) and 88.5% of AdobeRGB (right).

When it came time to test the Dell's color accuracy, I came in with a healthy dose of skepticism. Unless you're going to use a direct backlight and charge an exorbitant amount for special in-monitor sensors that can help with uniformity (see our NEC PA311D review), it's very difficult to evenly illuminate this much screen. The distance from the corner of the screen to the center is approximately 20-inches, and I suspected that uniformity would be an issue.

Spoiler: I was right.

But first, let's talk color accuracy and gamut coverage. While the Dell U4021QW does NOT have a built-in LUT or any support for hardware calibration, it does allow you to adjust the Gain and Offset of your RGB primaries, as well as the Hue and Saturation in six axes: Red, Green, Blue, Cyan, Yellow, and Magenta.

This turned out to be necessary because none of the presets were particularly good out of the box. In order to get my white point to D65, I had to switch the monitor to "Custom Color," turn down the gain on the Green channel to 95% and give up a little bit of overall brightness. Once I did, the monitor performed admirably, clocking in 99.9% coverage of sRGB, 95% coverage of DCI-P3, and 88.5% coverage of AdobeRGB, at a Delta E 2000 of just 1.23.

That's solid coverage at an excellent Delta E, but you'll remember that Dell claims 98% DCI-P3 coverage, so it was a little bit disappointing to see the monitor fall short of the spec sheet. We've asked Dell why this might be, and will update the review if and when we hear back. Until then, we'll just assume it's a matter of variation from panel to panel. The colorimeter I used, an i1Display Pro Plus (that was recently rebranded…), is the same we've used to evaluate every other display reviewed on PetaPixel to date, so we have no reason to believe it's gone wonky now.

Still, a few percentage points here or there are within a reasonable margin of error, and we were very happy with the monitor's Delta E.

What was less impressive was the uniformity, which is indeed an issue as expected with a panel this size. When we ran our 9 x 5 patch test in DisplayCAL, the monitor failed "Nominal" tolerance on 9 of the 44 patches (the center patch is used for reference), with most of the bad patches appearing on the left-hand side of the display. It only passed "Recommended" tolerance on 10 of the patches, leaving us with 25 patches that only passed "Nominal" tolerance.

From the results below, you can see that we're mostly fading in brightness as we move up and out to the edges of the display (click to open the full resolution image), which makes me think this monitor might be edge-lit from the bottom, but that's pure speculation:

This kind of uniformity (or lack thereof) is pretty normal for monitors that don't explicitly correct for it with some sort of built-in sensor, but it's unfortunate when you're dealing with such a nice panel. True 10-bit monitors (as opposed to 8-bit + FRC) are still somewhat rare under $2,000, and we've never seen a 40-inch, 21:9 ultra-wide option.

Ultimately, we'd classify the Dell U4021QW's color performance as "enthusiast-grade," with sufficient color accuracy, color depth, and gamut coverage to satisfy most photo and video editors. But for creative professionals looking for an ultra-wide with true professional-grade performance, Dell hasn't quite cracked it. You'll have to wait a little while longer.

Best in Its Class, But Could Still Be Better

My thoughts on the Dell U4021QW are similar to my thoughts on the M1 iPad we reviewed a couple of months ago. The best iPad is still an iPad, and the best ultra-wide monitor is still an ultra-wide monitor, with all the challenges inherent to that form factor.

There's a reason why most ultra-wide displays focus on productivity and not color performance.

Let's be clear: the Dell U4021QW is a phenomenal ultra-wide. It is one of the best on the market and the premiere ultra-wide monitor for photo editing thanks to its dynamite combination of size, aspect ratio, resolution, color accuracy, and gamut coverage. But it falls short of the performance of smaller, more focused "creator" monitors that don't have quite so much screen with which to contend.

Pros

• True 10-bit panel
• 5K2K resolution makes 21:9 aspect ratio far more usable
• 95% DCI-P3 and 99.9%% sRGB coverage is good enough for the vast majority of people
• Good color control through on-screen menus
• Single-cable connectivity through USB-C with 90W power delivery
• Extra ports under the display are super convenient
• Good built-in speakers
• Relatively affordable ($1,700) for what you get

Cons

• Gamut coverage falls slightly short of manufacturer claims
• Uniformity is poor at the edges
• No support for hardware calibration
• Peak brightness is not suitable for HDR workflows

The cons list is quite short, but the few things that the Dell U4021QW misses are going to be particularly important to you all: top-shelf gamut coverage, good uniformity, and support for hardware calibration are all important features that photo and video editors look for in their displays. The Dell mostly checks the first box, but misses the second and third entirely.

That puts serious enthusiasts in a tight spot, where they need to decide what they would prefer. Do you want to prioritize the seamless productivity experience of an ultra-wide and content yourself with color performance that is good enough, but not excellent, or would you rather spend a little more to purchase two [ultra-accurate 4K monitors](https://www.adorama.com/as02ccb023b0.html?kbid=67085” rel=“norewrite sponsored”) and set them side-by-side? There is no obvious right answer, just the right answer for you.

Are There Alternatives?

As I said at the top, the Dell U4021QW is quite literally "one of a kind." There are other ultra-wide monitors out there, there are even color-accurate ultra-wide monitors that are aimed at creatives, but none match Dell's combination of size, resolution, color depth, and color accuracy. The closest you'll get is a 34-inch 5K2K ultra-wide with similar color accuracy out of a cheaper 8-bit + FRC panel, like the [MSI Prestige PS341WU](https://www.adorama.com/msipps341wu.html?kbid=67085” rel=“norewrite sponsored”).

The question, then, is not: "is there a better ultra-wide for photo editing?" There isn't. The correct question, therefore, is: "what could I buy instead?"

If you're willing to spend more, you can outperform the Dell in terms of both resolution and color accuracy by picking up two 27-inch or 32-inch 4K monitors. Both the [ASUS ProArt PA329C](https://www.adorama.com/as02ccb023b0.html?kbid=67085” rel=“norewrite sponsored”) and Dell's own UP2720Q feature 10-bit panels, AdobeRGB coverage over 98%, support for hardware calibration and, if you go with the Dell, you even get a built-in colorimeter.

To save a bit of money, prioritize color over resolution and pick up two 27-inch QHD (2K resolution) color-accurate monitors. [BenQ's SW270C](https://www.adorama.com/bqsw270c.html?kbid=67085” rel=“norewrite sponsored”) is a popular choice, or you could try to pick up a couple of used [NEC MultiSync PA271Q](https://www.adorama.com/us1197360.html?kbid=67085” rel=“norewrite sponsored”)'s, which are available for a steal at $750.

Should You Buy It?

As usual, the answer isn't a clear-cut "yes" or "no." There is nuance to consider.

