And Along Came a Monitor

I know monitor’s change, after all, if you are using them for color sensitive things like design or photography, you’re expected to calibrate them regularly. And over my years of doing photography, I’ve been able to tell when my monitor needs it even without handy reminders that the new software provides. Still, I’m convinced over the past three years my Macbook’s monitor has become suboptimal. There’s definitely one spot where I can clearly see an LED and there’s another spot or two where under the right (wrong?) conditions, I can get sense dark spots, almost bruises. I’ve read these are sometimes caused by pressure against the back of the screen when carrying it in a bag. The thing is my Macbook is RARELY in that situation. I carry it in a bag seldom and when I do, it’s a padded bag with virtually nothing else in there.

Anyway, I have another few months of Apple Care left and I have a left-over issue with the Super Drive (which I rarely use) not working. I didn’t feel like leaving it behind for thorough maintenance last time I took it in for the dead power adapter. So, I figure shortly I’ll drop it off for the drive and see what (if anything) they’ll do for the screen. At three years old, if I had to pay for it, I’d probably consider it ill spent when there’s newer tech out there, y’know?

Anyway the screen issues got me back to looking at external monitors. There’s a mixture of opinion on whether or not it makes sense to edit on laptop screens (what I’ve read, more against it than for it). Few laptop screens are really optimal – even the iPad displays more range of colors, but I’ve done pretty well with mine I think. Still, the last couple of times that I color calibrated it, I didn’t feel like the calibrated version looked much better than the previous version (so there may be more here than just a bruised spot or two). I don’t really WANT an external monitor. I love not being tied to a desk and currently I simply don’t have a space to use for a desk. Still, the more I read about better monitors the more I knew that I really needed something that could display a wider range of color and wasn’t affected by the angle I was looking at the screen.

I finally settled on the ViewSonic VP2365WB 23-Inch IPS LCD Monitor – this is a definite step above my last LCD never mind the Macbook’s screen. After I waited for it to warm up and then calibrated it and opened up my photos on the screen… wow… wow… woww…  I was in love with this thing! But the best part was that I was afraid that when I saw my photos (especially the ones I’ve edited in the past few months) on a new monitor, I would feel slightly ill with how they looked, that they might be washed out or way over or under saturated or something. But all in all, I was very happy with what I saw. Whew! Still, I’m already addicted to editing on the 23 inch screen and I can definitely tell that I’m seeing a wider range of color.

The desk situation remains, though. I really don’t WANT to try to crowd a desk in anywhere. I guess if I have need to do some mega editing there is always the table, but for the moment, I’m just setting a small table by my chair and plugging in. It may not be perfect but it’s comfy. Ha! Oh, and I’m awaiting one of these, a Geargrip LCD Harness to give me both a way to move the sucker around and a little protection when it’s not in use. I’ll comment on it in more depth when it arrives.