About monitor color calibration

MinePro121 · Jun 22, 2020

Hello everyone! Probably the most important piece of hardware for a photographer (apart from the camera) is the computer used for post-editing. And the photos will be edited inaccurately if the monitor is inaccurate itself. So I am thinking about color-calibrating my monitor. Unfortunately, the proper way to do it would be using external hardware (e.g. Spyder), which I can't afford. Also, I did not find any color profiles for my monitor online. I was wondering, is there anything else I can do? For example, using an accurate premade color chart so I can compare the colors with those on my screen or possibly printing my own using a professional photo printer. Do you think any of those would be at least a tiny bit effective? I want to take whatever chances I have.

mrca · Jun 22, 2020

Using a spider calibrator gets your monitor calibrated. However, if you are considering printing at home, I found the IOne studio/colormunki was invaluable for printing. First, it sets your monitor brightness for the room ambient. Improper screen brightess is like adding water to paint, it changes the paint appearance. It also calibrates color once brightness is set. But the most important capability is to create custom profiles for each paper/printer combination you use. I used to make up to a dozen test prints to get the print close to what I intended the image look like on the monitor after careful editing. I wasted expensive ink and paper. Now, I can just count on it matching. It pays for itself quickly and eliminates the stress and aggravation chasing your tail messing with brightness and colors.

MinePro121 · Jun 22, 2020

Perhaps that wasn't clear. I don't even have a proper printer and I'm not interested in printing. I was wondering if I could print something like this in a local shop (where they would have a professional photo printer) and use this and my eyes to do the best I can. Thanks for the answer though!

mrca · Jun 22, 2020

Printing companies like Bay photo and mpix. Be aware making prints isn't as simple as making text copies at work. Things like room brightness and light color, monitor brightness and calibration, and using a lab having down loaded their profile all come into play. I like Bay photo for a lab and here is a link to their page. Like they say, you can email images and they provide you test prints to compare to your monitor and fine tune. I control color starting with capture including a color checker passport in the first shot of a series then in post start by getting the color exactly right with that software. I hand print my images on a monitor which has the brightness set by the IOne studio calibrator as well as calibrate color. I then used it to make custom profiles-they translate from a back lit monitor to a print that reflects light- for each printer/paper combination. My prints just match, period. Of course, you might encounter clipping at either end of the histogram but I have made a test ramp showing where detail in highlights and shadows appears on my favorite papers and before printing, adjust white and black points accordingly. Also, some papers don't have the range of colors as some monitors. I hope that shows what goes into getting a great print. It's why the IOne studio is one of the most valuable pieces of gear I have. I don't want my prints CLOSE to what I went to all that trouble editing, I want it to match that vision, especially because I sell my portraiture. Bay Photo Support Center

JBPhotog · Jun 22, 2020

MinePro121 said:
Perhaps that wasn't clear. I don't even have a proper printer and I'm not interested in printing. I was wondering if I could print something like this in a local shop (where they would have a professional photo printer) and use this and my eyes to do the best I can. Thanks for the answer though!

Don't bother, there are way too many variables for you to get it even close, projected image vs printed image, colour space as in sRGB or Adobe RGB, monitor brightness - most monitor calibrations are done @120 cd/m squared, controlled room illumination and colour bias, yada yada yada, you get the idea.

Some questions I'd ask is, which monitor are you using? Some OS' have a generic calibration software for a DIY cheap alternative but don't expect WYSIWYG.

MinePro121 · Jun 22, 2020

It's the LCD panel that came with my laptop. I had no expectations or luck finding a color profile. By generic you mean monitor-specific?

JBPhotog · Jun 22, 2020

Which brand, Mac or PC? Check your OS for utilities. Generic means known standards such as Adobe RGB (1998) etc. not actually calibrating your specific LCD panel to the known standard.

For example, Mac OS provides colour profiles in their OS that the user can choose to set calibration for the monitor. They also include a ColourSync Utility to verify the colour profile of cameras, printers monitor and scanners.

MinePro121 · Jun 22, 2020

Dell, Windows (and maybe Linux). But how would a generic color profile be effective? Windows has a utility to calibrate colors, but it's based on the user's eye.

JBPhotog · Jun 22, 2020

A generic profile will set the bias of that profile to match the output, it however can not adjust a large colour palette by individual colour based on what you LCD panel is capable of. Thus the use of a colorimeter and a software program to make these changes to the hardware graphics cards programming.

Excellent, you have identified the weakest link in visual calibration, the human eye. That is why your initial thought of printing a colour swatch to hold up and compare with your screen is pretty much useless. If you don't want to go down the rabbit hole of colour calibration, set your monitor via the OS software to a known standard, Adobe RGB(1998) for a wider gamut or sRGB IEC61966-2.1 for web and some photo printers. Then reduce the brightness, although many laptops are not capable of high nit levels but check your hardware specs. For example if your laptop can produce 300 cd/m2(squared) then reducing it by half could be roughly @150 plus or minus.

MinePro121 · Jun 22, 2020

Wait, I lost you at some point. Isn't the whole point of color calibration to make displayed colors match with (some) colors described by the CIE 1931 color space (sRGB, Adobe RGB are subsets of CIE 1931)? Is what you are saying that I can download an ICC that magically will make my monitor accurate?

mrca · Jun 22, 2020

JB is right, color theory teaches that colors look different depending what they are next to. I think what I would do is work with Bay photo, down load their profile, get your free sample images looking right, email them to bay photo and compare the free test prints against your monitor and in sun light or incandescent light or even a bulb with daylight specs. Make any adjustments to your monitor and you should get excellent results. I live near Kelby studios so attend their gallery showings and Scott uses Bay photo.

JBPhotog · Jun 22, 2020

Yes the whole point of colour calibration is to make you monitors output "match" a known profile. But without hardware(a colorimeter) and software, a colour calibration program that actually controls your graphics card, there is no other way to do it accurately.

You mentioned in your original post that you are not in a position to buy a hardware solution so as I mentioned the only "barge pole" method is to use a profile provided in your OS. I am not versed in PC OS's and do not know if you can download a profile that forces your computer to use it. There is another caveat as to the accuracy of your LCD monitors your correctly display colours.

MinePro121 · Jun 22, 2020

Yes, all the OSes I know provide the ability to use a certain color profile. But I guess the default is sRGB anyways, so to sum up, I see there is nothing I can do without a colorimeter. Something else, what should I do with gamma correction?