Choosing one of the best monitors for photo editing is an important investment if you care about colour accuracy in your images. Even enthusiast photographers will want reasonable colour coverage and accuracy to truly enjoy their images, but if you're a professional photographer handing work off to clients, these factors are crucial.
Below we've picked out our choices of the best monitors for photo editing based on our own reviews, recommendations from photographers, stated specs, including colour coverage and accuracy and any specific useful features for photo editing. We've included screens at different price points to provide options for enthusiasts as well as professionals.
Some of the more expensive monitors come with their own calibration tools, but those that don't will require use of one of the best monitor calibrator tools to keep it checked. Also, make sure you check our roundup of Prime Day monitor deals for discounts during and around Amazon's 2023 sale event in July.
The best monitors for photographers today are generally 4K (UHD) screens, especially those who also work with video. Most of our recommendations here offer UHD resolution, but we also have a specific guide to the best 4K monitors if you want more options. We also have a guide to the best monitors for video editing and the best touchscreen monitors (some photographers find a tactile screen useful for making selections).
The best monitors for photo editing today
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This affordable option from Dell is our pick as the best monitor for photo editing for most people because we think it offers a fantastic balance between price and image quality. Professional photo editing monitors like the BenQ and Eizo displays below are hugely expensive and overkill for most people's needs, while this 4K monitor offers great colour coverage with 100% Rec 709, 100% sRGB and 98% DCI-P3 gamut.
With a dedicated sRGB mode, contrast ratio of 2000:1, a 400 cd/m² brightness level, USB-C connectivity and a USB hub, it's a gem for the budget-conscious photographer. It even comes with VESA DisplayHDR 400 making it a decent option for gaming or watching films between editing photos. One of the three USB-C ports supports KVM and another supports DisplayPort Alt Mode and 90W of power delivery, which is enough to power most laptops. This monitor received an excellent review from our sister site Techradar, with the clarity of the 4K resolution being commended.
If a stunningly specced monitor like the BenQ or Eizo screens below are too much of an outlay for where you are in your photography career (or hobby) at the moment, Dell has some budget monitors with very good colour coverage. The Dell S2721QS covers 99% coverage of the sRGB space, which is the colour space you're likely to be using if you only edit images for general digital displays such as for web or social media.
At under $400 / £400, this is very reasonably priced. Alas, there's no USB connection though, so you won't be able to charge your laptop with this. For that, you'll need to stretch to the monitor above at number one in our pick of the best monitors for photo editing.
We rate the BenQ SW321C as the best monitor for photo editing overall. It's not cheap by any means, but it's not the most expensive screen either, offering a good balance between price and quality – because the quality is fantastic. It boasts 99% Adobe RGB, 100% sRGB and 95% P3 gamut coverage, and you can quickly switch between colour spaces thanks to a separate control unit. And the screen comes expertly calibrated, although it also offers hardware calibration independent of your computer.
We've found the colour precision and uniformity across the screen to be close to faultless, and when combined with the detail of the 4K display, this is a screen that allows you to view your work in glorious detail. There are plenty of other useful touches. The Paper Color Sync mode helps you create a colour space based on your printer and paper type for more accurate previewing, while M Book mode makes the screen more closely match a MacBook Pro to allow easy transition between screens. The monitor supports USB-C with power delivery up to 60W, so you can connect a laptop and get power and data over a single cable.
See our full BenQ SW321C review for more details.
Eizo has a reputation for being the ultimate professional photo-editing monitor brand, and the first time you see the clarity, vivacity and brightness of an Eizo display, it’s immediately obvious why – and why its photo-editing monitors are so much more expensive than those of competitors – and more expensive than most PCs.
The latest version of Eizo’s flagship 31-inch professional monitor, the Eizo ColorEdge CG319X boasts an unmatched 24-bit look-up table for 10-bit colour depth, supporting 99% AdobeRGB, 100% Rec.709 and 98% DCI-P3 colour spaces. It also supports a slightly wider 4K resolution of 4096 x 2160, conforming to the professional DCI 4K standard used by some professional studios.
It has a unique built-in hardware colour calibration tool that pops down with a click every time the monitor is power cycled, ensuring the colours remain in sync without needing to use a third-party colourimeter. And new to this generation are hybrid-log gamma and perceptual quantisation for working with HDR video – something that will be of most interest to studios and freelancers working with high-end imagery. The ColorNavigator 7 colour management software can be used by teams to ensure accuracy across a project.
