Monitors For Image Editing

As digital photographers, most of us use computers. Computers and monitors go hand in hand.

- Rohinton Mehta

When you purchase a laptop computer, you don’t have a choice regarding the monitor but with desktops, you certainly have a wide variety to choose from. Computer monitors range in price from a few thousand rupees to around two lakhs. Should you buy a smaller size monitor so that it does not occupy a lot of space on your work table, or should you buy a large one that you can show off? Should you buy one with a glossy screen or should you buy one with matte screen? What should be the resolution of your monitor screen? What should be the ‘aspect ratio’ of your monitor? And what about the Colour Gamut? This small ‘learning tutorial’ aims to answer these questions without too much technical jargon so that you are better informed when you make your next purchase. Note that we are considering only LCD monitors and not the CRT type monitors since they are now considered obsolete.

Laptops and Image Editing

While laptops are convenient to carry around and use, they are not ideally suited for image editing. You must have noticed that as the screen angle changes – whether you move the screen or change your viewing angle – the image gets darker/lighter and the colours too appear changed. This can make it difficult (if not impossible) to work efficiently. Also, as you will read later on, all screens need calibration. Calibration should be done at your working area but since a laptop is carried along and used in different ambient lighting conditions, the calibration does not hold true under every lighting situation.

Glossy or Matte Screen?