Dual monitor set-up

[Martin A]

I have an ASUS ProArt PA249Q that displays 99% Adobe RGB that I use for editing. I wish to add a second monitor in a vertical configuration and use it to place my tool pallets, etc. on. Since my photos will be displayed on the first monitor would it be okay to use a monitor that is NTSC 72% for the second monitor? How accurate do the colors need to be on the second monitor?

[Donald]

You can have anything you want for the second monitor, given it won't be the one on which you display and work on your images. I've got two monitors. The Eizo is where all images are displayed and is calibrated and profiled. The Dell is, where all the rest happens, doesn't get calibrated any longer.

[Manfred M]

Like Donald, I have been using two screens for a very long time; a 99% AdobeRGB as my working screen and an inexpensive screen for my menus.

I'm not sure if you can run the second screen in vertical orientation. The way that dual screens work is that the operating system extends what is displayed across both screens. I'm not sure how that would (or could) work with one screen in horizontal and one in vertical configuration.

In my case the aspect rations for the two screens are not identical so the mouse cursor hangs up and does not cross the screen unless I have things positioned properly. Not a major issue, but sometimes a touch frustrating. The colours are noticeably different, even though like Donald, both have been calibrated and profiled.

[DanK]

Like Donald and Manfred, I use two monitors, and the second one is cheap and not calibrated. it doesn't make any difference, since the image doesn't appear on the second one. The only time this is an issue is when I want to place an image on the second monitor for comparison.

Like Manfred, my monitors are different sizes. I use a 27" NEC for editing, and I use a 24" Dell as a second monitor because it's what I had lying around. The mouse does get caught sometimes if I try to cross from the very top or bottom of the larger monitor to the smaller.

I don't actually know how to calibrate both. The NEC is calibrated by adjusting its internal LUT with its own software, while the other would be calibrated by adding a profile for the OS using standard x-rite software. It sounds simple, but I'm not sure how to do the latter without interfering with the former.

[Manfred M]

I don't actually know how to calibrate both. The NEC is calibrated by adjusting its internal LUT with its own software, while the other would be calibrated by adding a profile for the OS using standard x-rite software. It sounds simple, but I'm not sure how to do the latter without interfering with the former.

It is quite easy to calibrate and profile either screen.

The higher end one with the LUT for storing data is calibrated and profiled with the recommended profiling / calibration tool provided by the screen manufacturer. The low end one (without the LUT built into the screen) uses the software that shipped with the calibration / profiling tool. This data is written to the system drive and on boot up, it loads the correct profile. You can actually tell when the profile has loaded because the brightness and colours of the low end screen change slightly.

[DanK]

Manfred,

thanks. I won't be working with that computer for some time, but I'll try that down the road.

Dan

[stuck]

...I'm not sure if you can run the second screen in vertical orientation...

You can if you are using Windows. I've no idea with Mac OS.

[Manfred M]

You can if you are using Windows. I've no idea with Mac OS.

Technically you are right (as I tried this with my screens), I just find the mouse movement jumping between the two orientations challenging to deal with.

[stuck]

Technically you are right (as I tried this with my screens), I just find the mouse movement jumping between the two orientations challenging to deal with.

Before I retired, one of my work colleagues used a dual orientation set up. They dealt with multiple email accounts, each with many folders, so running Outlook on the portrait monitor allowed them to see a fair bit of this complex structure in one go.

[pnodrog]

Last year I was considering a two monitor setup but came across a MSI 34" 5k x 2k monitor. It's 100% sRGB and 98% DCI-P3. I assume it is also covers about 95% of the aRGB colour space but I have not researched it. It's a joy to use when editing and would display LR and Photoshop at usable size side by side if wanted. It was factory calibrated and appart from a very basic adjustment of brightness and contrast I have used it as delivered.

Being all one screen I have absolutely no trouble with mouse or my graphics tablet. I sold my printer before shifting so have not done any printing myself but I have used it for editing several calendars, photobooks and large prints sent to commercial printers. The resulting printed photographs (apart from one disappointment - my fault) have all been excellent. If I had a fully calibrated monitor available I would be tempted to use it for final proof viewing but I would certainly not use it for the bulk of the editing. Editing using the single 5k x 2k is so convenient.

[Manfred M]

Before I retired, one of my work colleagues used a dual orientation set up. They dealt with multiple email accounts, each with many folders, so running Outlook on the portrait monitor allowed them to see a fair bit of this complex structure in one go.

I had a colleague at work who did something similar. He had to vertically oriented screens and one horizontally oriented one. He was in the Finance department and found that this arrangement helped him when going through the massive spreadsheets he was working on.

As I recall, he was also someone who saw nothing wrong in using 8-point font when sending out his work, not something I ever considered emulating...

[Manfred M]

Last year I was considering a two monitor setup but came across a MSI 34" 5k x 2k monitor. It's 100% sRGB and 98% DCI-P3. I assume it is also covers about 95% of the aRGB colour space but I have not researched it. It's a joy to use when editing and would display LR and Photoshop at usable size side by side if wanted. It was factory calibrated and appart from a very basic adjustment of brightness and contrast I have used it as delivered.

Being all one screen I have absolutely no trouble with mouse or my graphics tablet. I sold my printer before shifting so have not done any printing myself but I have used it for editing several calendars, photobooks and large prints sent to commercial printers. The resulting printed photographs (apart from one disappointment - my fault) have all been excellent. If I had a fully calibrated monitor available I would be tempted to use it for final proof viewing but I would certainly not use it for the bulk of the editing. Editing using the single 5k x 2k is so convenient.

Thanks Paul - my current main screen is almost 8 years old and even though it is 99% Adobe RGB and 100% sRGB compliant (according the the manufacturer's specs), I wonder about how those numbers were determined. My newer laptop and Huion Pen Display that are 100% Adobe RGB compliant display colours that are much more saturated and closer to what I see in my still-life glass images prints. The colours tend to be quite vibrant and saturated.

Your approach is definitely something I am planning to look at when I upgrade my hardware.

[Martin A]

My thanks to Donald, Manfred M, and DanK for their responses when I first broached the question of dual monitors. Just a short time later I spent a few nights in the hospital and completely forgot to thank the three of them.