The CG319X is designed – and priced – for a niche professional audience that needs the best possible colour, and when we tested it for ourselves, we found that it certainly delivers, offering phenomenal colour accuracy and excellent features in a solid, sturdy, if not particularly exciting looking build. Most of us will skip this option after taking one glance at the price, but if money is no object, we think this is the best monitor for photo editing you can buy, only placing at number 3 because of the cost. See our full, in-depth Eizo ColorEdge CG319X review for more details.
We were a little disappointed when we reviewed the new Apple Studio Display. Only a 60hz refresh rate, no HDR, and you have to pay extra if you want to be able to adjust the height. Also, while a built-in webcam of any kind on a monitor is a relative rarity, that on the Apple Studio Display is a bit mediocre.
All that aside, however, when it comes to editing photos, this monitor is not a bad choice, especially if you're a fan of Apple products and you're looking for an option to pair with a Mac mini or to expand the screen on your MacBook Pro. The 5K screen offers great clarity, and colour and brightness are consistent, which are the main priorities when it comes to photo editing.
Read more details are our full Apple Studio Display review.
With even some mirrorless cameras like the Canon EOS R5 now offering 8K video recording some people looking for a monitor for photography may want to stretch to an 8K monitor. One of the few available is the Dell UltraSharp UP3218K. It carries a large price tag, although it's not the most expensive monitor on this list, but when it comes to detail, it really does stand out. Just note that since it was made before HDMI 2.1 and its 8K support arrived, it requires two(!) DisplayPort connections to power all those pixels.
Yes, it's definitely specialist, but it's not just the number of pixels that have impressed us with this display, it's what they can show. Dell boasts 100% AdobeRGB, 100% sRGB, 100% Rec. 709 and 98% DCI-P3 coverage, making it a dream for photo editors that need great colour support. And at 31.5 inches, it's not a totally ridiculous size. Being a pro Dell monitor, it's built extremely solidly, and with full ergonomic adjustment options.
This LG monitor has a lot going for it indeed. First off, it's a big 32-inch 4K screen packed with pixels. It offers 95% P3 colour gamut support, HDR compatibility (though the brightness is fairly low at 350 nits), and even, accurate images that look truly authentic. It also boasts great connections, including USB Type-C.
But it's the 'Ergo' part that really sets it apart in our eyes. The adjustable arm allows you to position the monitor however you want in terms of height, rotation, tilt and how far forward you want it. The pillar support clamps to the back of your desk, so it actually leaves you more space on the desk too. We find it a delight to work with, although we recognise that not everyone will use this flexibility.
You'll be hard pressed to find a certified colour-accurate sRGB monitor at a cheaper price than the ASUS PA279CV. This 27-inch IPS display offers 100% of the sRGB photo colour space and 100% of the Rec. 709 video colour space. With, a Delta-E colour accuracy of less than 2 and factory colour calibration, it offers broad, accurate colour at a great price. There's a decent array of connections too, with HDMI, DisplayPort, and USB-C delivering 65W to power a connected laptop. The stand provides tilt, swivel, pivot, and height adjustment, making this an all-round gem of a screen.
Ultra-wide monitors are usually aimed at gaming or general computer use, so it’s nice to see ViewSonic offering graphic artists a massive 37.5-inch 21:9 display with the VP3881. Ultra-wide displays such as this are like having two smaller monitors together on the desk, without a bezel breaking up the desktop space. It gives you space to have multiple windows open at once, boosting productivity as you can view webpages, file explorers and multiple editing applications simultaneously.
The image quality isn’t quite in the same league as other displays listed here – it offers 100% sRGB coverage but a slightly narrower AdobeRGB conformity, and the 10-bit colour depth is compensated by frame reference counting. However, the monitor has a complete set of image customisation settings in the on-screen menus that's enough to make the VP3881 a cut above other ultra-wide screens.
How to choose the best monitor for photo editing
There several things to consider and look out for when you're choosing a monitor for photo editing. Some of the most important are to decide what size monitor you want. There are also minimum requirements you should look for in terms of resolution and colour accuracy. We'll discuss some of those questions below.
Why do I need to choose one of the best monitors for photo editing?
Screens vary in their brightness, uniformity and level of colour coverage and accuracy, which means images can look different on different displays. If the screen you work on has poor colour coverage and accuracy, your work could look very different on a different screen or when printed out.
The best monitors for photographers can help ensure your photos look the way you expect when they appear on another device or in print. Good colour coverage is especially important if you're doing HSL adjustments and colour grading. Editing on an inadequate screen, or even a good screen that's not been calibrated, can result in images that can be over or undersaturated.
