Monitor color calibration

What system/equipment do you guys recommend for color calibrating a macbook and an external monitor?
I'd rather pay a little more for a better system than save a buck, if the results will be better.
Thanks.

I would look at the Spyder Express (link below). It gives you the same results as a Pro series, but is less expensive. The other thing you need to check is your Creative Suite Color Settings. You can set these up in Bridge (Edit>Creative Suite Color Settings). Hardware calibration is only one part of the equation, software is the other.
Thanks
Kevin
http://www.amazon.com/ColorVision-S3X100-SPYDER3EXPRESS/dp/B002OCF57K/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s =electronics&qid=1264436096&sr=1-5
Kevin Stohlmeyer
Adobe Community Professional - Photoshop

Similar Messages

Desktop is black after downloading 10.8.3 and running external monitor color calibration

I downloaded 10.8.3 and ran Spectraview ll to calibrate my external NEC monitor. At the end of the process, which seemed to be successful, the desktop is black, making it impossible to use because text is not readable. I used System Preferences to reset the desktop color to a mid-gray; choose color but nothing happens.

My display is working great - and I've been through the 10.82 update, the 10.8.2 update, etc., but no firmware update (your's was likely Retina-specific).
Your ATB should just be pug-and-play. Since you're still under warranty, I would contact AppleCare and possibly setup and appointment with the Genius Bar folks at your local Apple Store: something's not right - whether it's you display or your notebook.
Clinton

[T61] Monitor color calibration

Did anyone use colorimeter to calibrate their monitors on T61? Can anyone share a ICC profile for it?
My monitor is WXGA, LG Philips 154WX4-TLA6 and screen it's kinda too bright. I know this isn't the best monitor, but I think it could display the picture better. For example, my HP 6715s has muuuuch better display than my T61.
T61 (6457-A88), T8100 (undervolted to 0.95V @ full speed), NVS 140m (undervolted to 0.95V), 3GB RAM, 15.4" 1280×800 WXGA, HDD Toshiba 400GB, Windows 8.1 Pro (X64)

If the monitor won't calibrate properly using the normal methods, it may need to be professionally serviced and aligned. If you're technically inclined, most pro-monitors do have further adjustments inside the case, but make absolutely certain that you have the proper tools (nylon or other non-conductive screwdrivers for example) and test equipment before attempting to do so ... and never, ever touch a capacitor even if the unit is unplugged!
Typical adjustments inside a pro-monitor are:
• Focus
• Master screen brightness
- (both above adjustments are usually found on the flyback transformer; sometimes accessible through the back panel)
• Vertical positioning
• Horizontal positioning
• Vertical size
• Horizontal size
• Underscan size
• R, G and B bias
• R, G and B drivers
• Phase (master)
• Yoke adjusters
If you're not technically inclined, do not attempt adjustment on anything inside ... you could easily make things worse or damage the set (or yourself!).
-DH

Color calibrating monitor

Hello, I am new to the pro photography/editing world and I am looking for recommendations for monitor color calibration systems. I am currently using a 13 inch macbook air. There are so many on the market I don't know where to start. I am looking for something that can automatically adjust the calibration for whatever light I happen to be sitting in at the moment- perhaps something with a sensor? I am not trying to break the bank. I see that the Spyder4 and X-Rite are popular. If you can give me your recommendations/model name that would be great!!

