New PC for Graphics Design

ponder said:
And everybody ignores colour calibration. Even if you spend US$10000 on your lcd you still need to calibrate the thing.
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Agreed. One PC set-up I have uses dual monitor, a 24 inch IPS and an old 19 inch TN. Using a colorimeter to calibrate the displays made a big difference to both. The TN display is now getting close to the IPS in image accuracy. The main difference is that the IPS is better at differentaiting small greyscale graduations. I would definately reccomend an IPS monitor, but if budget is limited then the colorimeter first.

Most of the IPS dispays recommended in the posts here are actually 6 bit, just like the typical TN monitors. You will therefore not get better accuracy but you will get some more colors. For the two monitors I mentioned above the IPS gives 97% of the sRGB space while the TN gives 94%.

I have noticed that generating a colour profile on one PC and then moving the monitor and profile to another machine results in some loss in accuracy. It looks like the monitor and graphics card should be calibrated together. This means that downloaded profiles may not always work well.

As far as graphics cards professional cards (Quadro in my case) give a bit better colours that the gaming cards. May be that they are designed for accuracy while the gaming cards can take some shortcuts in search of maximum frame rates. A good idea might be to go with on-board graphics until the budget allows for a pro card.
 
Hello ,

This is why I just love mybroadband !!! I came here today looking for the exact advice !! Thank you very much !!
 
Are all IPS monitors created equal ... what pitfalls should we look out for?
I know nothing about colorimeters - what is decent?
 
No, there are many different IPS panels: matt/glossy, 6-bit colour vs 8-bit colour, resolution & aspect ratio (1920x1080 - 2560x1600), colour reproduction/accuracy, etc.

So please read reviews first before just buying one!
 
OGroteKoning said:
Are all IPS monitors created equal ... what pitfalls should we look out for?
I know nothing about colorimeters - what is decent?
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Decent ones are R8 000 to R15 000.

HP and Dell are usually the best.
 
OGroteKoning said:
Are all IPS monitors created equal ... what pitfalls should we look out for?
I know nothing about colorimeters - what is decent?
Click to expand...

<http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/> is a good place for reviews.

The colorimeter I use is a Spyder4 Pro. The availability and price in my area was good - bought it from ODP <http://www.outdoorphotoshop.co.za/category.aspx?categoryID=425>. It will be best to look at a few reviews to make sure that you select one that meets your needs.
 
garyc said:
<http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/> is a good place for reviews.

The colorimeter I use is a Spyder4 Pro. The availability and price in my area was good - bought it from ODP <http://www.outdoorphotoshop.co.za/category.aspx?categoryID=425>. It will be best to look at a few reviews to make sure that you select one that meets your needs.
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I was advised to look into these:
http://www.xrite.com/home.aspx
http://spyder.datacolor.com/

And I kinda like the Spyder4 Pro
 
I have 2 LG235V IPS screens at work. I can definitely recommend them.

not as good as the R8000 IPS screens im sure, but they are probably 90% as good as the big boys and 1000% better than the other TN-film screens in their price range.

I also agree with what most people to try the integrated graphics first. I would then spend the extra R150 or so and get the 3770K processor. it has an upgraded onboard graphics. My father is a photo hobbyist and he uses the onboard and has not issues on Photoshop or Lightroom.
 
garyc said:
I have noticed that generating a colour profile on one PC and then moving the monitor and profile to another machine results in some loss in accuracy. It looks like the monitor and graphics card should be calibrated together. This means that downloaded profiles may not always work well.
Click to expand...

Yes the ICC profiles generated is pretty much unique to your setup. I don't have a colorimeter and have download profiles someone else created but it's still not spot on.

I'm using linux so I might just build or get one of these in the future http://www.hughski.com/
 
BigAl-sa said:
There is software available for the Spyder, but it is quite painful to setup. If you want, I can send details when I get onto my PC.
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Thanks but that would mean I have to go buy a Spyder :D

I don;t do any gfx/photo work so don't really need one, falls in the 'nice to have' category for me and I might look into the Hugski in future.
 
BigAl-sa said:
There is software available for the Spyder, but it is quite painful to setup. If you want, I can send details when I get onto my PC.
Click to expand...

I would appreciate any details you have on this. Started reading the Argyll instructions but never made it to the end.
 
Okay - I see Esquire has some specials so what do you think of the items below?
Axtrom 2 x 8 Gig DDR3 1600
Antec One S3 Chassis
Intel DH77 EB Motherboard
 
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