HP gets color-critical with 24-inch DreamColor LP2480xz LCD

Color-critical displays have been around for ages -- you've just had to look really hard and break out some serious change in order to claim one. Now, however, HP's aiming to make a professional display that's actually somewhat affordable for the layman, and that monitor is the DreamColor LP2480xz. Checking in at 24-inches diagonal, this 30-bit, LED-backlit monster provides "a range of more than 1 billion colors" and "achieves more than 64 times the colors available on mainstream LCDs." It was designed in collaboration with DreamWorks Animation and comes bundled with the HP DreamColor engine software and calibration kit. Oh, and if you've been wondering just what the definition of "affordable" was, you can procure this one right now for a modest $3,499. Action shot after the cut.

Update: Looks like we conflated that 30-bit spec with inches, post has been updated. We're also hearing this thing runs at a standard-for-its-size 1920 x 1200 pixels. Thanks to everyone who pointed this out.

[enneract @ Jun 10th 2008 7:03AM]

is it just me, or is it remarkably pointless to display the image of a color-critical display (or, more the point, the image on the pictured display) on a standard one?

[Jakob H. Poulsen @ Jun 12th 2008 11:51AM]

Indeed. Just like television commercials for HD displays, or nowadays: television commercials for LCDs with improved black levels! :)

[trev @ Jun 10th 2008 7:15AM]

It doesn't matter how good the panel is if the backlight is poor quality - patches of the screen which are brighter/duller since this means you cant actually tell how saturated the colours are - making it pointless for colour critical work...but then at 3500 you would hope all the parts were top notch!

[j_g_puff @ Jun 10th 2008 8:15AM]

Surely whenever you read about something that costs $3,499 you think 'I wonder what that looks like?'. I do.

[Delver @ Jun 10th 2008 7:06AM]

Exactly my thoughts.

[404 @ Jun 10th 2008 7:21AM]

What else can they do though? It would look half-assed if they didn't have images, and they can hardly give us all colour-critical displays to see it on.

It's ain't perfect, but it's better than nothing. Besides, you can still see the style/layout/colour of the actual device and crap like that.

[Ghen @ Jun 10th 2008 7:25AM]

They're supposed to have pictures of toothpick sized korean chicks gently massaging the monitor's bezel. Duh.

[404 @ Jun 10th 2008 7:30AM]

But that doesn't fix anything, it just distracts you from the fact that you still can't see-

Oh. Right. I see your plan there....

[Richard Lai @ Jun 10th 2008 7:40AM]

Any ideas of who supplies the LCD panel?

[bjorn_ahlm @ Jun 10th 2008 11:55AM]

It's an IPS panel, so it should be LG.

[Alvaro @ Jun 10th 2008 7:43AM]

Where does it say 30 inch? I see 30 bit...
Doesn't LP2480xz suggest 24-inch?
Just a thought

[SneAKz @ Jun 10th 2008 7:56AM]

I think you're right

[C1kliX @ Jun 10th 2008 8:46AM]

You are correct, the LP2480zx is indeed a 24" display. My collegue has one sitting at his desk (right next to me) and has this very monitor under evaluation.

[Evan @ Jun 10th 2008 7:49AM]

Whatever they are doing has not yet filtered down into consumer-level monitors, because I have not yet seen an LCD that could be described as "accurate".

[tekdroid @ Jun 10th 2008 10:47AM]

I would agree.
Very very few IPS / PVA monitors hitting Joe User at retail.

[Jimminy @ Jun 10th 2008 7:59AM]

Oh wow, the display on these look so much better than my current monitor.

[Chad @ Jun 10th 2008 1:17PM]

I don't think anyone got it... you should be highly ranked.

[Hellios @ Jun 10th 2008 8:05AM]

I can just imagine how many FW900 I could buy with this amount of money.

Eleven. That's how many superior 24" monitors I could buy with this kind of money.

[Sim @ Jun 10th 2008 9:02AM]

11 is also the amount of desks you need for those.
11 is the number of chiropractor visits required after install.
11 is the multiple of your current electricity bill after install.
Awesome picture, everything else sucks about the fw900

[Juhlster1021 @ Jun 10th 2008 10:34AM]

Specs are at http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/us/en/sm/WF06a/382087-382087-64283-72270-444767-3648397.html

Yep, it's a 24" monitor. Hope it's really pretty for 3K+. But I wouldn't turn down a couple of free ones.

[Jeff Schwandt @ Jun 10th 2008 10:44AM]

Alvaro is correct. It is a 24-inch monitor. Here's a link to the spec sheet:
http://www.hp.com/hpinfo/newsroom/press_kits/2008/connecting/ds_ws_lp2480z.pdf

I wonder if HP has addressed the gap between the colors you see on the screen and those you get from the printer?

[Brian! @ Jun 10th 2008 12:50PM]

Well, the gap from screen to printer is something that has been addressed in the professional graphic design space.

Each printer has a different profile due to the mechanics on the way it lays down ink, the colors of the ink (not everyone's Magenta is the exactly the same), and the media your printing on.

So, if you have a color accurate monitor that is also calibrated, then at least you know one side is somewhat stable. You then have to get a calibration of your press/printer to find what its profile is. Many printers have icc profiles you can download that get you 90% there.

With the printer profile, you then assign that to your job in an app like Photoshop as your working color profile. The picture is adjusted to look the way it will print.

My tip working this way is to work in a neutral profile with your calibrated monitor. Then, right before printing, save a copy of your work, apply the printer profile, then adjust the final color settings so that it prints great. If you work with your printer profile in mind the whole time, sometimes you get a nasty surprise when you switch to a new printer and find that, say, your entire piece is shifted blue with heavy gamma. So the more your source files can stay neutral the better.

Finally, many professional press outfits will take the time to calibrate their presses so that they print accurate as well. For instance, if I design a magazine ad to place in multiple magazines, I am not going to ask for a color profile of their press, rather I will trust that their press will print a picture properly. It is home printers that have the biggest calibration challenges.

[eric f. @ Jun 10th 2008 11:05AM]

you would think at that price that they could make a nicer stand for it.

[Randx @ Jun 11th 2008 1:39PM]

To wit;

The backlight is an LED based array. This allows the 30 bit panel to display a color gamut beyond that of most printers CMYK standards. I've seen this monitor and it is incredible from a color accuracy standpoint but that only affects developers. Users only interest would be seeing any content in the same way the artist created it.

[Mr. B @ Jun 11th 2008 8:39PM]

A color-accurate display is also of great interest to photographers that print their work.

[kcvo @ Jun 13th 2008 2:18AM]

這啥鳥...一台9萬的都買40吋了,那也加個專業用的字眼嘛

害我高興了一下下就被嚇的吐出來

[HeavySausage @ Aug 20th 2008 3:38PM]

Totally.

[nyc @ Jun 21st 2008 11:21PM]

30 bit, is that 10 bit for each color; RGB? Thats normal today.

Remember that the video-card is 8 bit, so it is only the internal rendering or calculations which are done in 10 or 30 bits.
It doesn't automatically give a larger color-gamut. How large is the color-gamut?
Eizo and NEC has surpassed the Adobe 98 color-space.