The 5 Best Monitors For Photo Editing - Spring 2024 Reviews

The best monitor we've tested for photo editing is the Acer Nitro XV275K P3biipruzx. It's designed with gaming in mind, but it's still very versatile for different uses, including its great performance for photo editing. It has an extremely accurate sRGB mode, so you won't even need to calibrate it for life-like colors and images. It displays a wide range of colors in the Adobe RGB color space, which is useful if you edit in this color space, but it does this by oversaturating colors. Besides this, it delivers great picture quality as it has a decent Mini LED local dimming feature that helps it display deep blacks next to bright highlights, making it great for editing content in dark rooms.

Another advantage is that it has a high 4k resolution for detailed images, and its 27-inch screen is big enough to see most of your work area at once. It also has a USB-C port that supports DisplayPort Alt Mode and 90W of power delivery, allowing you to connect your laptop and charge it using a single cable. However, it doesn't have a KVM switch to control two devices with the same keyboard and mouse, so if that's something you want, check out the Dell U2723QE, though it has worse picture quality than the Acer.

If you want to edit your photos with a Mac computer, like a MacBook Pro or Mac Mini, consider the Apple Studio Display. While the Acer Nitro XV275K P3biipruzx is good enough to use with macOS devices, the Studio Display completes your Apple ecosystem and has features you can use only with a Mac computer. One of those features is its dedicated sRGB mode, which results in exceptional accuracy, and you won't even need to calibrate it for the most accurate image. It also has a higher 5k resolution, resulting in an incredibly high pixel density and sharp images.

It's different in a few ways from the ASUS because it doesn't support HDR, but that doesn't make much difference if you don't edit photos in HDR. It also has much worse ergonomics as it's available in two different types of stands, but neither offers swivel adjustment. You can also get a third variant that comes with a mounting adapter, for which you'll need to buy a proper mount. While its low contrast means it's a bad choice to use in dark rooms, it easily gets bright enough to fight glare and has fantastic reflection handling, so it's ideal to use in a bright room.

If you don't need the Apple Studio Display to use with Mac computers and you find the Acer Nitro XV275K P3biipruzx is too much out of your price range, then check out the mid-range ASUS ProArt Display PA279CRV. It doesn't have Mini LED backlighting like the Acer, so its local dimming feature performs terribly, and this monitor has worse picture quality, especially in dark scenes. On the plus side, it's designed with content creators in mind, as it has various picture modes for different color spaces you may work with, including anything from sRGB to Rec. 2020. Its sRGB mode has fantastic accuracy, so you'll only need to calibrate it if you need perfectly accurate colors. It also displays all colors in the sRGB and Adobe RGB color spaces.

Like the Acer, it has a 4k resolution, so you can see plenty of details in your pictures, and its 27-inch screen is big enough to multitask while editing. It also has a handful of features, like a USB hub with three USB-A ports and two USB-C ports. One of the USB-C inputs supports DisplayPort Alt Mode with 90W of power delivery, so you can easily connect a compatible laptop to work on it and charge it using a single cable.

If you still find the ASUS ProArt Display PA279CRV too much out of your price range and prefer something in the lower mid-range category, the Dell S2722QC is a good choice as it often goes on sale. It's a step down in performance from ASUS as it doesn't have a dedicated sRGB picture mode, meaning it has worse accuracy, but that's what you must expect when getting something cheaper. It also has a smaller USB hub, with two USB-A ports and a single USB-C port. Luckily, it supports DisplayPort Alt Mode with 65W of power delivery, which is enough to charge smaller laptops but not power-hungry ones.

It's a great choice if you need to use your monitor in a bright room because it has great peak brightness, enough to fight glare, and the reflection handling is good. It also has wide viewing angles that are great if you need to share your work with someone next to you, and the excellent ergonomics make adjusting the screen in different ways easy. That said, it lacks a local dimming feature, so blacks look gray when you're editing content in dark rooms.

If you're looking for something on a budget, the Dell S2721QS is a good option in Dell's 4k lineup, but it's a step down from the more expensive Dell S2722QC model and has fewer features. The main difference is that it has no USB hub, so you can't use your laptop's USB-C port to directly connect to it like on the S2722QC. However, it still has DisplayPort and HDMI inputs, so you can use an adapter even if your laptop doesn't have those ports.

Besides the difference in connectivity, the picture quality is very similar to the S2722QC, as it also has decent accuracy. Still, it doesn't have an sRGB mode, so you'll have to calibrate it if you need the most accurate colors possible, and it has limited picture quality due to its low contrast ratio. If that's important to you, consider the AOC Q27G3XMN, which uses Mini LED backlighting and has much better picture quality in dark scenes. It has a lower resolution and can be harder to find than the Dell.