LCD Monitor

How to Calibrate an LCD Monitor with PS 7

Henry,

Generally speaking, you don’t….not unless you have a high-end LCD monitor that provides controls inclusive of both contrast and brightness, and quite likely other color adjustments. If you do attempt calibration, Adobe Gamma is said to be for CRTs only and thus you’d need a 3rd-party monitor profiling package and use its profile-loader in lieu of Adobe Gamma’s.

Regards,

Daryl

Daryl,
I left the monitor alone but my whites with PS looked yellow and the colors looked bad, what sould i do?

thanks

henry

any comments anyone?

Things look different on my new LCD monitor, depending on what angle I am viewing from. How do I determine what the printed pics will look like? Seems everything looks better on the screen than what I have had printed so far. (Windows XP, Elements 2.0, Gateway computer). Thanks.

Hania

Some people maintain that LCD monitors are not as well suited for use with Photoshop Elements. There is a theory that a good CRT monitor will provide an image that is much closer to what your printer will produce. Personally, I have had very good success with my LCD monitor. I used the Adobe Gamma utility to calibrate the monitor, but I did not adjust the contrast as instructed. I left both the brightness and the contrast set as they were originally, but I did go through the rest of the setup procedure. I still found that the colors were off a little, so I left Photoshop Elements open without any image being displayed so that I had the gray desktop color visible. I ran the Adobe Gamma utility again and did the color adjustments until that gray area looked as neutral gray as possible. I have used the resulting profile now for several months and have been satisfied with it. However, I’m sure one of the experts will tell you that you should do something quite different, which may include getting rid of your monitor. But I am happy with my setup.

Part of your question revolves around the issue of angle. I read somewhere very recently that the monitor should be adjusted so you’re looking straight at it, otherwise you will get color distortions. So, before you make any attempts to calibrate it, decide on a comfortable viewing angle and stick with it. I’d think the most important thing is consistency. Once you arrive at a position, Jim’s method should work really well for getting the adjustments made.

Some people just simply have more patience for the calibration thing, too. Jim is happy with his match, but I didn’t have quite as much success. Part of my problem was probably the fact I knew I’d soon be able to go back to using the LCD for all purpose viewing and a CRT for editing, so I didn’t stick with it long enough. There are all kinds of people using LCDs with Elements, so getting the color adjusted properly can be done. Adobe Gamma came with Elements, so you should be able to use a process virtually identical to what Jim described. I use a Mac and couldn’t use Adobe Gamma, so when I was fiddling with my monitor, I put an image on the screen that I’d already printed on another system, and then I played with settings until what I was seeing on the monitor looked like the picture I had sitting on the desk. I got pretty close!

If your LCD screen came with factory drivers and an ICC profile, see this techdoc for using that profile in creating your Adobe Gamma profile.
<http://www.adobe.com/support/techdocs/1403e.htm>

🙂

Brent

Jim, Beth, Brent, thank you so much for your help. I will have my husband help me calibrate the monitor and will pay attention to the tilt angle. You guys/gals are the best. I like the new challenge with all the pics. I think I’ll print some and put them next to the computer and then I’ll know who is who. Thanks again.

Hania

Herbert L. Boyd, Jr. wrote:

How does one calibrate a LCD monitor? Can you use Adobe Gamma?
Thank you

Adobe Gamma did not work for my Samsung Syncmaster 191N. I used Natural Color, Samsung sent it to me via email yesterday. Now it sort of looks ok, at least way better than before.

Check post: Monitor Calibration Question in this forum for some links by people to DIY-calibrate links.
Pjotr

How does one calibrate a LCD monitor? Can you use Adobe Gamma?

Thank you

On Thu, 8 Jul 2004 01:17:18 -0700, "Herbert L. Boyd, Jr." wrote:

How does one calibrate a LCD monitor? Can you use Adobe Gamma?
Thank you

Gamma doesn’t work with LCD monitors. Your only choice for proper calibration is a spider or guesswork.

—

Hecate

veni, vidi, reliqui

"Winfan" wrote in message

I do a lot of work with photoshop, using a 22 inch CRT (IIyama) monitor. For reasons of saving space on my desk, I am considering replacing my CRT monitor with a 22 inch LCD one.
I understand however that the image quality on a LCD screen is not as good as it is on a CRT monitor.
Appreciate your comments.

LCD monitors are much better choice for users who:
Have control over their printing and/or use their computer for other things than exclusive PS correction.(Surfing, watching movies, daytrading etc). There is no flickering, no electron gun shooting electrons at you from 1 ft. away. They run cooler, last 10 times longer, take up less space, and the overall image is totally superior to anything but the best CRT monitors. The Hi End(expensive) CRT monitors have better subtle color capabilities, but your printer won’t print most of these colors anyway, so why worry about it. If you sit in a color corrected room, aren’t partially colorblind, aren’t over 40 years old, aren’t presbyopic, have professional imaging equipment(cameras and scanners) And a professional printing environment you will probably appreciate the difference between LCD and CRT monitors. Other than that, don’t waste your money on CRT’s. If you ever try a Dual Screen LCD monitor setup, you will never go back to CRT’s.

