It has a pretty fast response time of 4ms. The performance of this monitor might put some other high-end monitors to shame. This display also has a power-saving mode to conserve cost and resources.
It’s also pretty diverse in terms of connectivity options as you can find VGA, DVI, and HDMI inputs. The Acer R271 comes with a 27-inch wide viewing IPS display. It’s accurate, consistent, and phenomenal. Let’s start by discussing the cheapest and most budget-friendly monitor for color grading! The Acer R271 is probably the cheapest monitor that can do color grading well.
One good product to try is the Bason TV LED Backlight. It’s very affordable, often around $20 or so. Bias lighting is used to prevent eye strain, but in this scenario it is very useful in preventing glare that may skew our calibration. Bias lighting is simply placing the light source behind the screen. One caveat on calibration – glossy screens can skew the calibration so consider setting up bias lighting.
Follow the directions carefully and thoughtfully and let the built-in software do the work. The calibration process is quite simple and takes about 3-10 minutes. NOTE: Even if you opt for the most expensive monitor in the world, it still needs to be calibrated. An excellent monitor calibrator is the X-Rite i1Display Pro, which comes with it’s own proprietary software. Use a CalibratorĪ monitor calibrator is absolutely crucial to get the most accurate color gamut out of your monitor and insure peak accuracy during your color grading. This may void your warranty, but it will be worth it to leverage the more affordable monitor options that can then be comparable to a higher-end, $5000+ Panasonic OLED monitors/TVs. ABL is possible to disable in some monitors (such as the more affordable LG OLEDs), through advanced settings. Note about ABL (Auto Brightness Limiter) – There is a feature of many OLED monitors called Auto Brightness Limiter. Contrast Ratioįollowing color accuracy, contrast ratio is the next most important aspect of a color correction monitor. 709 color space (especially when used thoughtfully with appropriate calibration). At more moderate price points you’ll likely be using an SDR (Standard Dynamic Range), and the technology behind SDR monitors can handle the Rec. High Dynamic Range (HDR) monitors are truly some of the highest quality monitors on the market, however, they may be overkill.
Let’s go! How to Pick the Best Monitor for Color Correction and Grading HDR vs. In this guide we’ll go through what to look for in your color grading monitor and provide our top picks on the best options on the market right now. The good news is that there are plenty of options for monitors in affordable price ranges that do a great job at HD color grading (i.e. working for a media agency, or as a solopreneur or independent filmmaker, we’ll likely have tighter budgets and want to get the best quality for a reasonable price. These clientele may have equipment on hand that you can choose to make use of, and in those cases you wouldn’t be here reading this guide.Īs for most of us, i.e. The highest quality color grading monitors like the Flanders Scientific models can go for $5000 or more. With high grade clientele like major film studios, Netflix, etc., you will have the pick of the litter in terms of equipment. It is a highly in-demand niche that offers excellent pay and the chance to potentially work on some of your favorite TV shows or movies. Color grading/color correction is a critical step in the post-production workflow.