Not all monitors are created equal. Some are more suited for gaming (have faster response time), some are best suited for watching movies (better viewing angles, so that it doesn’t matter whether you’re watching movies from your chair or lying on the couch) and some are overall nice universal monitors which tend to show average (though totally acceptable) results for most of the tasks you and me are doing during the day. The best part is that modern computer monitors can be very cheap but still show a perfectly acceptable picture for an average user.

However there is one distinct category of uses where you wouldn’t want to settle for an average monitor – when you plan to do any photo editing on your computer. It doesn’t matter whether you’re on a PC or a Mac – the monitor is probably the most important part of the setup when it comes to the quality of the resulting pictures. In this article we’ll try to help you choose the best monitor for photo editing and we’ll try to go easy on your wallet.

CRT vs LCD and LED

CRT is a very old technology and while some people might still consider CRT monitors to be the most accurate in color reproduction, I would suggest to look at LCD monitors, preferably those with LED technology used.  These are the monitors we’ll be choosing from.

Even if we narrow down the choice to LCD monitors we still have to decide on the technology used in the production of LCD monitors – you will find monitors that use TN, IPS, MVA and PVA.

TN (Twisted Nematic) monitors are best used for watching movies and playing games. They have a very responsive matrix which is good for very fast action commonly found in modern computer games but they lack in color accuracy department as well as in viewing angles. If you’re looking for best monitor for photo editing, we suggest you stay away from the TN models.

IPS (In-Plane Switching) monitors have the best color reproduction among all four types, as well as great viewing angles. They would be the best choice for photo editing if it wasn’t for their price – IPS-based models can get very expensive. These are the displays used in many high-end monitors from Apple and other big manufacturers.

Two remaining types – PVA and MVA sit somewhere between TN and IPS in terms of picture quality. While better than TN monitors, they still lack the color depth and have substantially worse viewing angles than IPS monitors.

So, for best results look for a monitor that uses the IPS display.

Monitor Size

Shoot for larger monitors – they would make your editing life so much easier. Something in the range of 24″ or more with the screen resolutin of 1900×1200 is ideal for photo editing as well as occasional gaming or movie watching.

Your budget

Your choice would heavily depend on the budget you have – best IPS monitors could cost upwards of$5,000… Brands like Eizo give the best possible picture quality but the price tag is cruel. And even though Eizo probably makes the best monitor for photo editing, you won’t need to spend that much to get a decent IPS panel – other manufacturers have got pretty good at producing great IPS monitors at more down-to-earth price levels (in about $250-400 range).

Actually, the brand name is not important when choosing the best monitor for photo editing purposes – Dell, HP, Samsung, Apple and others have very decent IPS monitors in their lines. The recent tendency of releasing nice IPS monitors at affordable price levels is very encouraging. Actually, I’m typing this on my PC connected to 3 (yep, they are THAT good ) Dell U2412M LCD monitors – they were released in late 2011 and are a perfect example of a great quality budget IPS monitor.

Final tips on choosing the best monitor for photo editing

Let’s summarize what you should be looking for when choosing the monitor to edit your photos on:

1. Look for an IPS monitor (it doesn’t matter much whether it is a true IPS, H-IPS, S-IPS or e-IPS, they are all good)
2. Look for a larger monitor – 24 inches or more
3. Plan to spend more than you would spend on an average TN monitor – $250-400 should get you a decent IPS display.