LaCie 526

LaCie’s 321 monitor became something of a standard among colour professionals, but with the inevitable march of monitor-sized progress, the old 1,600x1,200 resolution was starting to look a little cramped.

LaCie has responded with a new 26-inch panel 16:10, which is intended to quite literally make the market bigger. The 1,920x1,200 resolution is wide enough to view two A4 pages side by side, and the extra pixel count and size means that physically it’s a hefty monster.

Visually, the design is difficult to get excited about – it’s the usual charcoal/blue LaCie plastic bezel with a three-way foot that can be adjusted for height. The stand could be more robust given the weight of the display, but is solid enough in practice. The panel rotates to offer portrait and landscape modes, but in portrait it’s very tall and wobbly.

A fold-out plastic hood is included to minimise ambient light, and to reassure you that this is a pro-level product, and a useful innovation, a set of OSD controls, is set in the lower corner. Unlike most OSD interfaces these seem to have been designed with some thought, and make navigating the OSD easier than on most monitors. At the bottom are three DVI ports, which are HDCP-ready for protected content, although we think it’s unlikely you’d buy this monitor to watch videos.

Also in the box is the Blue Eye Pro colour calibration and set-up software, but a calibrator is not included. There are rumours of a special bundle price, but you could also use a GretagMacbeth Eye-One. The bundled software includes a full range of colour profiling and set-up tools. You can easily create and store ICC profiles, test calibration, make manual fine-tuning adjustments and even check the ambient lighting. The software is a step up in sophistication and professionalism compared to the colour calibration options bundled with an Eye-One.

Features aside, it’s performance that matters. The spec of 400cd/m2 and an 800:1 contrast ratio means brightness isn’t market leading, but it’s more than adequate.

LaCie also claims that the monitor can display 95 per cent of the full Adobe RGB colour gamut, and 98 per cent of the ISO-coated print-colour range. This compares with 92 per cent of the Adobe RGB gamut quoted for the new panels used in Dell and HP’s 30-inch models. In colorimeter testing we found there was an enhanced push into the green, which would extend the colour range, but offers no major difference to the competition.

The 526’s most obvious selling point is better colour control and repeatability. While Eizo offers a model with even better colour performance, it’s a 22-inch and is more expensive. The LaCie’s £1,669 RRP isn’t quite convincing, but current discounting to around £1,400 makes it a much more attractive proposition.