Looking to upgrade computer monitor for video editing

[vhelp]

This should be an easy recommendation, I hope.

So what is a good monitor for video editing, color corrected/calibration, and easy adjustment for correctness?

My preference would be 1920x1080 and have color levels correction built in if possible, and not too expansive. I don't need a professional 10k. Just something I can easily afford and meets the criteria for video work.

I can pick one up at bestbuy, or purchase from ebay or amazon. Thank you in advance.

PS: forgot about size. I don't know. My work pc uses 23" so I guess somewhere around there'ish.

[DB83]

IMO The monitor is important. But the video card is equally, if not more, important.

For the monitor the keyword is 'IPS'. I have a 22" AOC IPS and am more than happy with it. A 23" will set you back $131 on Amazon (my particular model is no loner available as is often the case and this monitor is only a few years old)

[Poppa_Meth]

I have an Asus IPS panel at 23.6" that I got for $99 on the Black Friday Amazon deals last year. That time is just around the corner again. I'd suggest you keep an eye out HERE for deals. Almost my entire $1500 build last year came from specials I found on that Reddit and I totalled out at about $900 with all the savings. They are very good there about compiling pretty much all the deals you can find online.

[usually_quiet]

Dell monitors are supposed to use good panels. The monitor stands often provide more ergonomic adjustments than one usually finds.

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1258849-REG/dell_p2417h_24_16_9_ips.html

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1009351-REG/dell_469_4374_p2314h_23in_led_lcd.html

[SameSelf]

So what is a good monitor for video editing, color corrected/calibration, and easy adjustment for correctness?

You haven't mentioned a budget, but there is very little benefit in spending $1000 or even $500 on a monitor for grading if you are unable to calibrate the thing and don't have color management. This means you need not only a monitor good enough to get close but a calibration tool as well. And, you also need a specialized card to divorce the color from the OS and possibly even a LUT box. Lastly, you need software that will support output to an external display because the OS will not be able to see the monitor. I am not saying you need to spend thousands, but there is so much more to this than just the monitor. Otherwise, I would just get an Asus/LG/Dell or some other sub-$500 model if you are not prepared to spend the additional money required by everything I just mentioned. The one bright spot in all this is that there are open-sourced, calibration software solutions available.

[stiltman]

Dell monitors are supposed to use good panels. The monitor stands often provide more ergonomic adjustments than one usually finds.

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1258849-REG/dell_p2417h_24_16_9_ips.html

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1009351-REG/dell_469_4374_p2314h_23in_led_lcd.html

The Dell P series are nice all around monitors. The best monitor I've owned is the one I have right now
Dell UltraSharp 27 Model: U2717D

[usually_quiet]

I have always heard that Dell's U-series monitors are great, but I suspected they are priced beyond vhelp's budget, and the 24-inch models I was looking at had no VGA connections for older computers, which vhelp owns as well.

[JVRaines]

PC Magazine likes this 27-inch Philips model. Only $160 and very good sRGB gamut.

[aedipuss]

dell's are pretty darn good right out of the box. one of the few manufacturers that take the time to factory calibrate and achieve over 99 percent sRGB color displays. if you are interested in going "wide" the Dell UltraSharp U2913WM 29-Inch Ultra Widescreen is about 280 on amazon.

[cornemuse]

I have an 'EIZO' monitor, mine is a 4-3 size 21½" (I prefer 4-3 for quite a few diff tasks) (I have post-it notes all around & cant see model#)
It is very pricey, but does about everything but walk the dog. saves multiple preferences, my name is in Eizo's setup (if stolen), keeps track of 'hours' in setup (warrantee is in # of hours, not time since purchase) Detailed software for setting up color etc. I spent way more than I should'a for it but was replacing an old Microtek monitor (which was about $800 13 years ago) figured if the new one lastes similarly, not too bad.

I also have (besides more money than common sense) a 27" Samsung & two 24" Sammies <-w-s's, and a 4-3 Dell backup mon.

I use all 3 Sammies & the Eizo quite a lot, ie daily.

(only the 27" Sam & Eizo were bought new)

The Eizo is the be$t by far.

-c-

[vhelp]

update.. I needed something right away so that I could test out a new computer in 1920x1080. I spent the last two days in various stores (walmart, bestbuy, staples, office dept), trying all the settings and reading whatever I could. They were all pricey, but a couple were on sale. Ok. So I decided to pick one up that seemed good enough for the time being or I may just keep this one. I will use it to test my new pc and then replace it with my desktop pc's 1400x900 one. Hopefully, I will find the right one for the new pc however. Otherwise, I will keep what I have and move on. Shopping for a monitor is just as difficult as shopping for a new pc.

