LCD Monitor Calibration

AM
Posted By
Al_Millstein
Nov 14, 2003
Views
393
Replies
9
Status
Closed
Guru’s needed here.

My newly purchased Dell gave me (?free) a 15" flat screen monitor. I assume that makes it an LCD.

Calibration setting is crazy. I get brightnesses and colors all over the map, no matter how I try to set Adobe Gamma in Control Panel. Also some instruction ambiguities in operating Adobe Gamma.

For example in the beginning they tell you to set contrast on the monitor to the highest level. They never tell you to reduce it from the 100% mark. Is this correct? Secondly, you are supposed to match the smaller square boxes with the outer rim boxes. In my case, the farthest setting to the left of the sliding control doesn’t change the setting enough to meet that requirement.

On my earlier computer, I had a perfectly good 17" CRT which gave me no problems, and always seemed to have pleasant, reasonable display, which worked well for web pages, as well as print.

Looking for an answer on Google I found the following article, which expresses my problem exactly, but gives no solution.

<http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=005WeF>

Is there a way to adjust it manually, and forget the Adobe Gamma function?

Please, what’s going on? Should I just junk the flat screen and go back to my CRT? (Leaving less room on my work table.)

Al
Related Tags
calibrate lcd monitor

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J
jhjl1
Nov 14, 2003
Good morning Al. I am not a guru but I will share my experience with you. I have never been able to get my LCD to a point were I was satisfied. It is a widely held belief that CRT is the way to go for editing photographs. I have spent countless hours trying to get my laptop to match my desktop and it just will not happen. I ended up removing all photo software from the laptop and relegated it to a spare drive for storage and backup as well as a place to dump picture files while out shooting.

A quote from PC magazine:

If you work with graphics and need reliable image rendering, you’re better off with a CRT. That’s because liquid crystal cells do not show consistent brightness and color shades as your viewing angle shifts. Manufacturers have addressed this problem, but the fact remains that a CRT delivers a more consistent image from different angles.

—
Have A Nice Day,
jwh 🙂
My Pictures
http://www.pbase.com/myeyesview
wrote in message
Guru’s needed here.

My newly purchased Dell gave me (?free) a 15" flat screen
monitor. I assume that makes it an LCD.
Calibration setting is crazy. I get brightnesses and colors all
over the map, no matter how I try to set Adobe Gamma in Control Panel. Also some instruction ambiguities in operating Adobe Gamma.
For example in the beginning they tell you to set contrast on
the monitor to the highest level. They never tell you to reduce it from the 100% mark. Is this correct? Secondly, you are supposed to match the smaller square boxes with the outer rim boxes. In my case, the farthest setting to the left of the sliding control doesn’t change the setting enough to meet that requirement.
On my earlier computer, I had a perfectly good 17" CRT which
gave me no problems, and always seemed to have pleasant, reasonable display, which worked well for web pages, as well as print.
Looking for an answer on Google I found the following article,
which expresses my problem exactly, but gives no solution.
<http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=005WeF>
Is there a way to adjust it manually, and forget the Adobe
Gamma function?
Please, what’s going on? Should I just junk the flat screen and
go back to my CRT? (Leaving less room on my work table.)
Al
BB
brent_bertram
Nov 14, 2003
Al,
I concur with jwh’s comments above. The LCD displays may NEVER be quite as good as the best CRT displays . To effectively calibrate and profile the better LCD displays you’ll have to spend some money on a profiling and calibration package, like Monaco EZcolor; Adobe Gamma is not designed for LCD displays at all. In fact, most LCD displays don’t have the requisite adjustments available to the user to change the critical settings.

The LCD will be fine for general purpose work, but leave it alone for graphics editting .

🙂

Brent
BH
Beth_Haney
Nov 14, 2003
But, Al, I DO have space for a 15" LCD to use as a second monitor, so before you junk it, just send it to me! As a matter of fact, you might want to see if your new computer will support a second monitor. It would make a nice place for all of those Elements toolbars, leaving the screen of the CRT available for viewing your image. 🙂
AM
Al_Millstein
Nov 14, 2003
Sorry Beth. My wife complained to me from the beginning that she was jealous of my flat screen. She has one at work.