If you are an enthusiast who wants to trade in a dual-monitor setup for an ultra-wide that will offer you enough resolution and color accuracy to make that switch worthwhile, I can wholeheartedly recommend the Dell U4021QW. At 40-inches with a 5K2K 10-bit panel with 95% coverage of DCI-P3, it can tackle all but the most demanding color-critical workflows. For me, it's been a productivity dream, and I'm not looking forward to sending it back.

However, if you're a professional whose livelihood quite literally revolves around color accuracy or you're looking to invest in a monitor for HDR video editing, look elsewhere.

For less money, you can pick up a 32-inch monitor with a 4K 10-bit panel that will offer better overall gamut coverage, better uniformity, and other key features like hardware calibration or even a built-in colorimeter. These are not an absolute necessity for all users, but pros looking to spend over $1,500 on a high-end photo and video editing monitor can expect (and should demand) them.

#equipment #reviews #10bit #adobergb #coloraccuracy #dcip3 #dell #dellu4021qw #dellultrawide #display #monitor #monitorreview #panel #photoediting #postprocessing #postproduction #productivity #srgb #ultrawidemonitor #videoediting

The Best Monitors for Photography and Photo Editing in 2021

There's one piece of equipment that the working photographer uses more than any other. No, it's not their camera. Not their favorite lens either. I'm talking about their photo editing monitor.

Updated 7/16 by DL Cade: Replaced the EIZO ColorEdge CG319X with the Sharp NEC MultiSync PA311D as the Best Monitor for Photo Editors Who Want Ultimate Color Accuracy.

Unless you plan to outsource your post-production, you will probably spend many more hours staring at a monitor than you do looking through a viewfinder. As such, a high-resolution, color-accurate display is absolutely indispensable, and while we will definitely continue to publish in-depth monitor reviews here on PetaPixel , this roundup will serve as a catch-all for readers who need a quick overview and some buying advice.

Unlike the daily news and individual product reviews you see on the site, this article will be updated regularly as new products and more advanced display technology hits the market, so you can come back to it every time you're looking to upgrade your photo editing setup. Whether you're looking for the best curved monitor, the best monitor for HDR, or the best monitor on a budget, we've got you covered.

What We're Looking For

The best monitor for photo editing strikes the right balance between resolution, color depth, color accuracy, and price. When evaluating the best monitors for photography we prioritize color depth and color accuracy, then resolution, then judge whether the price justifies this combination. For example, a monitor with a true 10-bit panel, high AdobeRGB coverage, and 4K resolution is really difficult to find under $4,000… but they do exist.

Other factors play a part: USB-C connectivity is almost expected by now, power delivery is a big plus, the ability to check different color spaces on the fly is a major benefit, and high-end features like extreme peak brightness, full-array local dimming, and a built-in colorimeter help to justify some of the expensive options, especially if you want to edit HDR content.

We break down our roundup into 8 categories:

• Best Overall Monitor for Photo Editing : Dell UP2720Q
• Best Budget Monitor for Photo Editing : ASUS ProArt PA278QV
• Best "Bang for Your Buck" Monitor for Photo Editing: BenQ SW270C
• Best Mid-Range Monitor for Photo Editing : ASUS ProArt PA329C
• Best Curved Monitor for Photo Editing : Dell U4021QW
• Best Photo Editing Monitor for Mac Lovers : Apple Pro Display XDR
• Best Monitor for Ultimate Color Accuracy : Sharp NEC MultiSync PA311D
• Best Monitor for HDR : Dell UP3221Q

Best Overall Monitor for Photo Editing: Dell UP2720Q

Size: 27 inches
Resolution: 4K
Brightness: 250 nits
Color Depth: 10-bit
Color Accuracy: 100% AdobeRGB (claimed), 98% DCI-P3 (claimed)
Extras: Built-in Colorimeter, Monitor Shade
Price: $2,000 ($1,600 on sale as of this writing)

When you look at all the factors: size, resolution, color accuracy, color depth, price-to-performance ratio, and the smattering of photo-centric features that you will find useful, it's hard to beat the Dell UP2720Q. The BenQ SW321C comes close for the same price, but it lacks the built-in colorimeter and we were able to confirm that it uses an 8-bit panel with FRC, not a true 10-bit panel like the Dell.

In fact, the Dell is a rare find in this price range—most other monitors that claim 10-bit at or around $2,000 almost all use 8-bit + FRC, a trick used to create 10-bit color depth from an 8-bit panel by flickering between two colors very quickly. Another 10-bit option in this price range is the EIZO ColorEdge CS2740.

If you need to edit video, and especially if you're doing work with HDR10 or Hybrid Log-Gamma, there are better monitors out there that hit higher peak brightness and feature full-array local dimming. Check out the "Best for HDR" category below for something that can really burn your retinas and reach the required contrast. If you want unparalleled color and uniformity from a company that specializes in exactly that, the "Best for Ultimate Color Accuracy" category is the place to look. But for the typical reader of this site who wants a large, high-resolution monitor with all the bells and whistles at a shockingly reasonable price, the Dell UP2720Q is our top pick.

Best Budget Monitor for Photo Editing: ASUS ProArt PA278QV

Size: 27 inches
Resolution: 2K
Brightness: 350 nits
Color Depth: 8-bit
Color Accuracy: 100% sRGB (claimed)
Extras: Quick-Fit Virtual Scale and Built-In ProArt Presets
Price: $290

The terms "budget monitor" and "color accuracy" don't typically go together, but ASUS does a decent job at an extremely accessible price with the ProArt PA278QV. Factory calibrated and Calman-certified, it might not get you amazing AdobeRGB or DCI-P3 numbers (neither are even mentioned) but it compares favorably against its main competition, the BenQ PD2700Q.

It lacks some nice-to-have features, like USB-C connectivity, 4K resolution, or Frame Rate Control (FRC) which many companies use to boost their affordable 8-bit panels to a simulation of 10-bit. But the price is right, the advertised DeltaE is < 2, and the 100% coverage of sRGB will get you where you need to go, especially if you're only producing content for online consumption. With display technology advancing in leaps and bounds, we're hoping to see more competition at this price range very soon. For now, if you're looking for the best budget monitor for photo editing, the ASUS PA278QV is the way to go.

Best "Bang for Your Buck" Monitor for Photo Editing: BenQ SW270C

Size: 27 inches
Resolution: 2K
Brightness: 300 nits
Color Depth: 8-bit + FRC from 16-bit LUT
Color Accuracy: 99% AdobeRGB (claimed), 97% DCI-P3 (claimed)
Extras: Control Puck, Monitor Shade
Price: $800

The BenQ SW270C is the affordable follow-up to the incredibly popular SW2700PT. In terms of core specs, the two monitors share several key features: 2K, 99% AdobeRGB coverage, handy control puck, etc.