How does one calibrate a LCD monitor? Can you use Adobe Gamma?

Gamma doesn’t work with LCD monitors. Your only choice for proper calibration is a spider or guesswork.

Of course it works. I use Matrox Dual head video card and Gamma only works on one screen, which I view as an advantage, because I use 2 different color temps AND 2 different resolutions to work my images. Things that are not apparent at one setting are glaringly obvious at other settings(saturation, repairs, sharpening).
My LCD monitors have 4 color temp setting, one of which is Custom. I have Custom set to emulate my Printer. I do most work in Native, which is very good for every day use and I push a button to go to Custom for color correction of my images. It works very well this way. nikki

has anyone used the eizo ColorEdge CG21? its about $3,000 ….sigh ….

steve

I’m trying to decide on an LCD monitor for my work with Photoshop. I would prefer a wide format (1920×1200) so I have plenty of room for my palettes.

Reviews I’ve seen look good for the Dell UltraSharp 2405FPW and the ViewSonic VP231wb. Does anyone have any experience with either of these? Are there any others that I should look into?

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

Rod

"joex" wrote in message

I’m trying to decide on an LCD monitor for my work with Photoshop. I would prefer a wide format (1920×1200) so I have plenty of room for my palettes.
Reviews I’ve seen look good for the Dell UltraSharp 2405FPW and the ViewSonic VP231wb. Does anyone have any experience with either of these?

Are

there any others that I should look into?

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

Rod

I asked here about a month ago and got some good advice. I’m not a graphics pro, so my needs may not be as demanding as others. View Sonic was within my budget and got lots of good reports.

The main problem I had was actually finding a monitor I could see in person. I refused to purchase a monitor I couldn’t see in action. I did a LOT of research on the net, there is lots of info out there, the problem was having info and an actual product come together.

I had a list of monitors to look at and the only one I could actually find on a retail floor was an NEC Opticlear MultiSync LCD 1970GX. I found it at MicroCenter. At the store it looked ‘good enough.’ It was more than I wanted to spend but I wasn’t going to drop $400 on a moniter I might end up hating. I spent $600 for the NEC including tax.

When I got it home and set up, and adjusted, I was thrilled with it. I still am. I thought my old CRT was decent, not even close. The colors are not what I’m used to. Rich and true colors, totally saturated. The dot pitch is fine, see the adjustments menu to make text readable.

I spent a lot more on this monitor than I have on computers recently, but I expect it’s the last monitor I will ever purchase. It’s pretty cool to turn a monitor on and realize, yeah, that was money well spent.

I have no idea if it is what you need. Lots of the LCD monitors I looked at begged the question "who would want to look at that all day?"

Try before you buy

wtrplnet wrote:

"joex" wrote in message

I’m trying to decide on an LCD monitor for my work with Photoshop. I would prefer a wide format (1920×1200) so I have plenty of room for my palettes.
Reviews I’ve seen look good for the Dell UltraSharp 2405FPW and the ViewSonic VP231wb. Does anyone have any experience with either of these?

Are

there any others that I should look into?

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

Rod

I asked here about a month ago and got some good advice. I’m not a graphics pro, so my needs may not be as demanding as others. View Sonic was within my budget and got lots of good reports.

The main problem I had was actually finding a monitor I could see in person. I refused to purchase a monitor I couldn’t see in action. I did a LOT of research on the net, there is lots of info out there, the problem was having info and an actual product come together.

I had a list of monitors to look at and the only one I could actually find on a retail floor was an NEC Opticlear MultiSync LCD 1970GX. I found it at MicroCenter. At the store it looked ‘good enough.’ It was more than I wanted to spend but I wasn’t going to drop $400 on a moniter I might end up hating. I spent $600 for the NEC including tax.

When I got it home and set up, and adjusted, I was thrilled with it. I still am. I thought my old CRT was decent, not even close. The colors are not what I’m used to. Rich and true colors, totally saturated. The dot pitch is fine, see the adjustments menu to make text readable.
I spent a lot more on this monitor than I have on computers recently, but I expect it’s the last monitor I will ever purchase. It’s pretty cool to turn a monitor on and realize, yeah, that was money well spent.
I have no idea if it is what you need. Lots of the LCD monitors I looked at begged the question "who would want to look at that all day?"
Try before you buy

check out the samsungs, eizos, ilyamas and apple cinema displays.

Thanks for the info.

