pre & post calibration...

[back alley]

calibration was a simple task...i am always suspicious & thankful of simple all at the same time...
the screen seems a touch darker/dull/easier on the eyes...plus i think i see a shade of pink but cannot be sure...i don't think my eyesight is sophisticated enough to really tell!

what was your first experience (with monitor calibration) like?
does mine sound familiar?

 

[YYV_146]

Trust the software, make sure you have neutral, even light on the monitor and you should be set.

I use LED lamps with customizable color temperature, but any white light should be good.

 

[randolph45]

simple process

simple process

Joe
The process seemed simple.
The software did all the work and I was happy with the results.

 

[back alley]

thanks guys!

looking forward to processing some images soon...

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

The purpose of calibration isn't to make the screen look good, it is to make the screen match your prints.

 

[back alley]

so then my experience is 'normal'...?

 

[Godfrey]

For ten years I have been calibrating all my displays to the same target settings: 110 CDm^2 luminance, 1.8 gamma, 5600 degrees K color temperature. Compared with factory calibrations, this will at first look a little dim, flat, and yellowish. Once your eyes accommodate to it, it looks neutral and normal. My office is evenly illuminated with neutral to warm-white ambient light, netting an incident reading at my desk of about ISO 100 @ f/4 @ 1/30 second.

In my experience, this setup has provided the best fidelity with a color managed printing workflow to paper using manufacturer supplied printing profiles. I only very rarely have to tweak a print setting to make a perfect match from screen to print, modulo the specific rendering characteristics of the paper itself.

G

 

[CMur12]

What software does one use for calibration?

It sounds like it would have to know the individual monitor and printer to make this work, which is hard for me to imagine.

My difficulty understanding all of this is certainly because I have done no digital so far and many of the conversations here leave me totally confused.

Thanks -

- Murray

 

[Ranchu]

Hi Murray. Basically calibration uses a sensor (colorimeter) and software. You set the sensor on the screen and the software displays a set of different colors for it to read. The software then uses these readings to build a set of color correction curves (the profile) that everything sent to the monitor passes through before it's displayed on the screen. This will tend to make the display behave in a specified manner, neutral RGB in the shadows, midtones and highlights, at a specified color temperature.

If the display has an accurate profile, and the printer has an accurate profile, they should match. In theory. If you're not making high end inkjet prints, or doing a lot of photoshop for money, I don't see a great need for all of it. As long as your monitor isn't obviously green or magenta. If that's the case, I think a better monitor would be a better use of your money and time.

 

[Godfrey]

What software does one use for calibration?

It sounds like it would have to know the individual monitor and printer to make this work, which is hard for me to imagine.

It's not that complicated, from an end-user perspective, although the underlying technology is indeed pretty complex.

The notion is to calibrate and profile the display to a reference standard so that it becomes the reference that you can do your adjustments on. The display profile is device specific, your computer/graphic card/display only.

Once the display is calibrated and profiled, and the profile installed so that the system and all your image editing apps use it, the notion of a color managed workflow is that you use good printer profiles (usually supplied by the paper vendor) that matches the paper and printer to a reference calibration.

What happens then is that the image editing app, when you print, translates the settings you made to the image, and that you saw on the screen, into the correct color settings for the specific printer/inks/paper so that what comes out of the printer matches as closely as possible what you saw on the screen.

That's really all you need to understand unless you have a deep curiosity about the technology of digital color.

The software you use to calibrate and profile the display is usually included with the display calibration hardware package and automates most of the operation. OS X includes an all-software display calibration package in the System Preferences which works, but it's nowhere near as accurate or consistent as a hardware display calibration tool.

G

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

What software does one use for calibration?

It sounds like it would have to know the individual monitor and printer to make this work, which is hard for me to imagine.

My difficulty understanding all of this is certainly because I have done no digital so far and many of the conversations here leave me totally confused.

Thanks -

- Murray

The best monitors are ones like the NEC Spectraview line and the Eizo Coloredge that have their own software and dedicated calibration sensor.

These work differently than other monitors with 3rd party calibration software and sensors. Most of them set the color temp and gamma by altering the Video Card's lookup table, because most LCDs do not have the capability to adjust these on the screen. Adjusting the Video Card LUT reduces the number of discrete tones that the monitor can display.

Internally calibrated screens like the NEC Spectraview and Eizo Coloredge leave the video card alone, and set the monitor's gamma and color internally. I have used NEC Spectraview screens since 2006 and would not give them up for anything. They are just so much more accurate than any other screen, and while other screens may look 'good' they just don't match the prints you get accurately enough if you're a serious worker who needs your prints to match what you edited on the screen.

 

[CMur12]

Very informative answers! Thank you very much.

- Murray

 

[willie_901]

...

My office is evenly illuminated with neutral to warm-white ambient light, netting an incident reading at my desk of about ISO 100 @ f/4 @ 1/30 second.

...

G

This is an extremely important point. The ambient light can have a significant impact. It really does't matter that much what the ambient light temperature happens to be. I also prefer slightly warm light (IR halogen PAR ceiling lights, 2700 K). But a room with sources of mixed light temperatures could be problematic.

Anyway, when calibrated using the OS X standard tools, my Thunderbolt 27" display is an excellent match with the printing method(s) my favorite lab uses.

 

[robert blu]

This is an extremely important point. The ambient light can have a significant impact. It really does't matter that much what the ambient light temperature happens to be. I also prefer slightly warm light (IR halogen PAR ceiling lights, 2700 K). But a room with sources of mixed light temperatures could be problematic.

Anyway, when calibrated using the OS X standard tools, my Thunderbolt 27" display is an excellent match with the printing method(s) my favorite lab uses.

This is the reason for which when doing something critical I prefer to work in the night or if I must work in the day I close the window and always use the same room light. Than you get used to it.
robert

 

[back alley]

the spyder has a light sensor on it...measures the ambient light in the room.

 

[Ranchu]

I turn that off, I'm not looking for variability.

 

[back alley]

didn't know that was an option...

 

[Ranchu]

I have a 3 Elite, there are differences between the "Elite" 😛 software and the regular software. I don't know what you have, if you can't find it, electrical tape over the rear sensor should do it!

 

[back alley]

have the 4 pro...the light in my room is mostly constant do no real need to shut it off...