monitor calibration

[Frog]

Hi!
I'm wondering how many have done a screen calibration and what their experience with it is.
Which program they used and especially if anyone has used spyder2 pro.
Did it make a big or little difference.
Thanx for any info.

[readingr]

Frog,

I use the Gretag Macbeth Eye one which makes a massive difference, and enables me to consistently produce pictures that print properly. Highly recommended system and easy to use.

I used to have problems with pictures that didn't print properly after editing, purely because the system I used didn't calibrate the monitor properly even after using the Adobe or any of the online calibration tools.

Roger

[Frog]

ty, Roger.
Looks like about the same price as the spyder.
It's my prints that I get back, also that I want right.
No use spending hours editing to just what you want if they come back different.

[Ronnoco]

Calibrated or not, the same image on both a PC and a MAC will look darker on the PC, according to the photographer_writers. There will appear to be more colours and less contrast on a CRT monitor than an LCD monitor. LCD monitors are more prone to showing pixellation and stair stepping than CRTs and supposedly the best combination at the moment is the latest NVidia GeForce graphics card in combination with a CRT monitor. (As well as collecting books, I also subscribe to computer and photography magazines from the US and Europe.)

Ronnoco

[masdog]

Calibrated or not, the same image on both a PC and a MAC will look darker on the PC, according to the photographer_writers. There will appear to be more colours and less contrast on a CRT monitor than an LCD monitor. LCD monitors are more prone to showing pixellation and stair stepping than CRTs and supposedly the best combination at the moment is the latest NVidia GeForce graphics card in combination with a CRT monitor. (As well as collecting books, I also subscribe to computer and photography magazines from the US and Europe.)

Ronnoco

None of this has anything to do with calibration and what calibration setup to get, Ronnoco.

[Ronnoco]

None of this has anything to do with calibration and what calibration setup to get, Ronnoco.

My understanding was that he was trying to get the same image that he saw on his computer out to print when he took it in for processing. That means going from whatever computer_monitor he is using, to whatever computer_monitor is being used in the kiosk where he takes it for processing. The differences will show up in the print.

Ronnoco

[drg]

The calibration tools available including the spyder allow for calibrations for different uses. They can be set for web viewing, ICC profiling for a printer/paper combo, CYMK separation, various halftone, web printing etc.

The kiosk manufacturers have 'standardized' profiles for their systems. Perhaps for most users the easiest way to get the 'right' one is if your printer offers it via the web or on CD. The you can use that profile to calibrate your screen accordingly.

If what you want to do is view web photos, there's an option or a right click pull down menu that allows for 'WWW profile or web viewing' dependent upon which module is loaded.

The gamma (effective brightness) is biased differently for PC's and MACs but they can easily be set to the 'other' one.

One other consideration is to get a color target and/or greyscale target as well. The Pro Spyder pack comes with at least one I believe. Then you can calibrate/profile your camera and scanner.

Once they are profiled, (for the camera in the light of the actual shoot, custom WB, etc) then color correction is a mouse click away for 99% of you photographs. It even works with film, just make sure the target is evenly lit and the whole target is in focus. Or just shoot a single photo of the target by itself and use that as you reference.

If you have other questions, let me know if I can help.There are a whole list of 'tricks' to make sure this all works to the optimum.

The first and most important one is make sure your monitor is clean and dust free before profiling!!

Have fun!

[masdog]

Thank you, drg. That was a very informative post. Do you have any recommendations on calibration tools?

[drg]

Sean,

The latest and best I've seen, for the money, is probably the Monaco Optix (the newest package). I sat down with two different systems over Christmas (one LCD and one CRT) and tweaked them up to print on different printers (Both EPSON's) and the ease and results were really good.

There are some niggly little details that I should put into a review, but in short there are not quite the amount of options I would like. It is not fully automated, but there are places. I do wonder about ambient light with this system but it is very minor.

Let me say, I am use to the the Gretag Macbeth systems which are very costly (not really for what you get) for most users who are not doing pre-press or other very critical work.

There are some low cost options from Pantone and Colorvision (less than $100) that all reports indicate vastly improve the ability to do WYSIWYG printing. Though they are not perfect, they are far better than nothing. The Pantone Huey I know makes corrections for room lighting (I don't know about the Colorvision) which I imagine is definitly worth looking into as an entry level profile calibration feature.

One thing to keep in mind, the current crop of digital cameras, DSLR's included, are vastly superior to cameras a year or more old (technologically). With color matching/correction via a color target or custom white balance, if you don't tweak the colors they will usually print very well.

The problem is we set our monitors for optimum viewing and comfort and throw our perception off so much that the photograph doesn't 'look' right and we screw it up ourselves.

Bottom line for even most of professional work, get the monitor in a reasonable level of calibration and don't mess with it. Do check it periodically. If you don't turn it off and it has been set for a sleep/screen saver/power down mode, once a week is more than enough for most users. After two or three years, CRT's will change slightly. LCD's are prone to damage from direct sunlight and some enviroments are liable to change not the LCD characteristics but the protective material over them will actually yellow.

NOTE:

IF YOU HAVE A LCD DISPLAY INCLUDING NOTEBOOKS -

Be sure the profiling tool/colorimeter and software support LCD systems. Many of the slightly older packages either require an additional add-on device for the colorimeter(the sensor) or don't really work that well.