Monitor Calibration

[Iguanasan]

thanks you two!

HMMMM. the monitor calibration thing again. on the computer that i process on, it seems fine... here on this computer, (I am at work-on break) you are so right, Marko!
I think that the calibrator is going to have to be my next purchase. sigh.

What I find interesting is that people take the time to calibrate their monitors to get the best colour/contrast/brightness, etc. for editing their photos but 99.9% of the population who will view them use monitors set at the factory defaults.

Unless you are calibrating your monitor to work with a specific printer or printing company to ensure the best quality prints is it really worth the effort to calibrate your monitor?

[Mad Aussie]

What I find interesting is that people take the time to calibrate their monitors to get the best colour/contrast/brightness, etc. for editing their photos but 99.9% of the population who will view them use monitors set at the factory defaults.

Unless you are calibrating your monitor to work with a specific printer or printing company to ensure the best quality prints is it really worth the effort to calibrate your monitor?

Yes.

That way when you give critique you are more accurate for the recipient of the critique ... especially if they also calibrate their monitor.

You also have a reasonable chance of your printed photo turning out somewhat similar to your screen view when it returns from the printer. (Yes I know about calibrating to the printer, and backlit pixels against printed mediums etc for those about to jump in)

[AntZ]

I agree with MA that calibration is the only way to fairly adjust your images and critique others. I have not done so yet due to cost, but it is something on my list of "wanted" accessories. I do notice from time to time the same posters consistently getting critiques for bright or dark images. I wonder if these are calibration issues or personal preference.

At work I have a second monitor for my notebook which is so dark compared to my notebook LCD. I have maxed all the settings and it is still too dark. If I only had that monitor and adjusted all my images for it my prints and post would be too dark. Since I know it lacks brightness I always adjust images on my notebook monitor. When viewing images on my external monitor I make allowances for its darkness. When printing I endevour to double check the image on the Lab's monitor which should be calibrated to their printers.

Certainly posting images here helps you establish if your current settings are in the ballpark. Or post an image and ask specifically for critique on colour brightness from those with calibrated monitors.

One thing I have learnt is that some calibrators limit the number(about 3) of monitors you can calibrate!! That prevents a group from buying one to share. Personally I think it stinks. Imagine if you bought a printer and were only allowed to print from 3 PCs? or a USB stick with such limits.

[JAS_Photo]

I think brightness and calibration are two separate issues. In fact there is a brightness calibrator out there as well. One of my problems using my laptop is that I see things quite bright and sometimes photos look too bright to me. I often use the Lightroom auto just to see how that program will adjust a photo for brightness and judge from there.

I recently purchased just the basic Spyder calibrator but my computer would not load it. Does anyone have info that would help me with that? Do the higher end calibrators have better sucess? If I have to do too much complicated searching around to upload something though, I won't do it.

[AntZ]

I think brightness and calibration are two separate issues. In fact there is a brightness calibrator out there as well. One of my problems using my laptop is that I see things quite bright and sometimes photos look too bright to me. I often use the Lightroom auto just to see how that program will adjust a photo for brightness and judge from there.

I recently purchased just the basic Spyder calibrator but my computer would not load it. Does anyone have info that would help me with that? Do the higer end calibrators have better sucess? If I have to do too much cocmplicated searching around to upload something though, I won't do it.

Some calibrators will calibrate for brightness. Certainly brightness will affect how an image looks.. especially in the shadows and highlights.

The other option is online calibrators, but I have not found one I really like, but there are heaps out there to try.

[epatsellis]

Any competent calibration tool (Spyder, iOne, ColorMunki, etc) will allow you to calibrate luminance, I typically use 80cd/m^2 for all my systems here.

A bigger issue is that non IPS monitors (and that's 99.9% of the affordable monitors) have brightness and color shift issues off-axis. That is the primary reason that I have used and will continue to use CRT monitors for final adjustments, properly calibrated, of course. I may be more picky than most, but a good, calibrated CRT blows away every other monitor I've tried, including every laptop (PC and Mac) I've seen.

I have 3 Dell 2209WA's on order, when (if) they ever arrive, I'll put them through their paces and if they pass muster, I'll make a hood for one and use it for my secondary editing station.

External lighting and surroundings play just as big of a role. Issues such as wall/surrounding color and illuminant levels are critical to achieving consistent performance. There are some good tutorials on best practices for color proofing and management just a Google search away.

erie