However, the extra $200 gets you several important upgrades: a 16-bit LUT, USB-C connectivity with 60W power delivery, HDMI 2.0, DisplayPort 1.4, 97% DCI-P3 coverage, and the newer version of the control puck. In other words, you're benefitting from all the little incremental upgrades that make the SW2700PT seem dated, and adding a little bit of juice to your color accuracy arsenal with that 16-bit LUT.

If you want to save some cash, you can still buy the BenQ SW2700PT for just $600, but you're giving up all of the above, which is well worth the extra $200 in our estimation.

Best Mid-Range Monitor for Photo Editing: ASUS ProArt PA329C

Size: 32 inches
Resolution: 4K
Brightness: 400 nits sustained, 600 nits peak
Color Depth: 10-bit from a 14-bit LUT
Color Accuracy: 100% AdobeRGB (claimed), 98% DCI-P3 (claimed)
Extras: USB hub, Picture-by-Picture Mode, DisplayHDR 600 certification
Price: $1,150

Best mid-range ended up being a tight race between the BenQ SW271 and the ASUS PA329C. Both offer great color accuracy, but ASUS wins out with its combination of a true 10-bit panel, 100% AdobeRGB coverage, higher DCI-P3 coverage for video editors, 600 nits peak brightness for viewing or editing HDR content in a pinch, and a 32-inch screen, all for the same price as the BenQ.

The monitor also has a USB-C connection with 60W power delivery, a built-in 4-port USB-A hub, a Picture-by-Picture mode that lets you compare color spaces side-by-side, and earns a VESA DisplayHDR 600 certification. All extremely useful features in our book.

Your main problem will be finding one to buy, since the ProArt PA329C has been "on backorder" several times since its release. But if you can find one, it's the best choice until and unless you can afford our Best Overall pick.

Best Curved Monitor for Photo Editing: Dell U4021QW

Size: 40 inches
Resolution: WUHD 5K x 2K
Brightness: 300 nits
Color Depth: 10-bit
Color Accuracy: 98% DCI-P3 (claimed), 100% sRGB (claimed)
Extras: KVM switch with 4 USB-A ports, one USB-C port, and an Ethernet Port. 9W speakers.
Price: $2,100

The Dell U4021QW is the latest and greatest in curved color-accurate displays. Unveiled just last month at CES, the U4021QW is being hailed as the world’s first color-accurate 40-inch WUHD 5K2K monitor, touting exceptional (for its class) color accuracy, with 98% coverage of DCI-P3 and 100% of sRGB, and 5,120×2,160-pixel resolution in a screen that gives you 33% more screen area than a typical 32-inch 16:9 4K monitor.

It also comes with every connection you could possibly need, including Thunderbolt 3 with 90W of power delivery, an extra USB-C port, two HDMI 2.0 ports, a DisplayPort, a built-in KVM switch with 4 USB-A ports, an audio-out, and an ethernet port. There are even built-in 9W speakers.

There will always be one or two trade-offs when using a monitor like this. For one, you should make sure that your computer/GPU can actually drive it at full resolution, and you'll almost always be giving up some color performance in order to replace your 2-monitor setup with a massive single display. Dell doesn't list AdobeRGB performance and we haven't had a chance to test it yet (stay tuned). But for sheer efficiency, a 40-inch curved monitor is hard to beat, and the Dell U4021QW is currently the best choice for photo and video editors.

Best Photo Editing Monitor for Mac Lovers: Apple Pro Display XDR

Size: 32 inches
Resolution: 6K
Brightness: 1000 nits sustained, 1600 nits peak
Color Depth: 10-bit
Color Accuracy: 100% DCI-P3 (measured), 89% AdobeRGB (measured)
Extras: Built-in Presets, Full Array Local Dimming (576 zones)
Price: $5,000

If you want the ultimate photo editing monitor that's tailor-made for the Mac, well, there's no escaping the Apple ecosystem. Yes, this display is absurdly expensive at $5,000 with no mounting hardware, but its combination of 6K resolution, VESA HDR1000 performance, 100% DCI-P3 coverage, and absurd 1600 nit peak brightness make it one of the best photo and video editing monitors on the market, period.

However, these aren't the main reason we've dubbed it the "Best for Mac Lovers." The Pro Display XDR wins that title because of its seamless integration with its mother operating system and its distinctly Apple-esque design.

There are no controls whatsoever on the display, and as a result, all of its settings are controlled from within the macOS Display settings. From there you can change scaling, adjust brightness, configure settings like "Night Shift" and "True Tone," and select from the many presets Apple built into the display, including Photography, HDR, Digital Cinema, and Design & Print.

It may not be the best monitor for photographers and photo editors overall—especially if you're not into video editing or HDR—but the Pro Display XDR is the best choice for those who like to play inside of Apple's walled garden.

Best Monitor for Photo Editors Who Want Ultimate Color Accuracy: Sharp NEC MultiSync PA311D

Size: 32 inches
Resolution: DCI 4K (17:9 aspect ratio)
Brightness: 350 nits
Color Depth: 350 nits
Color Accuracy: 97.9% Adobe RGB (measured), 97.3% DCI-P3 (measured)
Extras: USB Hub, Picture-in-Picture and Picture-by-Picture modes, 3D LUT Emulation
Price: $3,000 ($3,250 with colorimeter)

The Sharp NEC MultiSync PA311D gives you more colors, more accurate colors, and more control over your colors than any other monitor we’ve tested to date. In terms of specs, it’s nearly identical to EIZO’s $5,700 CG319X, except that it costs just $3,000, or $3,250 if you buy it alongside NEC’s bespoke XRite colorimeter (which you should).

Click here to read PetaPixel's full review of the Sharp NEC MultiSync PA311D.

In our testing, the NEC PA311D covers nearly 98% of both the AdobeRGB and DCI-P3 color gamuts, with exceptional uniformity across the entire panel and a maximum Delta E 2000 of less than 1.5. It also gives you an absurd level of control over your colors, allowing you to select the exact chromaticity coordinates of your panel’s primaries, change your white point, adjust gamma and color temperature, and trim the hue, saturation, and brightness of your monitor’s colors in six axes: red, green, blue, cyan, magenta, and yellow.

It’s not the prettiest monitor, but if you don’t care about that, the downsides are really limited to two things:

• Maximum brightness is limited to 350 nits, which is a deal breaker if you shoot or edit HDR video.
• You have to buy a special NEC-branded XRite colorimeter if you want to calibrate the monitor’s internal 14-bit LUT. No third party colorimeters are supported for hardware calibration.

Assuming these are not deal breakers for you, the NEC PA311D is a hell of a deal, delivering true professional-grade color accuracy and color control for a lot less than the equivalent monitors currently available from EIZO, Dell, Apple, or ASUS.

