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Best Monitor for Photo Editing and Photography

To capture images of the best possible quality, we need the best possible gear. Every part of the photographer’s equipment must be as good as possible, while still staying within the budget. The monitor, hence, is also one of the devices that we should examine very carefully before making our purchase decision.

In a computer that will be used to edit pictures, we should look for the best processor available within our budget. We must also allow for enough RAM overflow and all necessary kinds of ports. The monitor needs to also be of the highest possible quality and as large as possible without being too bulky.

Having the best camera won’t be very useful if the monitor you are using to see and edit the image is of poor quality and barely displays any pixels. The monitor is equally as important as the optical camera. I always say that it’s better to spend less on a camera while investing more on the best lens and monitor while staying in the budget.

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Best Gaming Monitor under 200 dollars 2018

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Having a good gaming monitor to compliment the hardware in your PC is an essential addition to any serious gamer. The difference a quality monitor can make is huge, and can greatly improve a user’s experience. Unfortunately, quality comes with a price tag and affording a high spec monitor isn’t always the easiest on your wallet or purse.

Anyone who has built their own PC for gaming purposes will know that you spend most of your hard earned cash on a graphics card. For a good GPU, you’d be looking to spend $250+ and that would be for one of the bottom end models. There’s no getting away from that price tag, but for those of us on a tight budget, there are options for quality Monitors below the $200 mark. Spending below that mark can be a perfect way to get the most out of your current GPU and improve your visual experience.

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Best Monitor for Macbook Pro (Retina) / Mac Mini / Macbook Air

Tutorial about how to choose a monitor to combine with a Mac computer. There are many models available, with pretty different prices and features. A short review about the main technologies, certifications, reference standards to consider.

The choice of a Monitor to use with a computer is not an easy task: there are many models for each price range, apparently similar but often with functions and features even much different from each other…So what are the best 2016 monitors to match a Mac computer with? And which parameters should I consider to choose them?

Keeping the average Mac user as parameter in mind, we’ve thought to explain the elements to consider in order to combine a monitor with a computer, which can be a Mac Mini, a Mac Pro, but also an additional display for a MacBook Air or a MacBook Pro. There’s really an unlimited number of them, with displays suitable for people who professionally work with photos and videos, and other ones realized for design, yet other ones for gaming and multimedia, or pretty generic and cheap ones, suitable for people who do an office job (writing, emailing, web surfing etc.). We’ll shortly see the main technologies, certifications and the reference standards to consider.

Which connections should a Monitor be equipped to work with a Mac?

All pretty recent Mac computers provide, as standard, a Mini DisplayPort port (Thunderbolt); you can use this one to connect monitors that integrate this port: DVI, HDMI, or the old VGA monitors can be connected with specific adapters. Apple and third party producers provide Mini DisplayPort-DVI, Mini DisplayPort-VGA, Mini DisplayPort/DVI-Dual-Link and Mini DisplayPort-HDMI adapters. The current Mac Pro can handle without any problem up to three displays with 5K resolution and six Thunderbolt displays (we redirect you to this support document by Apple to know details about the types of Ultra HD monitor supported and how to set them up).

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AOC AG322QCX Review: large gaming monitor with 144Hz

AOC AG322QCX144Hz, 31.5” curved display with QHD resolution, and all sorts of ergonomic functions – the AOC AG322QCX awaits with features to please gamers. I have tested it to see whether the concept has taken off.

Pro
  • Good workmanship
  • Adaptive sync
  • Good image quality
Con
  • The buttons on the QuickSwitch controller

Before we begin with the complete test, here is an overview of the technical specifications once again. For those of you who are really keen to know, you can jump to the conclusion here.

First impression, delivery and assembly

The first impression is very good, even the packaging gives a positive impression. The assembly instructions are in one of the higher flaps on the packaging, you can’t miss it. I also really like the spacers for the monitor – with that you can put it on the table when assembling it knowing that it will not bend the curved display.

AOC AG322QCXThe delivery has everything that you need. Along with the monitor, there is also the power cable, a DisplayPort cable, an HDMI cable, a 3.5mm cable, a USB-B 3.0 cable and the QuickSwitch controller. The usual papers have been condensed onto one small product information sheet. In addition, there is also a CD with the operating instructions.

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Acer Predator X34P Review: luxury beast with minor weaknesses

Acer Predator X34P

The Acer Predator X34P is unbelievable. 120 Hertz, 1440p resolution, 34-inch, 21:9 curved display and NVIDIA G-Sync. It has almost everything today’s gamer wants, but of course at a price which would shock many. With our test you can find out whether it is really worth 900 dollars.

Pro

  • Sleek 120 Hz panel
  • NVIDIA G-Sync
  • 21:9 format
Con
  • “mellow” frame
  • No HDR
  • 5ms response time

The Acer Predator X34P really does want to be a predator. At such a high price, it should at least be able to make coffee. To cut a long story short, the Acer Predator X34P is a stylish monitor which does everything right. Unfortunately, though, there are more problems in the B note, which costs it the title of the perfect gaming monitor. Let’s begin as we always do by looking at the specs.

