Expand Your Universe in Lightroom with Dual Monitors
In this post Brandon Oelling from x=photography+consulting shares how dual monitors can speed up your workflow when using Lightroom.
Nowadays, adding a second monitor to your Lightroom workflow is not only within grasp – it’s darn cheap!
Most monitors 19-20 inches can be purchased for less than $175 which is a huge difference in price from just a year ago.
With two monitors, Lightroom really gets interesting. Here’s how we’re taking advantage of it.
Turning things on
Once your second monitor is connected to your main system, in Lightroom simply select Window >> Secondary Display >> Show …
If working near the filmstrip is more your thing, there is an icon that also allows you to toggle the secondary display:
… or you can use keyboard shortcut Cmd+F11 (mac) or F11 (PC) and which makes toggling the secondary display on or off ultra-quick.
{Note: The shortcuts for using the secondary window are the same as the equivalent shortcuts in the Library module, with the Shift key added. Adobe provides a more complete shortcut list on their website.}
Lightroom will then present you with the secondary display window:
Initially, Lightroom displays this new window in Full Screen mode. This can be toggled on or off in the Window >> Secondary Display menu …
… or via keyboard shortcut Cmd+Shift+F11 (mac) or Shift+F11 (pc).
Do a few things, and do them well
We use the more basic features of the secondary display to inject improvements to our workflow, but they sure do up the productivity factor!
The main benefit of this setup is that the secondary display presents your image(s) regardless of what module you are in, without all the clutter of the module panels and the filmstrip – allowing you to focus on things like 1:1 previews, color, tone, etc. This compliments the main window perfectly where I DO keep all the panels and filmstrip controls visible.
Let’s walk through the main pieces of the secondary display and its features.
View Controls
- Grid – places the standard Grid View layout into the secondary windows – essentially an over-glorified filmstrip
- Loupe – this is the our default view which places a single image in the window
- Compare – select 2 photos displayed side by side for evaluation
- Survey – select multiple photos to be displayed side by side for evaluation
- Slideshow – generate and play a full-screen slide show of the currently selected folder or collection
Loupe View
We use Loupe view for practically 90% of our workfllow. The Grid, Compare, Survey, and Slideshow modes are nice, but what we really want to do is have a large full screen preview as we walk through our final edits to allow for the type of deep image inspection normally completed in the main window, but again without all the clutter.
That being said, let’s look at some of the features the Loupe view provides.
- Normal – displays the selected image from the filmstrip or grid
- Live – displays the most current image located under the pointer from the filmstrip or grid
- Locked – locks down a selected photo even if you choose a different photo in the primary window
You can also do some basic filtering on the filmstrip via the Loupe View as well. This is good for going after a specifc quick collection of final images or a previous import.
All of the zoom controls you’d expect are available in Loupe View as well. This is our most widely used feature in the Loupe View.
Productivity reigns
I’m convinced that with a second monitor you can improve the speed of your Lightroom workflow by 25% or more.
Imagine the constant flipping back and forth between the Library and Develop modules in an attempt to proof your images in survey mode, only to drop back to the Develop module to make adjustments. This vicious cycle can zap precious time from your workflow.
By leveraging a second monitor you can begin to introduce more efficient processes to your workflow, and in turn get back to doing what you do best – shooting!
Brandon Oelling is from x=photography+consulting – image+workflow+technology+business.
Tags: Dual Monitors, Lightroom, Monitors
15 Responses to “Expand Your Universe in Lightroom with Dual Monitors” - Add Yours
April 22nd, 2009 at 12:43 am
I agree. I just recently purchased Lightroom 2 and the dual monitor capability is fabulous. It really has helped my workflow immensely.
April 22nd, 2009 at 5:00 am
I have a Benq 24″ from about two years ago that uses the S-PVA/MVA technology, but it is getting harder to find the 24″ screens that aren’t using TN! I guess we photographers are seeing the effects of being a minority. I know it greatly affects the chance to find a laptop with a top quality screen. Ugh…. Can anyone recommend a reasonably priced ($600 or so) 24″ that uses S-PVA/MVA that could match my Benq? (I use Bibble, but the longer they take to release version 5, the more I am pressed to look at articles about Lightroom)
April 22nd, 2009 at 5:01 am
(bump) to set up for notification…
April 22nd, 2009 at 5:01 am
Thanks. I look forward to adding a monitor to my Macbook pro – this should help me out a bunch.