Best Monitor for HDR: Dell UP3221Q

Size: 32 inches
Resolution: 4K
Brightness: 1000 nits sustained
Color Depth: 10-bit
Color Accuracy: 100% DCI-P3 (measured), 94% AdobeRGB (measured)
Extras: Built-In Colorimeter, Monitor Shade, Full Array Local Dimming (2,000 zones)
Price: $5,000

If you want true HDR performance, you need three things and you need them in spades. They are: brightness, contrast, and color accuracy.

The Dell UP3221Q gives you the best of all three worlds: sustained full-screen brightness of 1000 nits, a staggering 2,000 Mini LED backlight with full-array local dimming, and 100% DCI-P3 paired with 94% Adobe RGB coverage. This is a true VESA DisplayHDR 1000 certified display with more local dimming zones than anything else on the market, so until OLED technology is able to maintain this kind of sustained brightness and uniformity, it's your best bet for working with HDR content.

Other great features include a built-in Calman-powered colorimeter, an included monitor shade, a built-in USB-A hub, Thunderbolt 3 connectivity with 90W power delivery, and a mode that lets you compare two color spaces side-by-side on the same display. All of this is packed into a 32-inch, 4K display with a true 10-bit panel that doesn't play around.

#guides #products #technology #adobe #adobergb #dcip3 #display #gearguide #guide #lightroom #monitor #photoediting #photoeditingmonitor #photographymonitor #photoshop #postprocessing #roundup

MSI PS321QR Review: A Gaming Monitor for Photographers

As display technology has improved in leaps and bounds over the past few years, the market has forked into two distinct camps: gamers who prioritize speed, and creators who prioritize color. The 32-inch 2K MSI Creator PS321QR tries to strike the perfect balance between these two needs, offering a compelling combination of refresh rate, response time, and color accuracy for just $600.

The MSI Creator PS321QR is one of a slew of new "hybrid" monitors that are trying to appeal to both gamers and content creators. Basic specs include: 32-inch size, 2K resolution, 165Hz refresh rate, 1ms pixel response time, and 99.9% coverage of AdobeRGB with an advertised Delta E of less than two.

On the strength of those specs alone, this sounds like a great do-everything display -- especially for such a low price -- but there are a few catches that you should be aware of if you're doing serious color-critical work. Naming scheme aside, to my mind, this is not a "creator" monitor that can also game; it's a gaming monitor that can also be used for creative work.

And yes, that makes a big difference to some people.

Design and Build

Thanks in part to MSI's ties to the gaming community -- where the look of your peripherals is almost as important as their performance -- the Creator PS321QR looks great. Like most of MSI's Creator line-up of products, it's got just enough bite to be eye-catching without any of the garish flare that's common among RGB-laden gaming gear.

The top and side bezels are only about 1/4-inch thick, the plastic casing is a matte understated gray, the stand an unassuming cylinder with a pop of silver on top, and the whole thing is finished with a brush stroke-inspired ambient light ring on the back that curves around the stand attachment point and cycles through various colors when the monitor is in use.

Swivel, tilt, and height adjustment are all included, which is nice to see, but installation is actually a bit of a drag. Unlike just about every other monitor on the market, the PS321QR doesn't just click into its stand: you have to get out your screwdriver and attach the stand to the monitor's VESA mount using four Phillips-head screws, after which you "snap" on a plastic plate that covers the hinge and mount area. The result is a cleaner look than most modern monitors, but it does take a little more effort on the front end.

Finishing off the aesthetic touches is a magnetic shading hood that's extremely easy to install, but is really too small to be considered anything but decorative. Your mileage may vary, but I basically only put the hood on once to test it, after which it spent the rest of its short life on top of the monitor's box in a corner of my apartment.

For navigation, the monitor uses a clickable joystick (called a "Navi Key") that allows you to set four pre-assigned quick-access menus to top, right, bottom and left directions, or access the full menu by clicking in.

Once you're in the menu, you get a plethora of panel controls that let you change basically everything about the monitor's output: Brightness, Contrast, Color Temperature, Hue, Saturation, Gamma, and Gray Level are all adjustable. There's even a Sharpness slider and an "Image Enhancement" option that can be set to OFF, Weak, Medium, Strong, or Stronger, though I would suggest leaving both of these on zero/OFF unless you like the contrasty, over-sharpened look.

Under the "Professional" menu, you get access to a Pro Mode that lets you switch the display's primaries to AdobeRGB, Display P3, sRGB, and a few other presets, as well as settings for Response Time, an Anti Motion Blur feature, the ability to turn on FreeSync Premium Pro, and a few other nice-to-haves.

For photographers, the main draw will be the Pro Mode options and all the display controls, but I'd suggest leaving most of that alone and simply calibrating the custom "User" setting so you're taking advantage of the panel's full native color gamut. For gamers, you may want to tweak your pixel response time to taste, or turn on FreeSync if you're using a compatible graphics card.

In terms of I/O, you get one DisplayPort 1.2, two HDMI 2.0 ports, one USB Type-C port for display output; one upstream USB Type-B port that powers a hub containing three USB Type-A ports and one SD card slot; and an audio combo jack that can be used to power the mic and headphone ports that are also built into that hub. The USB-C port does also deliver audio (you have to select "Digital" in the menu under Settings > Audio Source), but you do NOT get charging over USB-C.

In other words: you can't use this monitor as a single-cable setup with your laptop. You need to bring your charger along for the ride.

Overall, I found the build quality excellent, the level of control exceptional, and I think the design of the MSI Creator PS321QR can compete with almost anything else out there. But the minuscule monitor shade and especially the lack of USB-C power delivery puts a damper on my enthusiasm.

Creative Performance

In terms of color performance, the MSI Creator PS321QR delivers what it claims to on the box.

In our testing with an XRite i1Display Pro Plus and the DisplayCAL software, the monitor does indeed hit 99.9% AdobeRGB and 99.9% sRGB, though we only hit 93.7% of DCI-P3 (advertised was 95%). Delta E was also measured at less than two on all color patches, even when we ran a more extensive patch test. In fact, the maximum on a more thorough evaluative test was just 1.23, which is just plain excellent.

Where the monitor under-performed was uniformity, and this is where its focus on gaming begins to hurt its performance as a photo editing display. Most proper "creator" monitors employ some sort of uniformity technology to make sure the panel is delivering the same color and brightness across the whole display. Unfortunately, the PS321QR uses no such tech.

When running a 5 x 5 patch test in DisplayCAL, 10 of the 25 patches failed, 11 passed only nominal tolerance, and only the remaining three (the center patch is the standard against which the rest are measured) actually passed "recommended" tolerance. For professional photo editors, this is the kind of detail that keeps them buying brands like EIZO or NEC.

You can see the results below (click for full resolution):

DisplayCAL Uniformity Check for MSI Creator PS321QR

By comparison, even the semi-affordable BenQ monitor we reviewed last month passed at least the nominal tolerance on every single patch , and hit the recommended tolerance on half of them.

