Graphic card for Photo editing

[Gunnedah]

Hi All

Not sure where to ask this, hope its in the right spot.

Graphics Cards is there any benefit for editing? I am looking at getting a new laptop and will be editing photos on it. The photos will be my own as well as other peoples.

I have always thought having a graphic card was for people who played video games etc, but i was told tonight in a laptop shop i need it to edit.

Em

[ricktas]

First off, using a laptop as your main photo editing system is not the best move. Laptop screens are notorious for being cheap and thus not good to edit on. However, having said that, look for a laptop that has a graphics card with its own memory, rather than using system memory (shared memory) to run. You may find one with a 1GB graphics card that will do the job nicely. I would suggest also you look for a laptop with a good deal of RAM, cause photoshop is a memory hog and you will find your laptop slowing down if you use PS.

Now why are most laptop's notoriously bad for editing? Cause most have TN screens which are notorious for variations in colour across the screen. Ie the same red can appear to have a different tinge/brightness in one part of the screen to another. This can cause issues when photo editing. If you can find a laptop with an IPS screen, consider it.

[markjaffa]

If you can find a laptop with an IPS screen, consider it.

Another option is to purchase a laptop with either a DisplayPort output or a HDMI output. DVI also works, but manufacturers are going away from DVI - it will be a dead standard in 2-4 years. Then get yourself an IPS monitor (Dell Ultrasharp models are well regarded - U2311/2410/2711/3011) and connect to the output on your laptop. Voila! An IPS screen on a laptop. You dont have to lug around a "big" laptop, but you still have a "big" screen to edit on.

Be aware though, many graphics adapters on laptops arent configured/wired to output the max resolution they are capable of. The outputs give you a good idea of what resolutions the adapter will be capable of displaying - if it has DisplayPort then it should/might be able to go as high as 2560x1600. My adapter is capable of 2560x1600, but it only has a HDMI connector, so it is limited to 1920x1080.