The best monitors for photography support wide colour spaces such as Adobe RGB and provide accurate colours and uniform brightness and contrast. While you can't guarantee what screen your clients or public will use to see your photos, you can at least ensure that your own screen is allowing you to make the most accurate edit possible.
Which is the best monitor for photo editing?
The very best monitor for photo editing in our view is the Eizo ColorEdge CG319X at number three in our list above. We only place it at number three rather than at the top because we've also taken price into consideration, and monitors such as this are simply not an option for many enthusiasts, and even for many professionals.
We currently recommend the BenQ SW321C as the best monitor for photo editing for those looking for a balance between professional specs and a slightly more accessible price.
What size monitor should I use for photo editing?
One important thing to consider when buying a monitor for photo editing is the size of screen that you want to work on. Many displays come in the standard 16:9 widescreen aspect ratio, although a taller screen (or a screen that you can rotate like the LG Ultrafine Ergo in our list above) can be useful for editing images in portrait orientation.
Ultra-wide monitors will give you a lot more screen space to work on so that you can have multiple windows or panels open, but they aren't necessarily the best for focused work. They also take up a huge amount of space. Generally, we find that most photographers like editing on a monitor that's between 27in and 32in.
What monitor resolution do I need for photo editing?
Very simply, the higher the resolution, the better the sharpness and detail of the image, but that depends on the size of the monitor – and of course, higher resolution monitors are usually more expensive. When looking to pick the best monitor for photo editing, we would recommend going for a resolution of 4K (3,840 x 2,160) if you can afford it.
Most of the screens in our list of the best monitors for photo editing are 4K displays (double check that your PC or Mac supports 4K resolution if it's quite an old device), but we have also included an QHD and FHD screen, both much more affordable while still offering the good colour coverage you want for photo editing.
Do I need a 4K monitor for photo editing?
Not at all. We recommend using a 4K screen since it will offer a sharper, cleaner and more detailed image if the screen is large enough, and since 4K monitors have become more affordable, it's not so much of a difficult decision. But if you prefer a smaller screen (less than 27 inches), then you're not going to see much of a difference between 4K and FHD, and the interface scaling may make things too small to be comfortable.
What else should I consider in a monitor for photo editing?
If you're buying a monitor for photo editing, colour is vital and it's a good idea to look for a that display supports colour spaces like Adobe sRGB. You'll also want a uniform brightness across the screen. The best monitors for photo editing include their own calibration tools, but this is not an essential since you can also buy an external monitor calibrator to perform regulator calibration of your screen.
Connectivity is a key issue, too – many monitors have HDMI, but some also support Thunderbolt or USB-C meaning you can have a single cable going to your PC or Mac that powers it and also carries the display signal. Whichever monitor your choose, you'll want to make sure you regularly calibrate it using one of the best monitor calibrators. And if your workspace has harsh lighting, you might want to consider applying an anti-reflective coating too.
What colour coverage do I need for photo editing?
In the specs for the monitors above we've listed the colour coverage that each provides. What colour coverage you need for your photo editing will depend on whether you're a professional or enthusiast. Monitor colour coverage can a confusing topic at first because several different colour spaces exist, and some of these contain more colours than others.
A colour space is a specific organisation of colours which, in combination with colour profiling, supports reproducible representations of colour. Looking at the best monitors for photo editing, you'll see that they cover a percentage of different colour spaces – the higher the percentage, the more of that colour space they can produce. Colour spaces include sRGB, Adobe RGB,
Why it can be confusing is that one monitor might be certified at 100% sRGB, the standard 8-bit colour space for web display, but that still isn't the best colour colour coverage possible. The Adobe RGB spectrum and DCI-P3 are broader spaces than sRGB, thus with more colours. As a general rule, we'd advise choosing a monitor for photo editing that covers at least 90% of sRGB and 70% of Adobe RGB. These colour spaces are industry standards. Professionals, especially those working on projects that go to print or involve working with other photo editors will want higher than this – ideally over 90% of Adobe RGB.
Which is the best type of monitor for photo editing?
You'll notice that the monitors that we've listed above include two types of display: IPS (in-plane switching) and LCD (liquid crystal display). These aren't two different things, but rather IPS is a more advanced form of LCD. IPS screens solve problems with the accurate reproduction of images from narrow viewing angles, helping to retain brightness, sharpness and colour accuracy at off-axis viewing.
