Hi everyone,

I need a little help/guidance from the pros here and anyone else who can help me with their experience or who may have a similar use case scenario.

I am looking forward to buy an external monitor in order to use it with my MacBook Pro 16". I'm a UI/UX Engineer and do video production so in a nutshell I'm playing with graphic applications all day everyday (Sketch, Figma, Photoshop, Illustrator, Premiere Pro, Final Cut Pro, Motion & After Effects) colour accuracy is my highest priority. I'm not a gamer but may end up playing a game or two occasionally but not so much of a concern.

I'm limited on funds hence my budget is for anything good under RM 500/- but i can stretch it up-to RM 600/- max!


Please guide me accordingly within my budget which monitor would be the best deal to go for I don't care about it being branded as far as I can get a quality product and not a china spec-gimmick one. I do not have extensive knowledge on monitors whether I should opt IPS, TN or VA, and of what frequency, hence looking forward for your guidance.

Any help is highly appreciated! 🙏🏻

Your budget is way too low for color accuracy monitor for graphics design or video editing.

If your budget is around RM 2.5k then something can talk about it, this budget is only give you wide screen. For better Ultrawide which is great for video editing and photoshop, you need to budget yourself RM 4.5k

You set budget is for cheap monitor and won’t be accuracy in color and not design for anything, it just for display out the thing only.
RM 600 is basically the lowest cost in monitor & color accuracy monitor wise basically is the highest in cost.
Don’t expect anything good on lowest cost monitor.

Anyway from start, look for IPS for color accuracy, VA is ok but normally not so accurate in color, TN is crap for everything except very fast respond time for gaming but now IPS also manage to came close TN respond time.
As for frequency, you are not for gaming, 60hz should be sufficient for you.

This post has been edited by Andrewtst: Mar 1 2021, 12:24 AM

Thank you so much for your prompt and detailed response but unfortunately I can't afford such costly monitor at the moment maybe in future if I have enough then sure. For now can you suggest me a decent monitor in about RM 500-700/- that can give me the best possible bang for my limited funds? 🙏🏻

Very sorry, I can't for specific model as none can satisfied me basically, also I think you can't get 1440p also which is preferable resolution for 27" and above, so it is best to get 24" 1080p IPS.

Probably you can look for brand like Acer & BenQ. They do have some budget monitor, but you may vomit when compare to MacBook screen which you already very get use to it.

My favor brand is LG or Dell but this two brand basically is out from your budget.

It is better you search around and check YouTube for review.

This post has been edited by Andrewtst: Mar 1 2021, 04:54 PM

I agree.

But I'm wondering what if I purchase a cheaper IPS monitor (24", 1080p, 75Hz, >5ms GTG - like Acer VG240Y), but I colour calibrate (using SpyderX or something). Would color calibration help make the monitor have better color accuracy, or will it just be "rubbish-in-rubbish-out"?

Dell UltraSharp U2419H rm1k+ might be best suited for you.

LG 27UL500-W if you need a bigger screen rm1.4k+

Both are IPS and color calibration tools.
my vote goes out to LG. its more expensive but its 4k resolution.

check them out.

This post has been edited by COOLPINK: Mar 1 2021, 05:07 PM

Then don't rush in buying the monitor
Save some money every month, use the tabung function in the Maybank MAE app so you can set a specific target

RM400 x 12 months = RM4.8K
After 1 year you can buy a good quality monitor as per Andrewtst has suggested
If you can't do RM400 every month, then reduce it to RM300 per month. After 1 year, you'll have RM3.6K ready in your hand

The monitor itself is not good enough, great quality monitor is not only colour, it is very smooth to eye, higher brightness and etc as well. Also the panel is 10bit colour instead of 8bit.

Also those calibration tools ain’t cheap. The cost probably already can give you a decent monitor.

This post has been edited by Andrewtst: Mar 1 2021, 05:47 PM

Thank you so much everyone for your guidance and time, much appreciated. I think I'll save for some time and then opt to buy a good one as you all suggested. Thank You!

Just to bring in your notice if anyone else might be interested in getting a monitor for themselves I saw Cooler Master is giving discount on their monitors maybe it helps someone, check it out.
Also, what do you guys think of their monitors?


https://www.lowyat.net/2021/233877/cooler-m...rm-1k-discount/

Most 10 bit monitors are 8 bit + FRC rather than true 10 bit panels; true 10 bit monitors are very expensive and are intended for professional use cases that requires high color accuracy

Nah, the CM monitor still VA panel. Diff target segment, they push very high refresh rate so compromise will be on the colour (90% gamut)

You can take a look at this one, AOC 300nits 24" IPS if you need one right now
https://shopee.com.my/AOC-23.8-24G2E5-LED-F...2218.4820694539
cost about 495

Else save up for a really good one.