Purchased at Bestbuy on sale for $99 (reg $149). I picked up a DVI-to-HDMI adapter to connect it to my mini pc's HDMI input. It works! I have it on top of a tupper ware container, behind my laptop so that I can view the whole screen, top to bottom. Worked out well, even complements the lighting from the laptop, which I like to keep brightness at low setting instead of bright.

So, my first impression, testing my vhs test conversions. wow! Horrible! Now I understand. And, I need to *up* the bitrate further. So, there's a bit more work ahead in this endeavor, oh boy.

Here is the brand and model, in case you are curious. I could not find any reviews on it, like the one posted in PCMAG, (post # 8 above). I was hopping to see similar style specs. Anyway. Feel free to rag on it or give some thumbs up for the decision.

Brand: AOC, Model i2269vw -- series 69v -- 22" (21.5") -- 1980x1080 -- LED Backlight -- Contrast ratio 50,000,000:1 -- IPS -- Clear vision tech -- VGA/DVI-D

[raffriff42]

Try charity thrift stores, craigslist, and your relatives' garages or storage rooms. Perfectly good monitors are being thrown out, sold cheap, or given away these days, now that everyone has ditched PCs for smartphones.

EDIT Oh you bought one ...never mind.

[SameSelf]

+1 on the Eizo rec. That is probably one of the cheapest pathways to a 10-bit, calibrated, color managed workflow but WAAAAAAAY out of the OP's budget judging from the $99 Walmart model—which doesn't even support HDMI or Displayport? At least now we know his budget.

btw, I wouldn't dare CC on a monitor that wasn't at least 10-bit, but since it sounds like the OP is only using it for an avisynth/vdub workflow, maybe I misread his OP. IOW, I have no idea what he hopes to accomplish with such a budget setup.

[LMotlow]

I doubt the O.P. will work with 10-bit color or software. The monitor purchased is a scaled-down unit that uses 6-bit and dithering in an LG IPS panel, good enough for hobbyists. But it's not calibrated, so all bets are off when it comes to what he'll think he's looking at and how he'll try to fix colors and gamma. Basic monitors are lousy with shadow detail and never have a clean grayscale. But calibration and color grading are as far away from most users' minds as trying to brew coffee with their monitors.

[SameSelf]

good enough for hobbyists

To me that monitor falls squarely in the camp of a consumer who is completely clueless and ONLY cares about the rock bottom cheapest price they can find. I am sorry, but a hobbyist would know better than to purchase such a lousy monitor for video work.

[LMotlow]

Nobody buys 10-bit monitors to use with 8-bit processing, and wide gamut monitors have their special place but not with basic hobbyists. The MSRP on that monitor, bought at 1/3 off price, is mainstream for a 21.5" ISP monitor these days. Likely the grayscale looks like garbage and it's a bit bright at default settings for video work, but a calibration kit would make a big improvement and a very serviceable unit. What the O.P. doesn't know yet is that a good calibration kit will cost more than the monitor. But I'll lower the bar and agree with you 100% if you think that the O.P. has no intention of properly calibrating that unit.

[SameSelf]

Anyone who is serious about video should have moved beyond 8-bit workflows by now. And if they haven't, at least be planning/saving for the move—not wasting money on a 6-bit+frc monitor that I can't even begin to list the other problems it undoubtedly has that no amount of calibration will ever fix. It was the OP who brought up "color corrected" (what does that mean anyway?) and "calibration" and some nonsense about "easy adjustment" as if a 6-hour calibration is a waste of time.

[sophisticles]

Anyone who is serious about video should have moved beyond 8-bit workflows by now. And if they haven't, at least be planning/saving for the move—not wasting money on a 6-bit+frc monitor that I can't even begin to list the other problems it undoubtedly has that no amount of calibration will ever fix. It was the OP who brought up "color corrected" (what does that mean anyway?) and "calibration" and some nonsense about "easy adjustment" as if a 6-hour calibration is a waste of time.

For the record a 6 hour "calibration" is a waste of time, it really takes you 6 hours to "calibrate" a monitor? Are you doing it in slow motion?

One more thing, most members of this forum are hobbyists who only have access to 8 bit sources, thus most of us do use an 8 but workflow.

Now perhaps you and some of the other posters may consider yourselves L33T video enthusiasts but unless you guys actually work in the industry as professional videographers then you guys are just posers.