Delivery and assembly

A 34-inch 21:9 monitor does not come in a small box. At least you can still carry it by yourself. In the box you can find, next to the Acer Predator X34P, the HDMI cable, display port and the power cable with a German and British plug layout. You also get a remote control and metal plate, which you need to hang it on the wall. Not necessarily a lot, but it is enough.

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Cheap Gaming Monitor 2018 Recommendation (144 Hz, Low input Lag, 4K)

Arguably the most important peripheral, a good monitor is supposed to provide a good immersive experience for gaming and productivity. There are myriads of factor to be considered here, first and foremost being the resolution and the color reproduction. Next and equally important factor, especially for gamers, is the refresh rate of the monitor and the availability of FreeSync or G-sync for smoother gaming experience. The unknown factors are of course backlight bleed and dead pixels, especially, if you are going for esoteric Korean panels which have flooded the market these days.

Our review however is concerned with the most well-established manufacturers with relatively uniform production quality and better customer support. If you want to take the risk, go ahead and experiment with a Korean panel.

Your personal workload is also an important factor in deciding the kind of panel you may want to use. Want higher response time and really low latency for your fast-paced Counter-Strike then you may want a TN panel. Most people prefer using an IPS panel, because of better viewing angle and higher color saturation. This is good for content creators and people who watch movies with their friends and family using their monitor.

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HDR formats: even more confusion in 2018

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Just like with Blu-ray VS HD-DVD, we are currently witnessing a battle between “HDR” image formats, specifically the HDR formats that use dynamic metadata. On the one hand, there is Dolby Vision – a proprietary format; on the other hand, there is the more open HDR10+ format.

If you are familiar with current developments in television technology, you will be aware of the fact that modern TVs have transitioned to 4K and HDR (High Dynamic Range) technology.

We will be focusing on HDR in this article. While 4K technology increases a display’s definition, its effect is not as readily apparent as that produced by HDR – a technology responsible for increasing the contrast of displayed images. The problem is that there are currently several different formats capable of producing this HDR effect.

HDR formatsThe majority of products on the market these days are compatible with the HDR10 format, an imaging technology that produces a dynamic contrast range by combining darker, more intelligible scenes with high-luminosity scenes. However, there are two different offshoots of this image format (HDR10+, an improved version of the HDR10 technology, and Dolby Vision) and it is easy to become confused by the many different announcements being made by this industry’s various stakeholders.

Who does what?

At CES 2018, Panasonic made up its mind regarding which format it will be supporting (or almost did…we will come back to this point later). While Apple, Netflix, LG, Sony, and Oppo all support the Dolby Vision format, Panasonic has decided to take a chance on HDR10+. Its future OLED TVs – the FZ800 and the FZ950 — will be compatible with the open HDR10+ image format developed by Samsung and Fox (in conjunction with Warner Bros) which has also been approved by the BluRay Disc Association.

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Philips Momentum 436M6VBPAB Review: a real gaming monitor – but not just for gamers

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Philips Momentum 436M6VBPABWhat do you look for in a gaming monitor? It is quite possible that the new Philips Momentum does exactly what you imagine. 4K, HDR and Ambiglow are just three of its many exciting features.

The brand-new Philips Momentum 436M6VBPAB seeks to combine everything on a 42.51-inch (108cm diagonal) monitor, in line with the current trend in the monitor industry. With a 4K UHD resolution of 3840×2160 pixels and high dynamic range (HDR), it should be a superb match for the current consoles Xbox One X and PlayStation 4 Pro. To simply speak of one monitor would sound like an understatement. Therefore, the manufacturer has also spoken of a “Momentum monitor” and Philips has a number of special features ready.

Philips Momentum glows with Ambiglow

Behind the name UltraClear 4K UHD, the Philips Momentum hides an LCD display (MVA) with WLED backlighting, 720cd/m² and a contrast of 50,000,000:1. Thanks to a BT.-709 coverage of 100 percent and a DCI-P3 coverage of 97.6 percent, the 16:9 screen is perfect for professional applications such as CAD, 3D or spreadsheets. Its strengths should be particularly prominent in video games, though.

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V-Sync, G-Sync, and FreeSync for PC Monitors explained

A G-Sync or FreeSync monitoris a must for any gamer looking for the highest level of performance. If you thought that having a powerful PC capable of running your games at a high frame rate was good enough, think again. This article will explain all of the factors you will need to consider in order to improve your PC game playing experience.

PC displays

Everything you need to know about V-Sync, G-Sync, and FreeSync

Whether you own a veritable war machine or a more modest PC, if you have ever experienced lagging or image tearing, the problem may lie with your display. Most PC monitors have a refresh rate of 60 Hz (meaning that the entirety of the displayed content is redrawn 60 times per second).

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What type of Monitor should you choose if you are…

…A relentless word processor? If you mainly use your PC for doing office work, most any monitor should be able to satisfy your needs. However, if you prefer to work in dark surroundings, you will need to pay particular attention to your display’s luminosity level (more complicated than it sounds); you may also want to …

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