Now, talk about jeolousy, what if I gave the LCD to another lady. What are you trying to do to me?

jhjl1- Thanks for the input. It makes me realize I’m maybe not nuts. In addition to what you say, I find changes in the ambient light in the room work havoc with the screen.

By the way, your posts a few days ago on image resolution were very helpful to me- I’m still working with it. And I really admire your
web site.
BH
Beth_Haney
Nov 14, 2003
Well it was worth a try. 🙁
J
jhjl1
Nov 14, 2003
You are welcome and thank you for your kind words.
—
Have A Nice Day,
jwh 🙂
My Pictures
http://www.pbase.com/myeyesview
wrote in message
jhjl1- Thanks for the input. It makes me realize I’m maybe not
nuts. In addition to what you say, I find changes in the ambient light in the room work havoc with the screen.
By the way, your posts a few days ago on image resolution were
very helpful to me- I’m still working with it. And I really admire your
web site.
BB
brent_bertram
Nov 14, 2003
Beth,
If someone mistakenly gives me a 15" LCD for Christmas, I’ll send it right to YOU ! <G> I’ve got your address, look for it .

🙂

Brent
BH
Beth_Haney
Nov 14, 2003
Oh, Brent, I’ll be sitting out by my mailbox every day, beginning on the 26th of December! Thank you!
MG
Michael Garcia
Nov 14, 2003
Hi Al –

I have a Dell laptop that I do my image editing on. My LCD is calibrated using the Intel software that came with the laptop. I’m in the camp that believes that to get the most accurate results with an "LCD" monitor you either buy into a costly color management profiler or you do like many LCD users and that’s color manage by eye.

I prefer to manage by my eye, after all I’m the only one who can judge if my printed images color match what I’m seeing on the LCD screen. I can confidently say that in *my mind*, my images are accurate to approximately 95-98%, the most trouble I’ve had is getting Black and White prints to print neutrally, but I’ve worked on this issue with many a technique and I’m finally getting acceptable results. Now, I’m not saying that I didn’t have to tweak, modify or alter my image production methods, quite the contrary; it took a costly investment in time, paper, ink, environmental adjustments, and patience to get to my current workflow. But, the result is that I’m satisfied with my current "color management" method and it seems to provide top notch results.

LCD monitors are improving all the time, and I haven’t used a CRT monitor in over 5 years, so I guess I’ve been assimilated into the idea that photo editing can be done on either CRT or LCD without compromise; but again, we all have our standards! Hope you get your LCD monitor going, and if not, I’m sure you’ll get great results with your CRT!

Good luck and Peace to you.

Michael

wrote in message
Guru’s needed here.

My newly purchased Dell gave me (?free) a 15" flat screen monitor. I
assume that makes it an LCD.
Calibration setting is crazy. I get brightnesses and colors all over the
map, no matter how I try to set Adobe Gamma in Control Panel. Also some instruction ambiguities in operating Adobe Gamma.
For example in the beginning they tell you to set contrast on the monitor
to the highest level. They never tell you to reduce it from the 100% mark. Is this correct? Secondly, you are supposed to match the smaller square boxes with the outer rim boxes. In my case, the farthest setting to the left of the sliding control doesn’t change the setting enough to meet that requirement.
On my earlier computer, I had a perfectly good 17" CRT which gave me no
problems, and always seemed to have pleasant, reasonable display, which worked well for web pages, as well as print.
Looking for an answer on Google I found the following article, which
expresses my problem exactly, but gives no solution.
<http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=005WeF>
Is there a way to adjust it manually, and forget the Adobe Gamma function?
Please, what’s going on? Should I just junk the flat screen and go back to
my CRT? (Leaving less room on my work table.)
Al

MacBook Pro 16” Mockups 🔥

– in 4 materials (clay versions included)

– 12 scenes

– 48 MacBook Pro 16″ mockups

– 6000 x 4500 px

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