DisplayCAL Uniformity Check for BenQ SW271C

This is what I mean when I say there are a few catches. The headline color specs are great, but more subtle features like uniformity suffer. For enthusiasts, this is just fine, but if you're doing mostly creative work it might be a problem.

Another catch is the lack of built-in LUT or support for hardware calibration. This forces you to rely on software calibration, which will eat into your bit depth in order to get the tones right.

And if you're a pixel density freak, the monitor's 2K resolution (also known as Quad HD) leaves me wanting more from a 32-inch display. According to Is it Retina, at this combination of resolution and screen size, you should stop seeing the pixels from a viewing distance of about 37 inches; but even if that seems workable, it leaves you with less screen real estate for multitasking.

After using a 4K monitor, the icons and windows will look huge unless you scale the display output beyond its built-in resolution.

Lastly, the monitor earns a VESA DisplayHDR 600 certification, which means it must be able to hit a peak brightness of 600 nits in a 10% center patch test, it must feature local dimming for adaptive contrast, and it must be able to handle a 10-bit signal.

However, it's worth noting that the "typical" max brightness of the full display is only 400 nits, the panel is 8-bit + FRC (not true 10-bit), and the local dimming on this monitor isn't really "local" since there aren't any individually controlled zones to speak of. We've asked MSI for clarification on this spec, just in case we're missing something, but as far as we can tell the panel simply adjusts the backlight based on the relative brightness of everything on your screen—this allows for deeper blacks and brighter specular highlights, but not at the same time.

Earning the DisplayHDR 600 certification is definitely a plus, and it's a lot better than some monitors that slap "HDR" on the box with no legitimate basis, but I still wouldn't recommend it for serious HDR editing. It'll work in a pinch, but nothing more.

Gaming Performance

On the gaming side, the monitor's main trick can be summed up in one word: speed. The PS321QR can ramp up its refresh rate from 60Hz all the way up to 165Hz at a gray-to-gray (GTG) pixel response time of just 1ms when response time is set to "Fastest" in the user menu. That is very fast , and it is definitely noticeable, although I'd recommend keeping pixel response time set to "Fast" to avoid overshoot/inverse ghosting artifacts.

Admittedly, I'm not a big gamer, but the benefits of a high refresh rate monitor were obvious, even to me. Something as simple as moving between virtual desktops looks tack sharp compared to 60Hz, and gamers will tell you that this initial jump from a standard 60Hz monitor up to 120Hz or 144Hz is the most noticeable. From that point on, you suffer from the law of diminishing returns, spending more money to make the jump from 144Hz to 240Hz or even 360Hz, without noticeably affecting your gaming performance (assuming your GPU can even push 240 or 360fps in-game).

If you're a competitive gamer you may want to invest in an even faster monitor, but for enthusiasts 165Hz is more than enough. The Creator PS321QR was designed for people who want to find a balance between a monitor that can kick butt at CS: GO one minute, and transition seamlessly into Photoshop CC the next. In that sense, it delivers.

This is also where the QHD resolution is a feature, not a bug. Pushing 4K pixels takes a lot of graphics power, which either means upgrading to the latest GPU (if you can even find one), or sacrificing frames. Most graphics cards can't even push 4K at 120Hz or above, so unless you're rocking an NVIDIA RTX 3000 or AMD RX 6000 series GPU, the PS321QR may already deliver all the pixels you need.

Also of note, the monitor doesn't support the new HDMI 2.1 standard which means that it can't hit the maximum display specifications found in either the new Playstation 5 or Xbox Series X. Since it's also not a 4K monitor though, this was probably not on many next-gen console gamers' radars to begin with.

Finally, the inclusion of FreeSync Premium Pro is a nice feature that's worth mentioning. FreeSync is AMD's implementation of VESA Adaptive Sync technology, a hardware-based variable refresh rate control that prevents screen tearing and compensates for frame rate discrepancies between the GPU and the display. The "Premium Pro" moniker simply means that it also supports HDR content, but otherwise it's the same as FreeSync Premium.

More "Gamer" Than "Creator"

The MSI Creator PS321QR has a lot going for it. It's fast, it's color accurate, it's well-built, it's pretty, and did I mention that it's also fast? But like every "jack of all trades," it simply can't check every box for every person.

Looking at the pros and cons list, you see specific trade-offs that MSI had to make in order to achieve this level of color accuracy at this speed, and I can't help but notice that most of the cons will hurt "creators" and not "gamers." If you're an enthusiast, the lack of hardware calibration or some uniformity issues probably won't matter much, but it's important that you know what you're giving up when you decide to buy a monitor that caters to two, vastly different camps at the same time.

Pros

• 99.9% AdobeRGB coverage with Delta E < 2
• Sleek design
• Great built quality
• 165Hz refresh rate
• 1ms pixel response time
• USB Hub with SD card slot
• Affordable

Cons

• Cumbersome setup
• Poor uniformity
• 2K resolution is low for such a big screen
• No built-in LUT or hardware calibration support
• No power delivery over USB-C
• Magnetic monitor hood is mostly for show

There will always be creator-only monitors that put a higher emphasis on ultimate color performance and everything else that goes along with that "creator" label, but the very fact that monitors like the MSI PS321QR exist delights me. It goes to show just how far and fast we've come, and portends great things for the "hybrid" monitor space.

The MSI Creator PS321QR isn't quite the "do-everything" monitor that it sets out to be, but it only misses that mark by a few features. Give it a 4K panel, better uniformity, support for hardware calibration, HDMI 2.1 support, and USB-C charging, and you've got a monitor that every photographer who games (or vice versa) will be clamoring to buy.

Are There Alternatives?

There are a few other "hybrid" monitors like this one that try to deliver both speed and color accuracy.

The $750 Acer ConceptD CP5 is a 27-inch, 2K resolution, 144Hz monitor that hits 99% AdobeRGB with an advertised Delta E of less than one, though it's aimed more squarely at creators. Another option is the 27-inch LG 27GN950, which boasts a higher 4K resolution, 144Hz refresh rate, 1ms response time, 98% DCI-P3 coverage, and DisplayHDR 600 certification for $800.

If you want to go a little cheaper but still want that gamer/creator combo, the slightly older LG 27GL850 is basically a 2K version of the GN950. It gives up a little resolution and brightness, but still boasts a 144Hz refresh rate, 1ms response time, and 98% coverage of DCI-P3 for the low low price of $450. And if speed is the name of the game, the curved Samsung Odyssey G7—available in 32-inch and 27-inch variants—gives up some color accuracy with only 95% coverage of DCI-P3 and 83% coverage of AdobeRGB, but can hit 240Hz.

Should You Buy It?

For most of the people reading this review, the answer is yes.

If you are equal parts gamer and creator, but not a professional in either field, the MSI Creator PS321QR is a great buy. It's got sufficient color accuracy to carry you through creative projects while delivering the speed that enthusiast gamers demand.

