The Best Upgrade I’ve Made to My Editing Studio
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- Best Items Photographers Need To Invest In
- Top 5 Ultra Widescreen Monitors
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- Make the Most of Your Dual Monitor Setup with These Simple Tips
- First Impressions: Viewsonic Ultra-Wide Curved Monitor
photo by Tero Vesalainen via iStock
Have you ever seen those TV shows where the smart guys are directing or researching things with those ultra hi def multi monitors? Looks pretty cool. The reality of using multiple monitors is nothing like what’s on TV, in my photo and video editing studio it’s even better.
The best monitor for editing photos and videos will have some basic features, upgrades will add in some other usable features. For my personal photo editing gear, I have found that I prefer large monitors, a curved screen, and multiple monitors.
Large Monitors
photo by AndreyPopov via iStock
If I were to make one recommendation only for upgrading a monitor for photographers, I would encourage you to get a larger monitor. The best monitor for editing photos and videos is going to the largest screen you can reasonably use.
While I love my new laptop, the screen size is still not quite what I had with my old desktop setup. Plus, I prefer to have my editing studio arrangement with the monitor at eye level. This makes it easier to see detail of what I’m editing plus it reduces neck, back, and eye fatigue.
Curved Screen Monitors
As much of an upgrade as a larger monitor is, having a curved monitor is a couple of levels better. A curved monitor for photographers provides a more immersive experience. Shapes look more realistic and there is very little loss of any detail anywhere on the screen.
The loss of sharpness, detail, or even apparent illumination you sometimes experience with using larger monitors in your editing studio often has little to do with the screen itself, but it’s due to you looking at the edge with more of an angle. The subtle curve of the newest high definition monitors - like the ViewSonic VP3881 shown above - eliminates that issue.
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Multiple Monitors
When I’m in deep with an editing session, I may have multiple programs open at once. Assigning important programs to a couple of different screens helps out a lot. Some programs will let you split out different functions to multiple screens.
Workflow is improved by a huge extent by not having to switch back and forth between views of processes or programs. Compared to handling complex editing studio functions on the laptop screen alone, the speed and ease of use will lead to improved workflow which often results in better editing studio work being done.
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My Editing Studio
I’m using an arrangement of two different size Viewsonic monitors with curved wide screen sizes of 34 inches and 38 inches. I’ve been using various external monitors for a while and my basic photo editing gear was a desktop machine with a couple of monitors.
I upgraded my computer and decided to see what all the fuss was about curved screens, too. After using them for a while, I feel like an editing superman when I’m working on editing photos and videos.
My current editing studio has the Viewsonic VP3881 as my main screen and the slightly smaller Viewsonic monitor, the VP3481, mounted above it.
The immersive viewing experience of making use of large, wide screen, curved screen Viewsonic monitors is not even close to what I was expecting. Especially since Viewsonic monitors already have amazing sharpness and beautiful color rendition.
These monitors are extremely sharp, proving an incredible amount of detail while editing. Since they are curved, you lose no detail when viewing the entire screen, all the way out to the edges and corners.
Color detail is vital for accurate editing and these Viewsonic monitors provide that in a superlative way. Each of these monitors is capable of repricing 4.39 trillion colors which means that you can tweak to your heart’s content while editing.
Viewsonic monitors are among the best monitors for editing photos and videos because of the above features plus their ability to let you tile windows of different programs or different functions of the same programs. This gives you a smoother workflow since you can simply switch your view from one monitor to the other instead of minimizing and maximizing windows over and over.
Your Editing Studio
photo by gorodenkoff via iStock
If you have upgraded yourself, you likely feel like an editing studio superman yourself. The only thing to come next is one of those holographic monitors seen in our fave TV shows. Though to be honest, I think I’ll keep my current setup for a while longer, it’s really one of the best decisions I’ve made photographically in recent times.
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