Keith_Reeder wrote:
Not sure why you'd think this was an on-topic question for a Lightroom forum?
Not sure why you think correct display of your files is irrelevant? Are all hardware-related discussions off-topic? All discussions on color management? If you think that, I suggest you just stay out of those threads and concentrate on the threads you find relevant.
Meanwhile, I'll be happy to answer.
Generally, you have the right idea in that your working environment will influence your perception. But an automatic adjustment of your calibration introduces so many uncontrollable factors that it's practically unworkable. It will only confuse you. Some calibrators have an option to adjust display brightness automatically, but the general advice is to disable that.
Concentrate on controlling your environment as far as you can. It's much more important to tune your calibration targets so that you get a good match to printed output. Ideally, screen white point should be a visual match to paper white - and this is where the environment will influence your perception. Similarly for contrast/black point. Start at 120 cd/m² and 6500K, and a contrast range (if available) of around 350:1. Adjust as needed to get a match.
Some will probably say a laptop display is not worth calibrating at all. I disagree, but don't expect too much. One basic problem is that most laptop displays are TN-based with very restricted viewing angles, to the point where the top of the screen is too dark and the bottom washed out. But if you get a calibrator now you still have that if you decide to get a better monitor later.
To be specific, I'd recommend the x-rite i1 Display Pro at around $200. This is generally the best third-party calibrator currently on the market. A more inexpensive solution is the ColorMunki Display, which uses the same sensor but somewhat restricted software. The Spyders are good too, but not quite as reliable and consistent at the same price point.

Color calibration issues - blue tint w/ sRGB

Need some help getting this issue resolved & wondering if there is a problem with my LCD.
I do a lot of web and video work and recently moved from a 17" Powerbook G4 to a 17" MacBook Pro. Both used with a 20" Apple Cinema display. The color temperature (tint) between the Powerbook and the new MacBook Pro are drastically different - especially when using sRGB calibration which is recommended by Adobe for this type of work. The cinema display seems correct and closely matches my Powerbook when using sRGB, but the Macbook Pro is very blue. The Macbook Pro displays more warm grays vs. the cinema display when using the default calibration settings.
Using sRGB for both displays:
http://idisk.mac.com/edgedesign-Public/Calibration/photo_sRBG.jpg
Using default calibration for both displays:
http://idisk.mac.com/edgedesign-Public/Calibration/photo_default.jpg
*Notice the 20" cinema hardly changes in either of these shots which make me think there's a problem with the MacBook Pro display.
- Are all the new MacBook Pros like this?
- Why so different than the Powerbook display and Cinema displays?
- Any calibration suggestions for Adobe CS3 and screen work?