April 22nd, 2009 at 5:36 pm
Hey Greg,
You don’t really want *VA monitors for photography work. What you need is H-IPS – and you’ll find it in the HP LP2475W and NEC 2490WUXI (and 2690WUXI as well). Apple’s monitors are also of the IPS variant (older ones are S-IPS, newer ones are H-IPS, but you can’t connect them to the PC). The NECs are more pricey, but they are the absolute best monitors you can buy for the PC, period.
If you are looking for something a bit cheaper/smaller, there’s the 22″ Dell 2209WA (note the “A” in the suffix). It’s around $200-250, but it’s a decent IPS for secondary display (a bit too small otherwise). LG will release its own IPS monitors in the following couple of months, including a 24″, which might even be standard gamut and hence awesome.
As for this article – $175 will only get you a piece of TN garbage. Completely unsuitable for working with any kind of graphics material. You get what you pay for.
April 23rd, 2009 at 4:07 pm
Thanks for the heads up on the 2209WA, Matija. I hadn’t heard of it before and it is surely hard to believe IPS is so cheap, even if it is e-IPS. I always considered *VA a poor’s mans photography monitor since IPS 2-3 years ago was twice the *VA pricing, or more. I guess I was looking for *VA and didn’t even think about looking for IPS monitors due to the price bias I had,
I might pull the trigger on the HP… looks very good….
Thanks!
April 24th, 2009 at 12:21 am
I’m completely confused with the references to VA, H, S-PVA/MVA. What do these mean to the completel lay person?
Also, I have a desktop computer that I normally do most of my higher end post production. I have a laptop that I use when traveling or on location shoot for quick viewing. Is it possible to connect the two to use the laptop as a secondary viewing screen? thanks.
April 24th, 2009 at 1:47 am
i have a dual monitor setup using a Samsung Syncmaster T220 + Samsung Syncmaster 930B.
i would _highly_ recommend the T220, its got great response time (im also a gamer) and excellent colour reproduction under multiple operating systems (im also in the IT field, so Linux, Windows), IIRC, its also HD compliant.
i would NOT recommend the 930B, its got a serious blue bias. when looking around for a new monitor i discovered that this is in fact a known issue. the blue bias is quite visible when looked at side-by-side with the T220.
i have both running on an Nvidia 8800GTS, on the cards dual DVI outputs.
Samsung T220: http://www.samsung.com/us/consumer/detail/detail.do?group=computersperipherals&type=monitors&subtype=lcd&model_cd=LS22TWHSUV/ZA
just as a side note, before i ran the dual monitor setup, i used virtual desktop software to give me more workspace. virtual desks have been something thats been built into most Linux desktop interfaces since the get go, but the windows world has sadly never adopted. if a second monitor is out of your price range, it may be worth looking into virtual desktops instead. ive used freeware (GNU) called VirtualDimension, but it looks like theres quite a bit of software out there now to add virtual desktops to windows now.
VirtuaWin: http://virtuawin.sourceforge.net/
VirtualDimension: http://virt-dimension.sourceforge.net/
more here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_desktop#Windows
April 24th, 2009 at 5:56 pm
Hi Michelle,
There are three different technologies for creating panels in LCD monitors: TN, VA – a common denominator for (S-)PVA and (A-)MVA – and IPS, either of the S-IPS and H-IPS variant (there’s a new E-IPS, but that seems to be just a marketing gimmick for an H-IPS).
TN (like the T220 and the 930B mentioned by z0th) is the worst of the bunch. It can only reproduce 262144 colours instead of 16.7 million and uses tricks to try and get the full range. Colour reproduction is generally pretty bad, and the tech suffers from extremely poor vertical viewing angles. If you place a solid colour on the screen, it will look like a gradient to you; the top of the screen always looks darker, the bottom looks lighter, and some colours might get a different hue. See here: http://www.lagom.nl/lcd-test/viewing_angle.php
VA, on the other hand, has problems with *horizontal* viewing angles, but to a lesser extent than TN. It also suffers from what is known as “black crush”, where dark shades appear as a giant blob of black if you are looking at the monitor head-on. As soon as you move to the side, the shades become visible. For an example of that, you can watch a couple of videos here: http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=pva+color+shifting
Finally, IPS technologies have no such problems. Like VA, they can display the full colour range of 16.7 million colours natively, and have absolutely no vertical or horizontal colour/gamma shifting. Monitors with IPS panels are, however, very expensive – at least they were until recently, and now they can give VA a good run for the money. There is a slight problem with IPS in that it has a silvery glow when displaying black and if viewed from the side; NEC solved that with their A-TW polarizer, but it’s rare to find them on other monitors, since it adds to the price substantially. Still no biggie compared to the downsides of TN and VA.
