*sigh* New monitor

[benlonghair]

Hi all. Back from winter hibernation.

Being an online gamer, I decided to treat myself to a new monitor for my birthday in March. A 22" widescreen was just what the doctor ordered for gaming.

Apparently not so much for photography. The first thing I really ran into so far this spring that excited me to shoot was this cool double rainbow about a week ago. The results:



D60 | 48mm | f/16 | 1/125 | ISO 400 (Click to see full size on Flickr)

Guess I need to re-edit and wing it brighter. Need to invest in a calibrator before spending more money on lenses and such.

 

[Darkhunter139]

What kind of monitor did you get

 

[benlonghair]

What kind of monitor did you get

This one.

 

[PerfectlyFlawed]

Whats wrong with it? Acer usually makes pretty decent stuff. id buy Acer over LG anyday to compare. ive got an acer laptop and 2 other acer monitors.. they're great...

did you calibrate it?

 

[benlonghair]

Whats wrong with it? Acer usually makes pretty decent stuff. id buy Acer over LG anyday to compare. ive got an acer laptop and 2 other acer monitors.. they're great...

did you calibrate it?

No, as I said, I'm going to have to invest in a calibration setup before I do spend any other money on photo stuff.

Seems like a decent enough monitor, especially for what I paid. I am just bummed that it's so far off.

 

[benlonghair]

Here's a re-edit. Did this one using the histogram more than look. I like it better, but still kinda underexposed.

 

[Photongreen]

How much did you pay for it?

The problem with that monitor is the contrast ratio 2500:1 thats significantly low.

 

[--ares--]

How much did you pay for it?

The problem with that monitor is the contrast ratio 2500:1 thats significantly low.

I don't have the money for a monitor, I am trying to afford school. The monitor I got is from a friend who gave it to me for doing his senior photos. Its contrast ratio I think is below 800:1.

 

[Overread]

Generally speaking unless you get a colour accurate monitor dedicated toward photography you are going to always get an offthe shelf monitor that in not calibrated - and most LCDs run very bright for photographers. Gamers and other users will never notice this as their eyes adapt to it.

The downside is that gaming demands a fast refesh rate on the monitor whilst photography demands having a fixed contrast/brightness ratio no matter the viewing angle - and its this latter part that many LCD screens falldown on. Even when calibrated a change in your viewing angle can and will lead to a change in the contrast of the screen as you view it. If you get this effect calibration is STILL the best approach (via a hardware option like a Sypder 3) however you will have to control your viewing angle on the screen as best you can to ensure that you are viewing it at as similar an angle as possible. I have this at the moment - its a pain to work with, but with calibration you can get a good result most of the time

You can get decent priced monitors with this feature, but the refresh rate takes a nosedive until you hit expensive models. The feature also has a specific name but I can't for the life of me remember what it is - sorry

 

[benlonghair]

Ya, I paid less than $190 for it.

I am aware that you get what you pay for, especially when it comes to photography stuff.

Maybe some day I'll want to put $700+ into a monitor, but not today. I'll just rough it and save up for a cheap calibration system to go with my cheap monitor.

EDIT: So to be clear, the lower the contrast ratio, the better (in part, obviously not the be all end all)? Cause my second monitor (my old, also cheap 17" lcd) is 450:1. Maybe I should just edit on that one. Stupid low resolution.

 

[Overread]

Me too being a photographer and a gamer is expensive - but at least both give me excuses for new harddrives and a new rig (sadly neither to come soon as the camera drains away the money)...

However do get yourself a decent calibrator - a Spyder 3 might be costly, but its the sort of thing that if you invest well in now you won't have to invest again in the future - rather like a good set of tripod legs

 

[benlonghair]

a Spyder 3 might be costly, but its the sort of thing that if you invest well in now you won't have to invest again in the future - rather like a good set of tripod legs

Are you talking about [ame=http://www.amazon.com/ColorVision-S3P100-Spyder3-pro/dp/B000X4X37A/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1273543168&sr=8-1]this one[/ame]?

And what exactly do I calibrate to? My camera? My printer? Both?

 

[burstintoflame81]

Whats wrong with it? Acer usually makes pretty decent stuff. id buy Acer over LG anyday to compare. ive got an acer laptop and 2 other acer monitors.. they're great...

did you calibrate it?

Hey now! I have an LG!. Actually it has issues with standby mode, so I don't care if you crush them, haha.

 

[myfotoguy]

The Spyder 3 calibrates the monitors colors to be accurate, as well as light levels, contrast, I can't remember it all. I have a Spyder 3 with ColorEyes software, but the software that comes with Spyder3 is great too. The one linked above is what I have.

DPreview has a forum where monitors are discussed often: PC Talk Forum: Digital Photography Review
You may have to dig around a bit or use the search.

There are some posts that explain which monitors are best for photography. See this one: Which Monitor for Photography?: PC Talk Forum: Digital Photography Review aboutthe 5th post down has some good info. Almost a year old, but still good info for anyone who wants to learn some things about monitors for photography.

 

[Overread]

Yes that one - and the answer is - To light - simply put but it gets more tricky

the Spyder is a screen monitor and impartial in how it views brightness* and colour (unlike our eyes which are adaptive and thus unsuitable for such). You simply slip it on and essentially let it do its thing whilst also following its commands (eg turning down your screen brightness to fit into a bracket reading it gives you).
Doing such gives you a monitor that is calibrated - you can then use this along with a calibrated printer (you can get printer calibaters as well as all in one kits, but the price goes up a lot for these - and again the quality of printer also comes into the equation - so I tend to use printing labs mostly).

The basic idea is that with a calibrated screen you get a consistant result from viewing it - calibrated printer giving you a consistant output and then you merge the two so that you know what your image looks like on the paper as you edit it on the screen.

Also a point - monitors will drift (as will printers) which is why you need to purchase the hardware approach rather than have things calibrated once and forget about it.

*note many monitors will have something called abrightness adjustment - however execpt on the higher level LCDs this is not a brightness adjustment but a backlight adjustment. This is an important difference as far as the spyder aware - so if you only have a brightness control its your backlight not your brightness (the syder asks you which you have - select the wrong one and its a heck of a problem later on).