So lay off the guy, he asked for advice on a monitor, not to get mocked for wanting something that doesn't cost an arm and a leg.

TO the OP, I have had good experiences with Dell monitors, yes most are not what you would consider "pro" caliber monitors but here's the straight talk, assume you had the money and the motivation to pick up something like Apple's 5k monitor (or an equivalent high end monitor) and the money to buy a high end Quadro card that's capable of outputting a 10 bit signal and you spent the money on "pro" software to "properly" calibrate the monitor, you still wouldn't have access to the sources needed to really appreciate the hardware (and neither do the guys that have been ragging on you) and you wouldn't have access to the high end software for editing said sources.

[SameSelf]

You have clearly have no idea what you are talking about, or you would know just how long it takes to properly calibrate a monitor. If you re-read my initial post, you will see I was thoughtful and respectful. The fact that the OP went off and bought what is seemingly the cheapest monitor he could find smacks a little bit of cognitive dissonance. These threads come up on google searches, and a drive by reader might incorrectly assume that the monitor the OP chose is adequate for the criteria he listed. It is not, plain and simple. Your SJW crusade won't change any of that. Sorry.

Also, Quadros are junk for 10-bit video editing workflows. They are good when accurate gpu computes is a must, but for video editing and even heavy vfx work, you are much better off with a GTX. Period.

Lastly, there is no need to spend money on "pro" calibration software. There are opensourced calibration tools available. I stated that already.

But I agree 100%. All of this is moot if you are stuck on a Avisynth/vdub workflow.

[sophisticles]

Also, Quadros are junk for 10-bit video editing workflows. They are good when accurate gpu computes is a must, but for video editing and even heavy vfx work, you are much better off with a GTX. Period.

Funny, non-Quadros can only output a 10 bit signal out to a full screen DX surface, pro applications do not use DX they use OGL, such as Sony's and Adobe's products and thus you need a Quadro.

Thanks for playing.

[hello_hello]

The fact that the OP went off and bought what is seemingly the cheapest monitor he could find smacks a little bit of cognitive dissonance. These threads come up on google searches, and a drive by reader might incorrectly assume that the monitor the OP chose is adequate for the criteria he listed. It is not, plain and simple. Your SJW crusade won't change any of that. Sorry.

With any luck a drive by reader will comprehend what's written without the cognitive dissonance you're displaying, which you then put onto someone else.
Here's a quote from the post in question, with highlights added to aid your comprehension.

I needed something right away so that I could test out a new computer in 1920x1080. I spent the last two days in various stores (walmart, bestbuy, staples, office dept), trying all the settings and reading whatever I could. They were all pricey, but a couple were on sale. Ok. So I decided to pick one up that seemed good enough for the time being or I may just keep this one. I will use it to test my new pc and then replace it with my desktop pc's 1400x900 one. Hopefully, I will find the right one for the new pc however. Otherwise, I will keep what I have and move on.

[hello_hello]

According to Nvidia:

10-bit per color support on NVIDIA Geforce GPUs

NVIDIA Geforce graphics cards have offered 10-bit per color out to a full screen Direct X surface since the Geforce 200 series GPUs. Due to the way most applications use traditional Windows API functions to create the application UI and viewport display, this method is not used for professional applications such as Adobe Premiere Pro and Adobe Photoshop. These programs use OpenGL 10-bit per color buffers which require an NVIDIA Quadro GPU with DisplayPort connector. A small number of monitors support 10-bit per color with Quadro graphics cards over DVI. For more information on NVIDIA professional line of Quadro GPUs, please visit: http://www.nvidia.com/page/workstation.html

[hello_hello]

Lastly, there is no need to spend money on "pro" calibration software. There are opensourced calibration tools available. I stated that already.

Are these open source calibration "tools" just software, or do they come with free open source hardware too?

But I agree 100%. All of this is moot if you are stuck on a Avisynth/vdub workflow.

You can process 10 bit video with Avisynth. 16 bit too. There's a "hack" that allows Avisynth to frame serve 10/12/16 bit video and there's quite a few plugins that'll process it correctly. The "hacked" output needs to be sent to an encoder that understands it, or via something something such as avs4x264.exe.

Both ffms2 and LSmash support decoding 10 bit video using the "hack" although by default they reduce the bitdepth to 8 bit when decoding. I've no idea how you'd frameserve 10 bit video to Avisynth if you're stuck in a workflow involving programs such as Premier, but there may be a way to convert the output to "hacked" 16 bit on the way to Avisynth.