I'm confused....

[kayhowell]

I am so confused. I have been editing on a laptop (Toshiba A665) and the color is not good! I have a Spyder 3 Express and it makes the color worse. I find it is better to tweak the NVIDIA color. My question is, is there any way to calibrate a monitor to get somewhat decent results when printing? I use WHCC but my prints come back darker and more red than they appear on my screen.
Also, can I just connect an external monitor? Someone told me the results would be no better because the colors can only be as good as the Video card that is built in the computer. Is this correct? Someone please help me! I hae stopped editing my photos out of sheer frustration!

 

[JustAnEngineer]

It's very likely that your laptop has a TN LCD panel that is incapable of accurately representing colors. An external IPS LCD (e.g.: Dell UltraSharp U2211H for $195) could be calibrated to provide accurate colors.

 

[Big Mike]

Yes, most/all laptops don't use screens that are ideal for proper calibration....but that's not the only issue. Many photographers use TN LCD screens and calibration does make a difference and the results are often 'good enough'.

Possibly a bigger issue, is that it's a lap top. The angle of the screen to the viewer/user may be different every time you use it. You may take the laptop to several different locations, each having it's own ambient lighting issues that may mess with what you perceive on the screen.

The ideal solution would be to use an external screen that is in a constant location and that can be calibrated accurately.

 

[el_shorty]

And to add to what Big Mike said, download the ICC profiles for WHCC printers, that way you can soft proof the images and have an idea of how the prints will look. On the WHCC website you can find instructions on how to use them.

 

[KmH]

And to add to what Big Mike said, download the ICC profiles for WHCC printers, that way you can soft proof the images and have an idea of how the prints will look. ...

You can soft-proof if your image editing software has that capability.

 

[kayhowell]

Thanks everyone...so the computer has nothing to do with the abilty of an external monitor (that is calibrated) to render color correctly? Just don't want to spend the money if it won't help.

 

[kayhowell]

I really like the brightview monitors made by HP but am not sure of the quality of the product...any ideas?

 

[KmH]

Thanks everyone...so the computer has nothing to do with the ability of an external monitor (that is calibrated) to render color correctly? Just don't want to spend the money if it won't help.

The video card in the computer has something to do with rendering colors correctly.

You can't easily upgrade the video card in a laptop.

 

[RyanLilly]

The monitor will make a much bigger difference than the video card. Some laptop screens simply are not good enough even when you try to calibrate them. So will even tell you that calibration failed. My laptop screen is still not quite correct even after calibration, but my Dell IPS monitor, running from my laptop is pretty darn accurate for a lower end model. My prints look just like they do on the screen.

An external IPS monitor, properly calibrated will make a lot of difference.

After calibration, a monitor it is often perceived to have worse color, however this is usually because default settings on monitors are over saturated and extremely bright. This has more of an appeal on the sales floor in a store, and probably looks good for video games, though it in no where near accurate. It will take a little time to adjust your eyes and brain to a freshly calibrated monitor.

 

[JustAnEngineer]

The UltraSharp U2211H (21.5" 1980x1080 e-IPS LCD monitor) is available for $179+tax this weekend. That's about as cheap as you're going to find an IPS LCD monitor. It's not much more than the nasty TN LCD monitors cost.