I checked out the Apple. It is a great monitor. A bit pricey, but I may be able to swing it. I’ve heard, though, that they sometimes have compatability problems with PC’s. I have a Radeon 9700 Video Card on a machine runnig at
3.04 mhz and 1GB RAM. I use PS CS2 and do a lot of photograph touch up.

Rod

"neon" wrote in message

wtrplnet wrote:

"joex" wrote in message

I’m trying to decide on an LCD monitor for my work with Photoshop. I would
prefer a wide format (1920×1200) so I have plenty of room for my palettes.

Reviews I’ve seen look good for the Dell UltraSharp 2405FPW and the ViewSonic VP231wb. Does anyone have any experience with either of these?

Are

there any others that I should look into?

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

Rod

I asked here about a month ago and got some good advice. I’m not a graphics
pro, so my needs may not be as demanding as others. View Sonic was within
my budget and got lots of good reports.

The main problem I had was actually finding a monitor I could see in person.
I refused to purchase a monitor I couldn’t see in action. I did a LOT of research on the net, there is lots of info out there, the problem was having
info and an actual product come together.

I had a list of monitors to look at and the only one I could actually find
on a retail floor was an NEC Opticlear MultiSync LCD 1970GX. I found it at
MicroCenter. At the store it looked ‘good enough.’ It was more than I wanted to spend but I wasn’t going to drop $400 on a moniter I might end up
hating. I spent $600 for the NEC including tax.

When I got it home and set up, and adjusted, I was thrilled with it. I still am. I thought my old CRT was decent, not even close. The colors are
not what I’m used to. Rich and true colors, totally saturated. The dot pitch is fine, see the adjustments menu to make text readable.
I spent a lot more on this monitor than I have on computers recently, but I
expect it’s the last monitor I will ever purchase. It’s pretty cool to turn
a monitor on and realize, yeah, that was money well spent.
I have no idea if it is what you need. Lots of the LCD monitors I looked at
begged the question "who would want to look at that all day?"
Try before you buy

check out the samsungs, eizos, ilyamas and apple cinema displays.

I’d like to change/upgrade my monitor. Now I’ve read a few write-ups which say that any reliable type crt’s are gone. One must look into lcd type monitor nowadays. I don’t really know what prerequisites should be sought other than it should be s-ips adjustable. Does anyone have any suggestions or input to offer. I do realize LaCie would surely have what I’m looking for but I’m an amateur and cost is a factor unfortunately.

Thanks

Using PSE4. Have just built a new system around Intel Core 2 Quad: Last item needed is a GOOD LCD monitor for PSE 4. Presently using a 17 inch CRT, but like me is getting old. I’m looking for a 19 to 22inch up to$300.00. Am retired and can’t afford a lot.
Thanks for your help.

Mr. Bro

You’ll get better answers if you post to a hardware newsgroup. microsoft.public.windows.vista.hardware_assessment
microsoft.public.windows.vista.hardware_devices
microsoft.public.windowsxp.hardware

Also have a look here:
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?_dyncharset=ISO-8859 -1&id=pcat17071&type=page&ks=960&st=LCD+moni tor&sc=Global&cp=1&sp=&qp=crootcategoryid%23 %23-1%23%23-1%7E%7Eq4c4344206d6f6e69746f72%7E%7Encabcat05000 00%23%233%23%231p&list=y&usc=All+Categories&nrp= 15&iht=n

"Mr. Bro" wrote in message

Using PSE4. Have just built a new system around Intel Core 2 Quad: Last item needed is a GOOD LCD monitor for PSE 4. Presently using a 17 inch CRT, but like me is getting old. I’m looking for a 19 to 22inch up to$300.00. Am retired and can’t afford a lot.
Thanks for your help.

Mr. Bro

I’m looking for a 19 to

22inch up to$300.00. Am retired and can’t afford a lot.
Thanks for your help.

� � � � Mr. Bro

Peddle some stuff on Ebay, add it to what you have and buy a 24" Dell Monitor. But at any rate be sure to get at least a 1000 to 1 contrast ratio. Or more. It will make a difference.

What Quad core board and processor did you get? How much memory?

Bob AZ

Intel Core 2 Quad, 2GB 1066FSB of memory, to upgrade to 4GB, should be able to use only 3GB as I have a 32bit Windows XP. Video card is a nVidia En 8600GT with 512MB DDR3.

Mr. Bro

On Mon, 7 Apr 2008 19:50:01 -0700 (PDT), Bob AZ
wrote:

I’m looking for a 19 to

22inch up to$300.00. Am retired and can’t afford a lot.
Thanks for your help.

? ? ? ? Mr. Bro

Peddle some stuff on Ebay, add it to what you have and buy a 24" Dell Monitor. But at any rate be sure to get at least a 1000 to 1 contrast ratio. Or more. It will make a difference.

