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Monitor Calibration...


Christopher Nichols
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I couldn't see any technical info on what it does, and does not do.At the most basic, which I guess this product is, it should read the monitor output and create a monitor profile which would be used in your desktop settings. That's fine, as no two monitors are really aloke, and they age, so no monitor is like itself even. But a good starting point would be a profile from the monitor maker matched to the color temp. you set--5000K, 6500K, 9300K and the phospors used (CRT). Is there any point to trying to calibrate an LCD? Maybe there is, but I don't think they are meant for color-critical work. Maybe they are being used for that now and I'm a dinosaur.

 

Also, there is so much more to good color than just getting a monitor profile, though its a good start.

 

If you find any more technical info on that thing, please post the link.

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I get my monitor professionally calibrated once a week at work. The tech comes by with a probe and physically sets the monitors gain and bias on the RGB of the monitor until it is correct, this makes sure that what I see on my monitor is the same as what is on the DLP in the screening room, and what will be on film. It is also the reason that we still use CRTs.

 

Those probes are not cheap, and this one seems fairly resonable. So I was asking if anyone has tried and can tell me. I am hoping that it will give readouts and allow you to physically set your monitor rather than do a monitor profile which IMHO can crush your colors.

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I get my monitor professionally calibrated once a week at work... this makes sure that what I see on my monitor is the same as what is on the DLP in the screening room, and what will be on film.

 

I would be surprised if that thing does anything beyond producing a profile. But I'm sorry, I don't know for sure.

 

Now what you just said points out something--the profile is not just for perceptual intent on the monitor. It is intended to provide a match across monitors and is biased to an output profile to match the film recorder. Now that's what I'm talking. In my case I'm trying to have good monitor color and also match to a giclee printing system, which has its own profiles.

 

Are the spectrometers they are using 'at work' the Greteg EyeOne, or do they know something I should know?

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Not sure what brand it is, but it is not that. What they are basically doing is making sure that our monitors are correctly set to 5600k. The graphics profile is set to a neutral sRGB profile. The problem is when people look at their monitor in 5600k they think that it is way warm, the problem is that it usually is way off.

 

Not sure about giclee prints, but film is a bit of an issue with it being a higher dynamic range then monitors can show, especially with blacks. Anyway... that is a a bit OT.

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The graphics profile is set to a neutral sRGB profile. The problem is when people look at their monitor in 5600k they think that it is way warm

 

sRGB is a fairly common colorspace these days, but not the widest gamut possible. 5600k really is very warm. The main reason its recommended is for graphic artist since it is said to best represent the reflectance of paper. So I tried it (or %000k, can't remember) but couldn't stand it. I settled on 6500K and that's fine. Most monitors are factory set at 9300k which is majorly blue.

 

I would think you would need to use a different output profile for a film recorder (also vary by film stock) and digital projection. But then thankfully there are people who know what they are doing who do that.

 

Back to the original question--any attempt, so long as its done right, is better than nothing. but the base, if you do nothing else do this, is to get the maker's profile and use it, and set your whitepoint to the 5000k-6500k range. So once that's done, even a simplistic device like that Huey would be worthwhile. Unless you had a better one.

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Most monitors are factory set at 9300k which is majorly blue.

 

It is a real shock to the system when you change down to 6500 alright!

 

What do you do about the fact that most clients are likely to leave their monitors at factory settings? Given that most discourse with clients happens via images seen on monitors until the final stages of an image (or us at least) there is an argument to leave them set higher and calibrate output devices to that.

 

With respect to the pantone device, I haven't tried it. We've got a Monaco Optik XR pro calibration system in the post which is significantly more dosh so that Pantone thing better not be any good;)

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i have always shunned monitor calibration systems, because they never seemed to work well for me, and i liked to work at the highest contrast level i could. after reading this thread i decided to give it another try.

 

a couple months ago we received an EFI ES-1000 calibration system when we switched from a Canon fiery to a Konica-Minolta setup.

 

i calibrated my monitor using the EFI, and set the white point to 5500. it is going to take a lot of getting used to, but i am going to try and stick to it. my monitor is now a very close match to my prints. the monitor just feels a little muddy and yellow compared to the 9600 white point and nearly maximum brightness contrast i am used to.

 

..but i have to say, the white on the monitor is almost the same color as the white of the paper.

 

i am curious, do you think it will be easier on my eyes working in this color space, with out the ultra white, high brightness contrast? will my eyes e less tired at the end of the day?

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i have always shunned monitor calibration systems, because they never seemed to work well for me, and i liked to work at the highest contrast level i could. after reading this thread i decided to give it another try.

 

a couple months ago we received an EFI ES-1000 calibration system when we switched from a Canon fiery to a Konica-Minolta setup.

 

i calibrated my monitor using the EFI, and set the white point to 5500. it is going to take a lot of getting used to, but i am going to try and stick to it. my monitor is now a very close match to my prints. the monitor just feels a little muddy and yellow compared to the 9600 white point and nearly maximum brightness contrast i am used to.

 

..but i have to say, the white on the monitor is almost the same color as the white of the paper.

 

i am curious, do you think it will be easier on my eyes working in this color space, with out the ultra white, high brightness contrast? will my eyes e less tired at the end of the day?

 

a week now on a calibrated monitor. the adjustment time was less than i expected. it seems normal now.

 

the other monitors in the office seem blue now.

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  • 2 weeks later...
between the lcds and crts...

now there's the leds...

anyone tried this from nec?

 

http://www.spectraview.nec-display-solutions.com/index_en.html

 

Yeap... that is the "future"... oled monitors. No more backlighting that distroys the quality of your blacks. Each pixel is the light source. Super high quality, and super bright. The next gen TV that will be out will all be oleds leaving the aging plasmas and low contrast LCDs in the dust. OLEDs will be

 

- brighter... can even see them outside

- high dynamic range... the blacks will be blacker and the brights brighter. I hear they may even be higher dynamic range than film

- and here is the kicker... cheaper to make than LCDs

 

That is why I am waiting 2+ years and not buying an LCD TV...

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OLEDs will be [it]

 

That is why I am waiting 2+ years and not buying an LCD TV...

 

I'm waiting because I cannot stomach paying $2000 for a TV. Currently in my house we have one TV, a 20 year old Sony 15" trinatron. That thing'll last forever.

 

There is another tech by Phillips (I think) that is a CRT flatscreen with a semiconductor electron emitter right behind each cell in a traditional phosphor grid. I don't know what it'll cost to make, but you will have pretty much all of the advantages of a CRT but in a thin flat screen that doesn't need a massive, high-current copper coil.

 

So its either one of those or the OLED for me, unless I lose my mind + gain lots o dough. (One being more likely then the other).

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