Brief intro before I pontificate: I have a degree in imaging and used to be one of the guys you talked to at Eastman Kodak about monitor color calibration (before Kodak drove me crazy).
A few points:
First, sRGB is a needlessly small gamut color space invented by Microsoft. In the professional imaging field it is looked at with great disdain because it is imposing a needless crushing of your monitor's color profile. I've talked to one of the color experts at Adobe and he completely agrees. I don't know who at Adobe is recommending sRGB, but they are W R O N G. I personally call sRGB 'StupidRGB' in order to remind myself exactly what it is worth.
Second, the field of color calibration, color matching and color correction is complicated and requires considerable understanding to perform correctly. There are entire books on the subject, well worth reading. You can even take classes on the subject, such as at Rochester Institute of Technology (plugging my Alma matter). If you have shopped around for color calibration devices you will find they are incredibly expensive, and there is a reason for that.
Third, LCD screens generally SUCK for color matching. Here are a few reasons why:
(A) The viewing angle of most LCD screens is so small that if you tilt your head up, down, right or left you end up with a shift in color balance and contrast. Result: no way can you accurately color match. This is most certainly the case with ALL MacBooks, MacBook Pros and iMacs. The Cinema displays are vastly better. You can check this out yourself at your local Apple Store.
(B) In case you had not heard, none of the MacBook or MacBook Pro laptops are capable of showing all colors to which the human eye is sensitive. They don't do 'millions of colors' despite advertising you have read. They do about 260,000 colors and dither the rest. Dithering does NOT create colors that are not there. It just fakes them. The result again is that it is impossible to use these LCDs for accurate color matching. I have no knowledge about whether this color problem is the case with iMacs, but refer to the paragraph above regarding their viewing angle problem.
(C) The color gamut on even the very best LCD display is at the mercy of the fluorescent light bulbs inside the displays. The massive problem with fluorescent lights is that they do not have a continuous color spectrum. What you get are specific wavelength peaks with complete dropouts of other colors. Ye old CRTs with electron guns and glowing phosphors were/are not perfect either, but they were/are MUCH better at representing the full spectrum of light. Their gamut is much larger and more accurate than any LCD display. CRTs remain THE professional display for color calibration and color matching, even today.
I could rant on, but I think you get the message: Color matching on LCDs is a lousy idea, and on MacBooks and MacBook Pros it is essentially an impossible idea. The colors you need are not there on the screen. What you see is not what you get in terms of color. Give up.
That having been said, you can optimize your results for guestimation purposes. The very first thing I do with ANY display, including on Mac laptops, is go into the 'Displays' preference pane, hit the 'Color' tab and 'Calibrate...' the display. You MUST use 'Expert Mode'. Don't bother with mickey mouse mode. Fiddling with the settings will drive you nuts at first. But practice makes perfect. As long as you are not color blind you WILL get the hang of it, even if you don't understand what it is doing. Don't get psyched out. It works rather well.
When you get to 'Gamma' (you can look these terms up on Wikipedia) you want to use the same Gamma number as the other monitor you will be using for viewing. 1.8 is fine for Macs. Beats me why the 'PC' standard is 2.2. It is essentially a harsher contrast, but try it and use it if you like it, on BOTH monitors. Do NOT use 'native gamma' as it is rare that two displays have identical native gammas.
Next up is your 'white point'. Again, you want both your displays to have the same white point. D50 is the standard for viewing images in daylight. D65 is a bluer 'white point'. 9300 is the bluest of all. These numbers represent 'color temperature' as it is called. The sun has a color temperature hovering around 5000º Kelvin, thus D50 where D = Display. D65 = 6500º Kelvin, etc. Again, there is lots to read about in this field. Do NOT use 'native white point' on your displays if you are color matching because again, they won't be the same on each display.
When you get to the point of naming your color calibration profile you MUST include in the name the gamma number you used and the white point number you used. You will want to know, believe me. Here is why: You are going to want to make further color calibration profiles for different situations either now or in the future. Here's one example:
Lighting environment: Are you working on your MacBook Pro in the dark? Are the walls in the room a neutral color? Or are the walls colored? What kind of light is being used in the room? Fluorescent? Incandescent? Daylight? Details in the lighting environment in which you are working will affect how you perceive color on your display! You may want a morning color profile, an afternoon sun profile, and a night profile. If you have windows near you, these different times of day will affect the light in your work area and how you perceive color on your display. Again, go find a good book if you really want to understand this stuff.
A good basic calibration for plain old every day work, useless for color matching but nice to look at: I go through the calibration process for my lighting environment then use a gamma of 1.8 and I check off 'Use native white point'. Why? LCDs look their best at their native white point. You get good contrast with optimum color. Try it, you'll like it.
:-Derek

Color Calibrating a Dell u2711 monitor in 10.6

I bought the Dell u2711 monitor right before the Apple 27" monitor was announced. I have had a horrible time trying to get the color calibration right. I don't have a hardware color meter, but that hasn't been a real problem with past monitors.
It seems that the Dell monitor functions in a wider color space, so I am not getting predictable results using photoshop in sRGB (for web graphics) or in general. Even if I restrict the monitor to the sRGB colorspace, some colors, such as reds and yellows appear washed out, while blues look fine. If I use the standard color setting, the color is super saturated when compared to my MBP LCD.
What are the best practice settings for calibrating this monitor for day to day web work?

what if you change your white balance setting or gamma.
Try native white point and 2.20 gamma

Recommended color calibrator/monitor calibration tool?

Hi all,
It is a few years since I have purchased a color calibrator for my monitor and need to purchase a new one now at the new company I am at. It will be for my 30" Apple Cinema Display. As usual, I always come straight to these forums for your advice FIRST before making my selection.
In the past I have used both GretagMacbeth's Eye-One Display and the Pantone Huey. I have not tried the Colorvision Spyder.
Of course, these have each changed and been improved since I last worked with them, so can you make some recommendations as to which you feel may work best for you, and can thus recommend to me?
Thanks a lot in advance for your help!
Best regards,
Christine

ColorMunki has been getting lots of press.
This guy has a pretty good movie/review:
http://www.photo-i.co.uk/Colour%20Management/munki/munki.html
Profiles your printer as well as the monitor... Google it, lots of reviews.

