Calibrating a Monitor (Does this work?)

Richard · Jul 10, 2007

Right now I don't have the money to calibrate my monitor the correct way. So what is your opinion about printing a photo and matching it to your screen? I am guessing as long as my photo matches what I see on the screen that is all that matters right?

Johnboy2978 · Jul 10, 2007

I had this thought too but everyone said it wouldn't work as you just can't ever really get it right doing it like that. Also, as your monitor ages, it needs to be calibrated regularly. I really recommend the Spyder. It does an excellent job, and is quick and effecient.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produ..._Spyder2express_Color_Calibration_System.html

There are other similar products out there.

Richard · Jul 10, 2007

What is regularly? Once a year you think or is it really more often than that.

Big Mike · Jul 10, 2007

Once a month is more realistic...some do it more often, I'm sure.

Doing it by eye is, I guess, better than nothing but far from ideal.

I was pretty sceptical about spending $100 for calibration...but when I finally got it...WOW.

Richard · Jul 10, 2007

Wow! I would have never thought on a monthly basis, but that explains why it would be a good investment.

The_Traveler · Jul 10, 2007

Calibrating your printer and monitor to work together will work only and until you post pictures for other people to see.

A web browser understands how to reproduce an image only by reference to a standard. If your monitor isn't calibrated to that standard then other people won't see the same image you are seeing.

Johnboy2978 · Jul 10, 2007

Mine is set to monthly, but if I always do it just before editing pics from a paid gig regardless of when I did it last. It does make a visible difference.

AdamZx3 · Jul 10, 2007

I calibrate mine on a weekly basis, although monthly would be just fine for most people, I can see a difference on certain images if I wait every month using test files...maybe its my monitor lol.

I bought the Pantone Eye-One display LT, It does a very good job and I can match prints very very close when using a calibrated print profile from my printer.

The newest updates will let it use the included cap to take an ambient lighting reading, measuring Lux (brightness) and Kelvin temp. (color of the ambient lights) This will give you ideal lighting so it wont wash out the colors on the screen and or give you a color cast from your lights.

The best part is they can be had for around $125 dollars. I also have heard good things about the spyder lite which is a few bucks cheaper and wont do an ambient light reading.

In the mean time (or if you decide that the above isn't an option) I would use the adobe gamma software if you have photoshop, it's better than nothing.

WDodd · Jul 10, 2007

I actually just got my Spyder2 Express in the mail today. I had to find some x64 drivers to get it to work but hopefully in the next couple minutes I'll be able to see the different first hand.

Richard · Jul 10, 2007

I'm really curious to if anyone knows why your monitor has to be calibrated so frequent, I guess I always thought it would be a "set it and forget it" type of thing. Is it temperature?

WDodd · Jul 10, 2007

I believe it has something to do with the wear that occurs with your monitor. As it gets older the colors aren't going to display the same as they did they your monitor came out of the box on day 1.

WDodd · Jul 10, 2007

Finally got my monitor calibrated. The biggest difference I noticed was during the temperature change.

I actually did it twice and the first time I think I had my settings wrong because it made the tint of my monitor really blue. Second time around seems to have returned more favorable results.

AdamZx3 · Jul 10, 2007

WDodd, make sure you don't have any light leaks, I had that problem when I first started using mine, if it isn't sealed well you can get contaminated light giving you a false reading. Also taking the time to get your RGB controls on the monitor perfect helps a lot too.

Richard:
Not sure on the exact reason other than wear, but my old crt would gradually need a higher percentage in the R,G,B controls to get it in calibrated, until after many years it wouldn't even have enough color to calibrate successfully. Havn't really noticed it on my 22" Lcd but I've only been using it for about 6 months

Mike_E · Jul 10, 2007

As I understand it, these people are responsible for the color calibration in a lot of the labs.
http://www.drycreekphoto.com/index.html

Look to the right of the page.

mike

WDodd · Jul 10, 2007

AdamZx3 said:
WDodd, make sure you don't have any light leaks, I had that problem when I first started using mine, if it isn't sealed well you can get contaminated light giving you a false reading. Also taking the time to get your RGB controls on the monitor perfect helps a lot too.

Richard:
Not sure on the exact reason other than wear, but my old crt would gradually need a higher percentage in the R,G,B controls to get it in calibrated, until after many years it wouldn't even have enough color to calibrate successfully. Havn't really noticed it on my 22" Lcd but I've only been using it for about 6 months

I had the Spyder as flat against my lcd as I could manage. It said not to use the suction things. There was still a little gap on one of the feet though. It has you select what brightness setting your monitor has (brightness, contrast, backlight or any combination) and I chose the wrong one the first time around.

The last CRT I had was a really nice one but the one before that the colors go so bad eventually it had a green tint and there was no more adjustment to compensate for it. Cheaply made I would assume.