As for using the laptop as your secondary monitor, it’s possible through specialized software, which you’ll have to buy: http://www.maxivista.com
P.S. All the fancy Apple desktop monitors are IPS, for a very good reason.
April 25th, 2009 at 12:06 am
I am using a MacBook and an Apple 23 inch display. I am also using Aperture to collect and store images, and Photoshop CS3. While attending workshops with Jay Dickman, I downloaded Lightroom on my MacBook. These two software programs caused photos to disarray themselves on my hard drive. I am trying to figure out if I can successfully use both programs, or if I need to eliminate one of them. What is the best way to go about this?
Thank you,
Vicki Kohler
April 25th, 2009 at 12:29 am
Hello Michelle,
The terms IPS, MVA, etc. refer to the technology used to create the lcd panel. As a general rule, the cheapest and least satisfactory for photo editing is TN while better are the VA series (PVA, MVA, etc.) and the best is the IPS. As you can guess, the price increases in the same sequence… ;-)
The advantages of these more expensive technologies is their uniformity of display at wider angles. If you notice, some monitors make a photo look different as you change your angle toward the screen. (I have a T500 laptop with the LED screen and it is AWFUL at this – my big mistake). They also do better at showing the subtle changes in the dark areas of an image. The difference between an old TN (Samsung 191T) and my Benq MVA is VERY apparent. I am anxious to see how an IPS compares to the MVA. (Be aware though, that an exceptional model in either of these camps can make the chasm between them not seem so wide).
Look at Ultramon for turning your laptop into a second monitor, BUT remember laptops are notorious for poor screens, with some obvious exceptions.
http://www.realtimesoft.com/ultramon/
April 25th, 2009 at 2:56 am
Oops… Matija is right. I was thinking about Maxivista but gave you Ultramon. I still would be careful, though, about expecting to use a PC laptop for an kind of photowork. Using it for tool panels, etc. could be beneficial.
Good point about the black crush, Matija. My Benq has some of that. Enough so that I am going to now have to get my first IPS panel since the price has fallen so….
I saw a deal on eBay where they are selling remarketed HP LP2475W units and they have them for about $400. My big concern, though, is that I might be buying a monitor with stuck pixels that others sent back. Have you heard of others experiences with buying remarketed HP monitors? A new one at Newegg is $560, so I am not sure it is worth the risk.
Have you heard if the LP monitors are going to be as price competitive as the HP and Dell IPS models you mentioned?
Thoughts?
April 25th, 2009 at 3:30 am
Hi Greg,
HardForum is generally the place you want to visit for such questions :) There’s a lot of experienced people there, and some have bought their monitors as refurbs and over eBay. Look around, maybe you’ll find some useful information – they have 107 (!) pages in the LP2475W thread: http://www.hardforum.com/forumdisplay.php?f=78
June 24th, 2009 at 8:39 am
Hey
I’ve been running lightroom 2 for a while, and have noticed a couple of things…
I have a macbook that is connected to a 22″ monitor as well. I would like to have the large 22″ monitor display a high res preview of the image, and have grid view and all the controls and options on my macbooks screen. Now here is the kicker. I can’t get the secondary screen to go full screen on my 22″ (likely because OSX sees it as the primary). If I take the lightroom window and put in on my Macbooks screen, and enter full screen it stays there. Same when it’s on the 22″, but the secondary will only go full screen on the macbook monitor. WTF?
No big deal, right? I can just scale the window up… but… There is a difference between full screen and non full screen in the secondary monitor. If it is not full screen, it does not show the full resolution. I zoomed in 8:1 so that I could literally count pixels of a small object in the picture… it’s only about 3/4 of the resolution. I noticed this just looking at it 1:1, since it wasn’t as sharp. Is there a workaround for this? Is there a way to set up the secondary monitor to go full screen on my 22″ monitor? (without changing the settings in OSX)
Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks
July 6th, 2009 at 11:52 pm
Just set up my new HP LP2475W here. Went to Lagom to check the set up and the site seemed to be broken: none of the artificial tests showed anything. Until I brought it up on my laptop display. Nice screen. I still need to profile it correctly, but my colorimeter’s in storage on another continent, so for now I’m using the icc profile from tftcentral. Lagom indicates the gamma’s not right and there’s extensive blocking in the highlights, but its still looking better than out of the box.
Recommended.
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