Is monitor calibration the same as setting color profile in System Preferences Monitor Color?

I understand monitor calibration using something llike X-Rite or Gretag, but what about the sRGB/Adobe RGB/Generic thing in System preferences>Monitor>Color? Is the latter for printing purposes? What should I select when doing post processing on Adobe Lightroom or Photoshop Elements?

{quote:}After working on my photographs in Lightroom and setting them to Jpegs, I take them to a printshop (semi professional). Would the personal setting on my iMac make any differences to him for printing???{quote}
Yes your Display Profile will slightly affect your finished product, but if that RGB profile is working for you then don't try and fix it. However if you do professional or semi professional work, then you might want to consider using professional calibration tools to calibrate your display.
See > http://www.lightroomkillertips.com/
{quote:}What do you use most on your iMac?{quote}
I only do amateur photo work and then print them on an Epson printer. When editing and printing photos, I use the Epson sRGB Display Profile that was installed along with my Epson software and always get great results.

Colors displaying as dull yellowy-green; new monitor and calibration

Just got a new ASUS LCD monitor, and calibrated it with the Spyder 3 Express.
Now when I import a .CR2 file using Lightroom 3 to edit the RAW image, the color is displayed as yellowy-gray and dull. It looks the same when I pull it into Elements 7, unless I remove all color management (which, if I save the image, actually then renders the image colors neon and oversaturated with lots of pink and red tones). If I export the image from Lightroom 3 the image colors are correct and very different from how they look in Lightroom.
I also use the ACR editor with Elements 7 and I am having the same problem there. Upon opening an edited Jpeg or a .CR2 RAW file there, the color is displayed as dull, grayish yellowy-green.
If I view the very same image in GIMP, Picasa or on the web, as long as the colorspace is intact (sRGB), the color is accurate. Not so in Elements or Lightroom.
If you have experience with this problem is it the monitor, the calibration, or Elements and Lightroom? I am beyond frustrated and need to see my colors properly. I have not had this problem before.
Thanks for your time.

I suggest re-reading C S S Simon's and my reply, including the links I provided with solutions and historical explanation – It is apparent you didn't!
Pay your money and make your display choice, but don't blame the wide gamut capable display because you are unwilling to learn how to use the technology advantages it provides!
Please read this factoid:
All Wide Gamut Displays when properly setup to display in a "wide gamut" mode such as Adobe RGB will only display images correctly in color managed applications – PERIOD.
Your Asus display has two factory calibrated modes, Adobe RGB and sRGB, which will only work properly using the color profile provide to you on CD (or downloaded) by Asus – This the monitor profile Asus used when hardware calibrating your specific serial number monitor at the factory. The displays internal LUT contains that calibration information, and there is no way for you to recalibrate it using a Spyder 3 or other hardware calibrator. I am going to paste here three separate solution alternatives I made at the other post – Use only one (1):
Solution 1) Delete your i1 Display custom profile and install the Asus provided PA246Q driver and profile. Then use the monitor's "factory calibrated" Adobe RGB wide Gamut selector mode with Lightroom and other color-managed applications. When using non-color managed applications, switch your monitor’s mode selector to sRGB. Calibration using i1 Display or other hardware device cannot be used with this option. User hardware calibration should only be performed using the monitor's 'User Mode.'
Solution 2) In addition to your Asus PA246Q wide gamut monitor, install a second standard gamut sRGB monitor. Calibrate both monitors separately using your i1 Display unit, which will create separate profiles for each monitor. Use your Asus PA246Q wide gamut monitor only with Lightroom and other color managed applications. Use your second sRGB monitor for with both non-color or color managed applications. You may still have issues properly calibrating your Asus PA246Q monitor with its proper 'User Mode' selection as others have reported, but the results should be better than what you have now.
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/readflat.asp?forum=1004&message=3897 4810&changemode=1
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/readflat.asp?forum=1004&message=3908 1965&changemode=1
Solution 3) If none of the above works for you, get rid of the Asus PA246Q and buy a good standard "non-wide gamut sRGB display.

