SpectraView 2180WG

There’s always room in the prepress market for something new, and with its SpectraView range NEC has tried to raise the bar. These monitors feature precise colour control based on a combination of a high-end LCD panel and colour-calibrated LED backlighting, rather than the electrolumniscent panels used in most modern LCDs.

Aimed at the professional market, NEC’s new model comes with a professional price tag – £3,523 – which is a hefty sum, especially when rival models are available for the same market priced at half that.

First impressions are mixed. The SpectraView comes in a huge box that would be more appropriate for a big plasma TV, and inside there’s a worrying note that warns users to pick the unit up from the bottom, because carrying it from the top may break the LCD and the backlight.

This problem is very much related to the monitor’s weight, which at 11kg is closer to a small CRT than a large LCD. The panel is also a few centimetres deeper than most LCD displays, but this shouldn’t cause a problem in most studios. Visually, however, this monitor isn’t a design classic. The look is boxy and functional, and NEC doesn’t seem to have made any serious effort with the styling. As a result, this monitor is fine for backroom work, but if you want something sexy and sleek in a client-facing environment, the 2180 wouldn’t be your first choice.

Electronic installation is simply a case of plugging in a DVI-D lead into either or both of the inputs. It’s worth noting there’s no analogue VGA or DVI-A option, which may be a handicap in some environments. As a generic plug ‘n’ play monitor the driver is optional, but to get the best from it you’ll need to download the NaviSet software from NEC’s site.

This software duplicates the setup features in a software accessible environment, which is handy – the OSD and buttons on the monitor aren’t very intuitive, and the manual doesn’t help much either. Colour temperature can be customised, as can colour balance, and there are presets for prepress 5000ºK, 6500ºK, sRGB and Adobe RGB.

Display quality is of utmost importance here. The SpectraView’s obvious competitor is the LaCie 321, which is pretty much a rebadged version of the NEC 2180UX, and the performance is almost identical.

The 2180WG is an update of the 2180UX, and with updated LED technology you’d expect some improvements. In fact, tests with a calibrator showed that at 6500ºK the 2180WG was astonishingly good, with near-perfect accuracy and a delta of <1 across almost the entire range. The default 5000ºK 60 per cent prepress setting wasn’t quite as accurate, but was still very good.

The 2180 is a functional rather than stylish performer, but it offers the best colour accuracy we’ve seen to date. The price is high, and the looks are mediocre, but if it’s high performance you’re after, then this is without a doubt the monitor for you.