This post has been edited by ceo684: Mar 2 2021, 01:28 PM

Thank you,

I had actually made my mind for this exact AOC 24G2E5 one but not as per your all suggestions I'm being double minded if I should wait and get a better one or get this. On paper it looks to be good, not sure how good it actually is because I do have a need of monitor but very confused 🤦🏻‍♂️

Then don’t forget most 8 bit monitors are 6 bit + FRC.
Real 10 bit or not, it still big improvement over 8 bit.

The FRC is not real but it still manage to get very better output.

This post has been edited by Andrewtst: Mar 2 2021, 02:49 PM

Hi, can you or anyone else here help me which one should I opt for among AOC 24G2E5 and Prism+ x240 (3.3 Deal) or if there's any other better option in this price bracket, want to order today 3.3 so I can make use of the deals if so. Guide me please, thank you! 🙏🏻


Prism+ X240
https://www.lazada.com.my/products/prism-x2...7269034157.html


AOC 24G2E5
https://shopee.com.my/AOC-24G2E5-23.8-FHD-7...1013.5838213842

Prism one VA https://prismplus.sg/products/prism-x240
AOC IPS

I recommend AOC 24G2E5

Gotcha, thank you buddy! 🙏🏻

Like what Andrewtst said, that budget won't give you a monitor with decent color accuracy, and prepare to pay about 3-4x as much for a color accurate one

There are plenty of criteria that makes a color accurate monitor:

1. Gamut coverage (wider is usually better but more importantly the monitor needs to have sRGB emulation mode, or ideally sRGB emulation mode with full controls on the monitor colors, as some monitors usually lock those settings out when sRGB mode is selected in the OSD)
Also most, if not all content are done in sRGB (with the exception of HDR content), and this is why the s in sRGB stands for standard

2. Panel uniformity (this ensures that color accuracy is maintained throughout the panel itself)
https://www.tftcentral.co.uk/features.htm#uniformity

3. deltaE values (the lower is better, usually a monitor with deltaE value of less than 2 or close to it is considered fairly accurate)

4. Native bitdepth - avoid 6 bit + FRC panels, and go for at least a native 8 bit or even a simulated 10 bit (aka 8 bit + FRC) panel

5. Factory calibration, or ideally buy something like a colorimeter (or rent one) and calibrate the panel

More detailed explanation:
https://www.rtings.com/monitor/tests/pictur.../color-accuracy

Just to give you an idea, this is the color performance of a typical budget monitor (Acer SB220Q):
https://youtu.be/VGfVj_3u03Q?t=611

Summary:
1. Panel is decently calibrated out of the box
2. deltaE is OK (around 3.39), which is fine for most uses except color critical work
3. Panel only has a color gamut of 93%


For most color critical work, go IPS, as TN panels have poor viewing angles and suffers from color shift, and while VA panels are capable of accurate colors, they suffer from gamma shift which means the same color may look slightly different especially near the edge of the panel or when viewed off center (this is why most VA monitors are curved as the curve is useful to mitigate this)

For that budget, most monitors tend to perform similarly, and in many cases often made by the same manufacturer (despite the different branding)

That being said, if you are doing color critical work, you should definitely invest in a colorimter (or find a color calibration service) to calibrate your monitor

This post has been edited by chocobo7779: Mar 5 2021, 09:13 AM

Actually there are some color accuracy oriented monitors that can easily go over the RM10K mark, like those Eizo Coloredge/high end Ultrasharps/HP Dreamcolor, but those are meant for the professional market rather than the consumer market

To be fair though, Hardware Unboxed did a review on the Acer SB220Q and the color performance is actually pretty decent for its price


There's actually very little reason to buy TN monitors these days, as even VA panels (which are known for poor response times) are capable of TN like response times (see: Samsung Odyssey G7)

Actually the difference between 6 bit + FRC and true 8 bit are pretty much indistinguishable (for most users), but most 1080p IPS panels are 6 bit + FRC only:
https://www.displayspecifications.com/en/model/94552010

1440p monitors tend to be 8 bit, or simulated 10 bit (8 bit + FRC)

IMHO 4K at 27 inch will introduce scaling problems, so either go 32 inch 4K, or 1440p 27 inch instead