Dual monitor color settings seems to be messed up cs4

Hi
My daughter has this setup
AMD 9550 quad 2.2mhz machine, Windows 7 ultimate. latest updates
ATI Radeon HD 5700 gpu card (latest driver)
Two LCD monitors
          1. LG 2361V HDMI (main)
          2. Cintiq 21UX (Extended)
Both monitors are calibrated, and have the latest driver updates. It does not matter which monitor is the main one.
PS cs4 also has the
1. If i load a photo in fireworks and drag the application back and forth accross the two monitors, the image looks virtually identical.
2. If i load the same photo in PS (cs4 11.0.1) and do the same, the image looks perfect in the LG but immediately darkens when on the Cintiq.
          a. The darkening is not instantanious. It looks good for about one second before it changes.
          b. If I hover the image between the two monitors, then the darkening only is applied to half of the image.
3. If i change the preferences to not "color match" (in the performance->open GL) then the image does not darken and it remains loyal to the color profile in place. But!!!! the navigator and color selection tools remain darkened while on the Cintiq. So if she chooses a color from the tool, it paints a different color on the canvas.
          a. If I modify the color settings, then the modification affects both monitors display and the difference issue does not go away.
Ideally we want to be able to select a color from the palette and have that color be what is painted onto the canvas. We also want the image to appear as similar as they do in fireworks.
While Color Matching is checked:
On the cheaper monitor, the image and the navigation pane always has the same color appearance. when i change the color profile, the change is reflected in both the canvas and the navigation pane.
The same is true on the Centiq, but the image and navigation pane is always darker than on the other monitor.
While Color Matching is UNchecked:
The color selection tool and the navigation panel are affected but the canvas is not. But the two monitors canvases match.
So. in order for the navigation and color selction tool to match the canvas, the color matching needs to be checked.
But this creates the darkening on the cintiq. No matter what profile i choose, the cintiq is too dark. and photoshop is doing it because fireworks does not do this.
How can i set it up so that all the colors are true to the profile, and match the nav and color tools?
Thank you
Any ideas will be appreciated.
Jerry C

Thanks
@Noel
It sounds as if the monitors are using two quite different profiles, which may indicate the calibration is off a good bit on one of them and the profile was generated to compensate. The clue here is that you see a change when you move a document from one to the other, and that temporarily (while an image crosses both monitors) you see quite a difference in it.
If you drag an image in a non-color-managed application across both monitors, so that specifically part of it is shown on one and part on the other, how different do they look?
Using fireworks or MSpaint or IExplore, an image looks pretty much exactly the same on either monitor as well as when spanning accross both.
The two monitors are clibrated so that all colors match on both monitors.
http://www.lagom.nl/lcd-test/
The Cintiq has a better contrast ratio so the whites are slightly brighter.
But!!! If the moitors were not calibrated, then a fireworks image would look different on each screen. In fact they look exactly the same on both.
Even when the image spans accross the two screens.
It is only Photoshop that darkens the part of the image that hangs onto the Cintiq. And it is very dark.
Even in the famed "Monitor mode", the image is much darker than is is in IIE or MSPaint or Fireworks.
I dont want to disable the color profiling, as it is important to see what the target will look like.
But i do want to see what the target will look like! right now it is way to dark. No matter what profile i choose.
Also my examples are more to demonstrate the comparrison between the two monitors, but the goal is to get PS CS4 to work on the centiq. It would be nice to have the navigator and some panels on the other monitor and have the colors match, but more important is to have the colors on the cintiq look normal at all!
Thanks so far. but we are still messed up.
Jerry C

IMac i7 how can i calibrate my monitor/colors before taking to photo printer

is there anything in my applications that calibrates the colors on my monitor so what i see is what i get at the photo printer. have Final cut/DVDstudio pkg, aperture, photoshop. i sounds like i need a 3rd party software application? any brand suggestion for mac. a shop suggested ___monkey? spy__?

