Many people just buy the biggest monitor they can afford without considering it’s purpose. A screen that is good for watching movies or playing games or reading text might not be the best for graphics work, for photography and photo editing. In class we are constantly recommending calibrating monitors, we explain how a monitor which isn’t calibrated is showing you it’s version of your pictures, not how they actually are. A step beyond, One Step Beyond would be Madness of course, would be to buy a photo editing specific monitor. Digital Camera World has tested a few and here are their recommendations
What is the best monitor for photo editing? Colour-accurate monitors offer true-to-life reproduction of photographic images, but price and performance varies. We’ve tested 10 of the top models available to see which monitor is best for photography.

Choosing a monitor for photo editing can be a daunting proposition, especially if you need it to be better at one particular task than at any other.
In this roundup we want to find the best monitors for photo editing, so we’re looking for great colour reproduction and vibrant, bright displays.
This depends on the technology used – newer ‘IPS’ LCD panels have better colour reproduction than their older ‘TN’ counterparts, so this is worth looking out for in the specifications. All the panels here are IPS LED backlit displays.
The viewing angles are also far better with IPS screens, so if you ever sit at your computer and show someone else photos they are a must.
Screen size is important too – make sure your display is physically big enough for the work you want to do (we recommend 24-inch as a minimum now and that’s the smallest here).
Also, while most of the monitors here are height-adjustable, not all displays have the same level of fine-tuning, so do watch out for that.
When buying a high-end display, it’s important to make sure your computer’s graphics hardware is up to the task of displaying the high resolutions some monitors are now capable of.
You’ll need to research the capabilities of your own machine to do that. If you’re going to be connecting up a laptop, especially, make sure it has a good level of graphics capability.
If you are thinking about buying a monitor here is a list of things to consider
10 things to look for in a monitor for photo editing

- Screen size is measured diagonally in inches, while resolution measures the number of pixels that make up the display. But a bigger monitor doesn’t necessarily mean greater resolution; the 24-inch Eizo has a higher resolution than the 27-inch NEC, for example.
- A more useful measure of the ‘crispness’ of a display is pixel density, measured in pixels per inch (ppi). The NEC is 82ppi, the Eizo 94ppi, while Samsung and Dell weigh in at 109ppi.
- Monitors increasingly offer more than just a simple display for your computer, with built-in speakers, USB hubs, card readers and multiple inputs, such as HDMI, for use with a variety of devices.
- While true-to-life colour reproduction is very important in image editing, you may need to compromise to get all the features you want within budget.
- LED backlighting allows thinner displays, while IPS (or Samsung’s PLS) allows for greater viewing angles.
- We’d always recommend using a digital interface like DVI or HDMI, but it depends on what your computer has. Do you want to plug in multiple devices? Make sure your new monitor has the same input as your computer has output!
- Several of these displays enable you to swivel the monitor from side to side and turn the screen 90 degrees into portrait mode.
- Most monitors are now capable of Full HD resolution (1920×1080) but more and more can do higher resolutions – many here are capable of 2560×1440, for example.
- With so many devices plugged into our computers these days, a USB hub really is something you’ll wonder how you lived without.
- So many monitors – including several of these – are just plain ugly. Also see what people are saying about the button controls and menu system. Ensure it is usable.
Go here for the reviews and recommendations
Here are some articles we have offered previously