Professional Monitors

Best specialty LCD monitors for office, photo and video work

While low-cost, general-purpose monitors are fine for everyday use, some people may want to spend more on a specialized monitor, particularly those who do graphics, photo or video work. If you do, reviewers rave about the 24-inch Asus PA246Q ProArt (*Est. $495) widescreen LCD display, which offers features found only in more expensive professional models and some unique abilities not found in other monitors at all.

The Asus PA246Q offers a Professional IPS (P-IPS) display, which is calibrated for color at the factory (the box even includes a calibration certificate, reviewers say). As a result, the color balance is near-perfect out of the box. Images are very bright -- almost too bright for some users -- and crisp. Detail is good both at the very dark and very light ends of the spectrum. For its panel type, it has a relatively fast 6 ms response time, though you won't mistake it for a 2 ms gaming display.

The Asus PA246Q has a 16:10 display rather than the traditional 16:9 ratio for most widescreen monitors, meaning that while it's still 24 inches on the diagonal, it squeezes in a 1,920 by 1,200 resolution and a tiny bit more screen into that space. Both professional reviews and users praise the PA246Q's picture and its adjustability -- it swivels, height-adjusts and rotates from portrait to landscape mode.

The Asus PA246Q's on-screen controls also receive high marks from reviewers. One unique feature -- the ability to overlay a grid of varying size on-screen to measure and align your artwork -- is praised by reviewers as being handy and easy to use.

Complaints include a bright backlight that makes true blacks impossible to achieve, a somewhat anemic contrast ratio compared to other professional models (though most are nearly double the price), and weak sound from the included speakers. User complaints about the Asus PA246Q almost all center around quality-assurance issues, mostly with stuck pixels, though these are in many cases higher-end users for whom a pixel or two can be irritating on professional projects. Asus apparently instituted a no-stuck-pixel return policy recently, which appears to be backed up by the company's posted responses to those consumers with complaints at Newegg.com.

Other professional monitors are either wildly more expensive ($1,000 to $1,300 or more) or fail to garner very many reviews. The Dell U2711H (*Est. $855) receives positive reviews, however, and while it's more expensive than the Asus PA246Q, it's also 27 inches instead of 24. If you choose to move up to 27- or 30-inch monitors, be sure to check the capabilities of your video card; not all can handle such a large display.