Which monitor for prepress?

Question

My 30" Apple Cinema display works intermittently.  I bought a (used) power supply hoping to fix it, but it did not help.  Apple will not repair such an old monitor, and one local repairer did not want to work on it.

I am a professional photographer, and spend hours a day retouching in LR and Photoshop.  
I do all the retouching and prepress for the photos that I send to my publisher (for calendars and photo books).

So, it looks like I have to buy a new/used monitor  optimized for color (NOT for speed, NOT for resolution).

What are three new/used monitors (and calibration system?) should I look at?

n0t4c|u3 · Accepted Answer

If it's intermittent that leaves a couple of things that could be wrong and 500 things that might be wrong. 
1. It's the inverter. (probably)
2.The cold cathode is going bad.
For a replacement, you could go with a large television, the new IPS panels are astounding for their color accuracy.
Or, you could buy a high end monitor like a dell or an apple, those new IPS panels are astounding....
http://www.dell.com/content/topics/topic.aspx/global/products/monitors/includes/en/ultrasharpmonitor_ips?c=us&l=en&cs=04

isl247 · Answer

I gave up on being picky about color years ago when the last of my Lacie CRTs crapped out. These days, I find that my clients care far more about money than quality and if I want to keep the work from going to India I have to lower my standards along with them.

I still find the Apple LCDs to be far more color accurate than most, but they're too darn expensive to buy for every workstation. I buy mostly cheap Samsungs (including for my personal rig) and they're plenty close for everyday work.

I'll keep an eye on this question, for sure. If there's a good answer, I'd love to hear it, too.

Anonymous · Answer

I feel so sad for you. ***** why you post on my **** like that. And f*ck Apple!!

? · Answer

Oh I see you&#x27;re one of &quot;those&quot; guys lol

Which monitor for prepress?

4 Answers