However, this monitor is not for professional creators or professional gamers.

If color is your number one priority, then there simply is no monitor that delivers the color accuracy, uniformity, and pixel density professionals demand at anything more than 60Hz. Similarly, professional gamers will need to give up some color accuracy and/or uniformity, opting for a panel that can hit 240 or 360Hz without skipping a beat.

#products #reviews #technology #2k #32inches #adobergb #colorgamut #creative #creativemonitor #creativemonitorreview #creativity #creator #display #displaytechnology #fast #gamer #gaming #gamingmonitor #gamingmonitorreview #highrefreshrate #hybrid #ips #monitorreview #msi #msicreator #msicreatorps321qr #photoediting #photoeditingmonitor #pixelresponsetime #postprocessing #ps321qr #qhd #refreshrate #retouching

UK Regulators Tell Apple to Cease ‘Beyond HDR’ Pro Display XDR Claim

Apple is adjusting its marketing in the United Kingdom following an investigation by the country's Advertising Standards Authority (ASA). The investigation called into question language that Apple used that stated the Pro Display XDR was "far beyond HDR," among other claims.

Apple's Pro Display XDR was one of the most exceptional monitors any Apple user could have purchased when it was released and carried a hefty price tag as a result. PetaPixel recently revisited the Pro Display XDR to see how the $5,000 monitor (or $6,000 if you choose the nano-texture glass) holds up today, as it has not seen a price change since its introduction.

And as is noted there, Apple did an excellent job bringing $30,000 reference display quality to a monitor that costs considerably less than that and even though it's now nearly two years old, it still is one of the best high-end displays on the market. But tech moves fast, and Apple is no longer alone at the top when it comes to excellence at this price. The Dell mini-LED 4K HDR monitor, which also costs $5,000, has many features that might make it a better choice for more people.

Apple is the king of marketing though and, as a result, the Pro Display XDR is likely still quite popular. That's probably why the ASA had to step in and address complaints about some of the claims Apple makes with regard to the monitor's prowess despite its age.

According to Engadget, as of today the Apple is no longer marketing the display as such on its product page in the United Kingdom following complaints that the ASA had received over how Apple markets the monitor. Additionally, 9to5Mac notes that the company also needed to specify that the monitor only supports 99% of the P3 color gamut, as the complaint noted that the marketing was misleading customers into believing that it was capable of 100% of that color gamut.

Read more: 5 Things You Should Know Before Buying the Apple Pro Display XDR

Below you can see the different language used on the United States-based website compared to what is seen on the UK version of the same product page:

Language as it appears on the US product page. Language as it appears on the UK product page.

In the color section, the UK version now has a note next to the P3 color gamut claim that clarifies how much of the gamut the monitor is able to reproduce:

A final complaint to the ASA called into question Apple's 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio, though as the case has been "informally resolved" as of April 7 and the contrast ratio claim is still present on Apple's UK website, changing that language appears to not have been a part of the resolution. 9to5Mac says that it is being told Apple is in the midst of having an independent test confirm the claim.

Only the United Kingdom's version of the Apple Pro Display XDR product page is affected by these changes.

#equipment #industry #news #6k #adobergb #advertisingstandardsauthority #apple #appleprodisplayxdr #blooming #dcip3 #display #hdr #hdr10 #hdrmonitor #ips #lcd #led #monitor #monitorreview #oled #photoediting #photoeditingmonitor #postprocessing #prodisplayxdr #regulation #thunderbolt #ukregulators

BenQ PD3420Q Monitor Review: Ultrawide, Ultra-Accurate

One of the most important items a photographer can have is a top-notch display on which to edit their images (or video). The BenQ PD3420Q is the company's latest ultra-wide, and it promises a huge amount of screen real-estate for an affordable price: a multitasker's dream.

This $900 pro-level design monitor is a 34-inch QHD ultra-wide 21:9 60Hz IPS panel beast that has the potential to be a multitaskers dream display by providing enough space to run applications like Photoshop and Lightroom Classic or Capture one and even leave you enough space to keep a Netflix window playing in the corner, all at the same time. It's a monitor built with professional designers and digital content creators in mind and leans heavily into color accuracy so users can be sure to get the best out of their images and video.

But is it any good? Let's get into it.

Design and Usability

The freedom to multitask all on one screen is great, but sheer physical size isn’t everything. To really be attractive to the creative market, you need to be color accurate and have a decent resolution. While the PD3420Q has a massive 34-inch display space and boasts 1.07 billion colors covering 100% of the sRGB gamut and 98% of the P3 color spaces, it is actually only a 2K monitor with a maximum resolution of 3440×1440. You can “technically” get the screen to display 3840×2160 but it looks absolutely terrible at that level. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but coming from working on a 4k display for the last 5 years, it was a bit of a hard adjustment to make when first connecting this device.

The BenQ PD3420Q out of the box looks great. The base and stand assembled quickly and easily, but there’s no way around it: this display is big. With that in mind, it’s not exactly a lightweight device so you’ll want to be sure you not only have the space for the monitor on your workspace but one that can support the 15 to 20 pounds of weight (depending on if you use the base or mount it to a VESA stand).

The ports on the back include a Displayport 1.4, two HDMI 2.0 ports, three USB ports, and the connection for the BenQ “Hotkey Puck G2” with a 3.5mm headphone jack, an additional USB-C port, and a fourth USB 3.1 port on the left-hand side for quick and easy access. As an added surprise, this display also comes with two 2.5W speakers for what’s best described as "basic" sound output. This feature felt entirely unnecessary and I can’t help but think the price (and weight) could be reduced if these were simply not included.

The buttons on the back, right-hand side by default are set to quickly cycle through the Color Modes, your graphic inputs, the joystick that changes between brightness, contrast, and opens the full settings menu. Lastly, this is also where the power switch is located. If you don’t care for reaching behind the monitor to make adjustments, you can access all these settings and more through the customizable BenQ Hotkey Puck G2.

By default, the puck’s dial is set to adjust the brightness levels of the screen through three buttons that cycle through three color modes, with the last two buttons available for entering (and exiting) the monitor's settings menu. It took a little bit to get used to which button did what, but after the learning curve, I'm not looking forward to going back to my old monitor and its puck-less, touch-based interface.

The stand gives you a rather wide range of angles and heights to work with. It can raise up to nine inches letting you work comfortably on any workstation. Something additional I feel needs to be brought up regarding this massive display's build is the fact that the base plate is made of solid metal, while the stand and mounting plate are constructed with metal and plastic. The bottom of the adjustable pole is metal like the base, however, the top part which mounts to the display itself is plastic. Once connected, it still feels quite solid and does not seem to have any impact on the security of the setup, but it seemed a bit of an odd choice to me.