A color-calibrated workflow requires time and money to set up and maintain. There is a good bit of excellent information available on the Web -- the site Northlight Images has much to offer.
See also this post (among many -- search here and elsewhere for "color calibration", "X-Rite ColorMunki", etc.)

Monitor Colors wrong following a re-install of 10.3

I've fixed this once, a year ago, but have forgotten how!
I have had to re-install 10.3 due to some other problems but with this fresh system, the monitor colors are not quite right. For example, the finder icon in the dock is purple, the label colors are all wrong, not only in color but have blocks of different color in them.
I've messed with display preferences but cannot fix it. As I said this happened when I upgraded to 10.3 from 10.2.8 a year ago and I fixed it. Looking at the display preferences on the system where the color is OK and this one, I can see no difference. Calibrating the monitor did not seem to help.
Any ideas appreciated.

I haven't had this exact problem but on a couple of occasions, when my normal user setup wasn't behaving quite correctly, I started up from a new account, copied the preferences (HD/Users/UserAccount/Library/Preferences) to a new folder at the root level of my hard drive, restarted as my standard user, then used the preferences from the new account to overwrite those in my standard account. Sometimes you won't be able to overwrite them because they are in use; then just move the ones that can't be replaced to the trash, move the new ones to your user account preferences folder, restart and empty the trash.
Hope this works for you.

Color calibration

Does the Apple Cinema Display 24-inch monitor require color calibration like any other monitor?
I have a Spyder2Express but have not used it yet with this new screen.
Anyone who calibrate their 24-inch screen from Apple?

If the printer is is not printing the wrong colors ( green instead of yellow) or printing to dark. It would be printing within the range of function. One can calibrate the color though the toolbox. The toolbox tabs and how to use the toolbox is covered in pages 74-75 in the user manual. I hope that this helps.
I am a former employee of HP...
How do I give Kudos?| How do I mark a post as Solved?

Monitor color vs. sRGB

Hello!
So I finally calibrated my Dell U2410 monitor with a colormunki display and the results were very good. The only thing tho is that when I upload an illustration made in PS CC to, say, deviantart or imgur or whatever, the colors are a bit of. Generally it's the warmer part of the spectrum that gets a bit washed out for some reason. I solved this by setting my color settings in PS to Monitor Color instead of the standard sRGB and now it looks perfect. My questions is: is there some downside to using Monitor color? Or will I run in to trouble if I, say, need to print something? I guess I need to convert my old .psd files to my new color setting?
Thankful to any answer!

is there some downside to using Monitor color?
Apart from making a mockery of Color Management?
• Basically you are circumventing Color Management that way – instead of creating images in one (or a few) RGB Color Spaces whose display is corrected according to the monitor profile you are passing the RGB values to the screen directly (as long as the image’s profile is the current monitor profile).
• Please consider that a monitor profile is but supposed to represent the "current" state of your ageing/changing monitor and and you are expected to create a monitor profile anew at intervals and subsequently the images you create would have many different Color Spaces as time goes on.
If you base Color Management decisions on the display of images in non-Color Managed applications (as you don’t mention which browser you used to display the pages mentioned I suspect they may be or even whether you embedded the profile in the images) you may want to do some more reading on the issue.

Color Calibration Spyder Reccomendations Please

I've sifted through this forum & goggled Color Calibration Spyder Recommendations as I need a cheap no brain required to operate spyder for setting up my Dell 2407.
I'm looking for a general purpose device -- not one that will cost hundreds, require a masters to operate or give me press run results.
Does anyone on this forum have a recommendation for me?
Thanks in advance!

A while ago I bought PrintFIX Pro from ColorVision, which includes hardware and software for both monitor calibration and paper profiles for inkjet printing. I haven't made to many paper profiles, but I've had good results with monitor calibration. Not sure if they've come out with a newer version.
Best, David.

Monitor color calibration

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