What Quad core board and processor did you get? How much memory?
Bob AZ

Where else to better get an answer then this NG. Everyone here has an monitor that is specific to use for this type of graphics. I’m not a gamer so after some research have found monitors a specific to a useage, where some are good for gamers and not photography and some are good for photography and not for gamers.

Mr. Bro

On Mon, 7 Apr 2008 08:00:24 -0400, "Bob" wrote:

You’ll get better answers if you post to a hardware newsgroup. microsoft.public.windows.vista.hardware_assessment
microsoft.public.windows.vista.hardware_devices
microsoft.public.windowsxp.hardware

Also have a look here:
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?_dyncharset=ISO-8859 -1&id=pcat17071&type=page&ks=960&st=LCD+moni tor&sc=Global&cp=1&sp=&qp=crootcategoryid%23 %23-1%23%23-1%7E%7Eq4c4344206d6f6e69746f72%7E%7Encabcat05000 00%23%233%23%231p&list=y&usc=All+Categories&nrp= 15&iht=n

"Mr. Bro" wrote in message

Using PSE4. Have just built a new system around Intel Core 2 Quad: Last item needed is a GOOD LCD monitor for PSE 4. Presently using a 17 inch CRT, but like me is getting old. I’m looking for a 19 to 22inch up to$300.00. Am retired and can’t afford a lot.
Thanks for your help.

Mr. Bro

The newsgroups I suggested are much more active.

"Mr. Bro" wrote in message

Where else to better get an answer then this NG. Everyone here has an monitor that is specific to use for this type of graphics. I’m not a gamer so after some research have found monitors a specific to a useage, where some are good for gamers and not photography and some are good for photography and not for gamers.

Mr. Bro

On Mon, 7 Apr 2008 08:00:24 -0400, "Bob" wrote:

You’ll get better answers if you post to a hardware newsgroup. microsoft.public.windows.vista.hardware_assessment
microsoft.public.windows.vista.hardware_devices
microsoft.public.windowsxp.hardware

Also have a look here:
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?_dyncharset=ISO-8859 -1&id=pcat17071&type=page&ks=960&st=LCD+moni tor&sc=Global&cp=1&sp=&qp=crootcategoryid%23 %23-1%23%23-1%7E%7Eq4c4344206d6f6e69746f72%7E%7Encabcat05000 00%23%233%23%231p&list=y&usc=All+Categories&nrp= 15&iht=n

"Mr. Bro" wrote in message

Using PSE4. Have just built a new system around Intel Core 2 Quad: Last item needed is a GOOD LCD monitor for PSE 4. Presently using a 17 inch CRT, but like me is getting old. I’m looking for a 19 to 22inch up to$300.00. Am retired and can’t afford a lot.
Thanks for your help.

Mr. Bro

"Mr. Bro" wrote in message

Using PSE4. Have just built a new system around Intel Core 2 Quad: Last item needed is a GOOD LCD monitor for PSE 4. Presently using a 17 inch CRT, but like me is getting old. I’m looking for a 19 to 22inch up to$300.00. Am retired and can’t afford a lot.
Thanks for your help.

Mr. Bro

Hi.

The makers name is not too important, it is the screen technology which matters.

There are 3 types TN – IPS – VA.

The TNs are the cheapies and not so good for Photography.

The other types are the best. If the specs do not mention Screen / Panel Technology then it will almost certainly be a TN.

There are a variety of sub types, SIPS & PVA are common variations.

The Samsung Models ending in "T" are all VAs or PVAs, (or were when I bought my 214T).

Belinea have some of these good types, and they are probably cheaper than Dell or Samsung.

Hope this helps.

Roy G

Bro, one thing to consider is to purchase a monitor that comes with an installation disk containing drivers. Many monitors do not have their own drivers and are "Plug and Play" and use generic Windows drivers. These monitors self adjust their settings whenever the computer is booted and cannot load custom monitor profiles (settings) developed by using monitor calibration devices, like the Colorvision Spyder products. If you want your printed photographs to more or less match what you see on the monitor you will want to calibrate the monitor and not have it constantly revert to its default settings. I see this as a more important issue than a specific monitor brand with particular specifications, e.g., contrast ratios as presented by manufacturers are highly variable and suspect and do not reliably suggest uniformity between models or between brands. I treat monitors as commodities and use the calibration device to set them up. I have three LCD monitors of lower cost and have been completely satisified (except for the one that turned out to be plug and play, which is fine for everything except for exacting photographic work).

I have a 19" LG L196WTQ and it is great for PSE.
Google it and compare the specs to other 19" widescreen monitors. Note: sometimes it is listed as LG 196WTQ (without the L prefix) A larger LCD may be better, but I don’t know enough to tell you. Hope this helps.
Vicki

The LG L196WTQ comes with its own drivers and a pdf installation guide, which is very helpful.