Color Accuracy and Brightness

Coming from the full 4k reference display, out of the box I was a bit put off by the 2k resolution and associated clarity, but once I got past that and started running calibration tests I was impressed with the actual color accuracy of the monitor. My initial calibration using the Datacolor SpyderX Elite returned some questionable results, but that was actually due to some issues with my own MacBook Pro. After a reset and reboot, the numbers came back precisely as advertised: the color accuracy is rock solid.

The only thing that didn’t really impress me was the brightness. Listed at 400 nits of peak brightness, when maxxed out the screen was incredibly clear but the visibility wasn’t that impressive. Worse, it gets darker when the HDR mode was enabled. Seeing as 400 nits is nowhere near bright enough to actually enjoy HDR content, it's best to not enable this feature anyway.

Still, I gave the HDR mode a shot and watched a few movies and a few HDR-enabled video games. It's not particularly great for the latter, as the refresh rate is capped at 60Hz. Overall, as expected, the HDR performance felt dark and it just didn't "wow" me like a properly bright HDR monitor will. It is certainly nice to have support for HDR content, but it by no means excels here.

The low brightness was by no means unusable, but I was honestly expecting better for a monitor that advertises HDR compatibility and is designed for creative professionals in mind.

The display has a matte coating which helps diffuse any glare from either your office lighting or nearby windows from interfering with the screen, and when pivoting the monitor there is next to no light or color bleeding. This means that if you're working with a team and have multiple people looking at your screen from various angles, the colors and lines should be accurate and sharp regardless of their perspective. In short, the viewing angles are great, typical of IPS panels.

This monitor is seriously huge.

An added and nifty feature is the fact the display can split the screen and display two different color modes. That means you can edit in sRGB on the left of the screen and have the right side set to a manual profile such as HDR, CAD/CAM, P3 or any other of the supported modes. Having the ability to show two color profiles side by side on the same ultra-wide makes it incredibly easy to proof your work for a series of desired outputs.

Calibration

BenQ certifies each monitor with an included "Report Card" that ships with each, and for those who aren't going to calibrate it out of the box, this might give you some peace of mind. In my testing, I can confirm that the color was accurate and consistent from calibration to calibration.

I ran all tests with Datacolor's Spyder Elite hardware and software first, then ran additional calibrations using the DisplayCAL3 software for an even more detailed analysis

Once the profile was created, it was pretty fun to swap from mode to mode in the split screens to see how images looked from one profile to the next. This display tool made me realize a lot of my older images needed to be redone as they were not saved correctly when I first created them, so it's probably one of my favorite features of the monitor.

Look at all that real estate. Click to enlarge.

Pros

• Ultra-wide 34-inch screen is massive
• Anti-glare coating provides a nice viewing experience
• Ultrawide, but not curved (no skewed lines/inaccurate colors)
• Height adjustable stand is easy to use
• Can power your laptop or charge various devices.
• KVM keyboard/mouse switch allows for multiple devices to use the same peripherals

Cons

• The monitor is “only” 2K resolution (for its size, I found myself wishing for more resolution)
• The monitor takes up a lot of space on your desk
• A tad expensive for a sub-4K monitor
• Lacks Adobe RGB mode
• The built-in speakers are bad and unnecessary.

If Only It Were 4K

The BenQ PD3420Q is a very good display for video editors, content creators, and designers, looking for a widescreen monitor that boasts excellent color accuracy. It's even good for those just looking for a larger screen for more multitasking space. However, if you're a professional photographer or videographer who spends most of your time working with 4k and larger video files or with images that have you checking each and every little pixel, you might want to look into the SW271C.

Are There Alternatives?

There are quite a few ultrawide monitors available in the 34-inch range, from Dell’s curved monitor, to LG’s 34-inch flat ultrawide, to Acer’s XR382CQK (We’re getting into curved territory with that one though). All of these alternatives come in near the same price as the BenQ, but none of them seem to compare to the color accuracy and convenience factor of the features and presets available with it, not to mention the others seem to all deal with varying amounts of “light bleeding” where the PD3420Q does not.

Should You Buy it?

Maybe. The BenQ PD3420Q is a beautiful monitor with great color accuracy, but it really boils down to your personal preference between choosing a physically wider monitor versus full 4K resolution, as getting both with top-tier color accuracy is possible. If you’re a graphic artist, illustrator, CAD designer, or video editor looking for a screen that can display your entire timeline -- or even just someone who wants a gigantic screen -- the BenQ PD3420Q is an amazing choice that is very color accurate, especially considering the ultrawide form factor where this kind of color accuracy is rarer at this price.

That being said, if you’re a professional videographer, retoucher, or photographer who really needs the space to multitask and have the ability to really pixel peep (like retouchers tend to want), it's probably smarter to look into the SW lineup from BenQ -- like the SW271C that we recently reviewed -- and go for resolution over ultrawide form factor.

#equipment #reviews #adobergb #benq #benq271c #benqmonitor #benqpd3420q #benqphotoviewsw271c #coloraccuracy #dcip3 #deltae #display #monitor #monitorreview #pd3420q #photoediting #photoeditingdisplay #photoeditingmonitor #photographymonitor #photovuesw271c #productreview #review #ultrawide #ultrawidemonitor #uniformity #widescreen

BenQ PD3420Q Monitor Review: Ultrawide, Ultra-Accurate

One of the most important items a photographer can have is a top-notch display on which to edit their images (or video). The BenQ PD3420Q is the company's latest ultra-wide, and it promises a huge amount of screen real-estate for an affordable price: a multitasker's dream.

This pro-level design monitor is a 34-inch QHD ultra-wide 21:9 60Hz IPS panel beast that has the potential to be a multitaskers dream display by providing enough space to run applications like Photoshop and Lightroom Classic or Capture one and even leave you enough space to keep a Netflix window playing in the corner, all at the same time. It's a monitor built with professional designers and digital content creators in mind and leans heavily into color accuracy so users can be sure to get the best out of their images and video.

But is it any good? Let's get into it.

Design and Usability

The freedom to multitask all on one screen is great, but sheer physical size isn’t everything. To really be attractive to the creative market, you need to be color accurate and have a decent resolution. While the PD3420Q has a massive 34-inch display space and boasts 1.07 billion colors covering 100% of the sRGB gamut and 98% of the P3 color spaces, it is actually only a 2K monitor with a maximum resolution of 3440×1440. You can “technically” get the screen to display 3840×2160 but it looks absolutely terrible at that level. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but coming from working on a 4k display for the last 5 years, it was a bit of a hard adjustment to make when first connecting this device.

The BenQ PD3420Q out of the box looks great. The base and stand assembled quickly and easily, but there’s no way around it: this display is big. With that in mind, it’s not exactly a lightweight device so you’ll want to be sure you not only have the space for the monitor on your workspace but one that can support the 15 to 20 pounds of weight (depending on if you use the base or mount it to a VESA stand).

