As a followup question to this one... I'll be buying new monitors early next year, as an upgrade to the three Samsung 245T monitors I currently have. I have been quite pleased with these monitors, but am moving, and don't want to take them with me, so it's a good chance to upgrade.
Based on the information in the above mentioned post, I've settled on an IPS panel monitor, and came across two monitors that, by all specs, appear to be practically identical. But the price tags are anything but identical. So my question is; how do these monitors differ, specifically as it relates to photo editing? And if possible, how can I tell by researching them online?
I'm not asking for product reviews or recommendations; I'm trying to learn to understand monitors, and using these as case studies.
First monitor (directly referenced in the above post): LaCie 324i Price: US$1399
Second monitor: Asus PA246Q Price: US$494
Looking at the spec sheets on the two monitors, I see that they both use a P-IPS panel with 10-bit display (1.073B colors), have the same color saturation, same aspect ratio, display size and resolution. Both offer a 0.270mm dot pitch, and 178° viewing angle, same Luminance, and same response time.
One spec I can't compare directly is contrast ratio, as the Asus spec sheet only shows the "ASUS Smart Contrast Ratio" rather than the true contrast ratio.
The only actual differences I can see from the spec sheets are:
- The LaCie has audio input and output jacks.
- The LaCie weighs an extra 1kg
- The LaCie is slightly larger
- The LaCie uses 25% more power (50% more in standby)
So... What, if anything, is the meaningful difference between these monitors?