There are consumer- and color proofing-grade monitors. One must look beyond the aesthetics of the bezel, glossy screens or contrast ratio when striving for the best reproducible color. The goal is to emulate printed output.
During calibration training for monitors and large-format printers, EIZO and LaCie were the two most highly regarded brands by neutral parties. These two come with the best integrated hardware/software calibration systems. Unsurprisingly, at one color management event sponsored by HP, the Dreamcast was discussed and demonstrated.
EIZO sets the bar for others to follow. The year 2010 marks the fourth year in a row, EIZO products have won the TIPA (Technical Image Press Association) award for best photo monitor. Surprisingly, affordable alternatives come from LaCie (even though they sell notoriously bad hard drives). The LaCie 14-bit 700 series LCD's are capable of displaying up to 125 percent of the Adobe RGB gamut. The 12-bit 500 series is capable of reproducing nearly 97 percent of the same gamut.
Support the Right Color Space
There are several RGB color spaces. Apple Aperture uses Wide Gamut RGB. The goal is to use a monitor that can display the same range of color as the output device. If, for example, the printer is calibrated for Adobe RGB (1998), the monitor used in the production setting should be able to replicate that range. A monitor limited to sRGB is only capable of reproducing a fraction of the Adobe RGB color space. (See inset: Compare RGB Color Space.)
The aforementioned professional color proofing monitors include tri-color RGB LED backlights and are capable of displaying most, if not more than, the Adobe RGB color range. Newer Dell Studio series monitors offer this option. High-end HP printers are optimized for Adobe RGB, to match traditional prepress workflows. (Note application-managed color can also be enabled on high-end HP printers.)