The ports on the back include a Displayport 1.4, two HDMI 2.0 ports, three USB ports, and the connection for the BenQ “Hotkey Puck G2” with a 3.5mm headphone jack, an additional USB-C port, and a fourth USB 3.1 port on the left-hand side for quick and easy access. As an added surprise, this display also comes with two 2.5W speakers for what’s best described as "basic" sound output. This feature felt entirely unnecessary and I can’t help but think the price (and weight) could be reduced if these were simply not included.

The buttons on the back, right-hand side by default are set to quickly cycle through the Color Modes, your graphic inputs, the joystick that changes between brightness, contrast, and opens the full settings menu. Lastly, this is also where the power switch is located. If you don’t care for reaching behind the monitor to make adjustments, you can access all these settings and more through the customizable BenQ Hotkey Puck G2.

By default, the puck’s dial is set to adjust the brightness levels of the screen through three buttons that cycle through three color modes, with the last two buttons available for entering (and exiting) the monitor's settings menu. It took a little bit to get used to which button did what, but after the learning curve, I'm not looking forward to going back to my old monitor and its puck-less, touch-based interface.

The stand gives you a rather wide range of angles and heights to work with. It can raise up to nine inches letting you work comfortably on any workstation. Something additional I feel needs to be brought up regarding this massive display's build is the fact that the base plate is made of solid metal, while the stand and mounting plate are constructed with metal and plastic. The bottom of the adjustable pole is metal like the base, however, the top part which mounts to the display itself is plastic. Once connected, it still feels quite solid and does not seem to have any impact on the security of the setup, but it seemed a bit of an odd choice to me.

Color Accuracy and Brightness

Coming from the full 4k reference display, out of the box I was a bit put off by the 2k resolution and associated clarity, but once I got past that and started running calibration tests I was impressed with the actual color accuracy of the monitor. My initial calibration using the Datacolor SpyderX Elite returned some questionable results, but that was actually due to some issues with my own MacBook Pro. After a reset and reboot, the numbers came back precisely as advertised: the color accuracy is rock solid.

The only thing that didn’t really impress me was the brightness. Listed at 400 nits of peak brightness, when maxxed out the screen was incredibly clear but the visibility wasn’t that impressive. Worse, it gets darker when the HDR mode was enabled. Seeing as 400 nits is nowhere near bright enough to actually enjoy HDR content, it's best to not enable this feature anyway.

Still, I gave the HDR mode a shot and watched a few movies and a few HDR-enabled video games. It's not particularly great for the latter, as the refresh rate is capped at 60Hz. Overall, as expected, the HDR performance felt dark and it just didn't "wow" me like a properly bright HDR monitor will. It is certainly nice to have support for HDR content, but it by no means excels here.

The low brightness was by no means unusable, but I was honestly expecting better for a monitor that advertises HDR compatibility and is designed for creative professionals in mind.

The display has a matte coating which helps diffuse any glare from either your office lighting or nearby windows from interfering with the screen, and when pivoting the monitor there is next to no light or color bleeding. This means that if you're working with a team and have multiple people looking at your screen from various angles, the colors and lines should be accurate and sharp regardless of their perspective. In short, the viewing angles are great, typical of IPS panels.

This monitor is seriously huge.

An added and nifty feature is the fact the display can split the screen and display two different color modes. That means you can edit in sRGB on the left of the screen and have the right side set to a manual profile such as HDR, CAD/CAM, P3 or any other of the supported modes. Having the ability to show two color profiles side by side on the same ultra-wide makes it incredibly easy to proof your work for a series of desired outputs.

Calibration

BenQ certifies each monitor with an included "Report Card" that ships with each, and for those who aren't going to calibrate it out of the box, this might give you some peace of mind. In my testing, I can confirm that the color was accurate and consistent from calibration to calibration.

I ran all tests with Datacolor's Spyder Elite hardware and software first, then ran additional calibrations using the DisplayCAL3 software for an even more detailed analysis

Once the profile was created, it was pretty fun to swap from mode to mode in the split screens to see how images looked from one profile to the next. This display tool made me realize a lot of my older images needed to be redone as they were not saved correctly when I first created them, so it's probably one of my favorite features of the monitor.

Look at all that real estate. Click to enlarge.

Pros

• Ultra-wide 34-inch screen is massive
• Anti-glare coating provides a nice viewing experience
• Ultrawide, but not curved (no skewed lines/inaccurate colors)
• Height adjustable stand is easy to use
• Can power your laptop or charge various devices.
• KVM keyboard/mouse switch allows for multiple devices to use the same peripherals

Cons

• The monitor is “only” 2K resolution (for its size, I found myself wishing for more resolution)
• The monitor takes up a lot of space on your desk
• A tad expensive for a sub-4K monitor
• Lacks Adobe RGB mode
• The built-in speakers are bad and unnecessary.

If Only It Were 4K

The BenQ PD3420Q is a very good display for video editors, content creators, and designers, looking for a widescreen monitor that boasts excellent color accuracy. It's even good for those just looking for a larger screen for more multitasking space. However, if you're a professional photographer or videographer who spends most of your time working with 4k and larger video files or with images that have you checking each and every little pixel, you might want to look into the SW271C.

Are There Alternatives?

There are quite a few ultrawide monitors available in the 34-inch range, from Dell’s curved monitor, to LG’s 34-inch flat ultrawide, to Acer’s XR382CQK (We’re getting into curved territory with that one though). All of these alternatives come in near the same price as the BenQ, but none of them seem to compare to the color accuracy and convenience factor of the features and presets available with it, not to mention the others seem to all deal with varying amounts of “light bleeding” where the PD3420Q does not.

Should You Buy it?

Maybe. The BenQ PD3420Q is a beautiful monitor with great color accuracy, but it really boils down to your personal preference between choosing a physically wider monitor versus full 4K resolution, as getting both with top-tier color accuracy is possible. If you’re a graphic artist, illustrator, CAD designer, or video editor looking for a screen that can display your entire timeline -- or even just someone who wants a gigantic screen -- the BenQ PD3420Q is an amazing choice that is very color accurate, especially considering the ultrawide form factor where this kind of color accuracy is rarer at this price.

That being said, if you’re a professional videographer, retoucher, or photographer who really needs the space to multitask and have the ability to really pixel peep (like retouchers tend to want), it's probably smarter to look into the SW lineup from BenQ -- like the SW271C that we recently reviewed -- and go for resolution over ultrawide form factor.

#equipment #reviews #adobergb #benq #benq271c #benqmonitor #benqpd3420q #benqphotoviewsw271c #coloraccuracy #dcip3 #deltae #display #monitor #monitorreview #pd3420q #photoediting #photoeditingdisplay #photoeditingmonitor #photographymonitor #photovuesw271c #productreview #review #ultrawide #ultrawidemonitor #uniformity #widescreen