Monitor calibration help

[Bruce Schultz]

I realize I need to calibrate my monitor, both for web purposes and printing. 95 percent of what I do will be from wet-plate images, so I need something that would be good for B&W, something simple - like me. Looks like the Spyder and Munki are the 2 most popular choices. WHich would be best for my criteria? Also, how often is calibration necessary? The monitor I just bought is pretty clunky to adjust so if calibration is a weekly, or even monthly, occurrence, it's likely I won't do it as much as necessary with this monitor.
Thanks.

[Tyler Boley]

looks like you are getting no response so far. I would say look for comparative reviews on line, like this-
http://www.northlight-images.co.uk/reviews.html#Monitor_profiling

I don't think your B&W needs makes one of these better than another, just compare price and your budget, and review info. The Spyder is very easy to use, I imagine the other is as well but I have no personal experience with it.
Tyler

[Aahx]

Munki is easy to use as well as you can scan prints for paper profiles as well with it. But Munki is only usable on LCD type monitors. It will not work for CRT's (which I also still have a few of). My Spyder (first generation) will work on my CRT's as well as LCD's. But cannot do print paper profiles. So look at your complete worth flow, and then make a call to what you need to best cover all your calibration needs.

[Brian Ellis]

I recently replaced Spyder II with Spyder III Pro and have been happy with the results. I've also read good reviews of it several places on line (don't remember where, sorry). The Munki is probably fine too but it costs a lot more than Spyder III Pro (though you can't make paper profiles with it, for that you need a more expensive version which may bring the cost more in line with Color Munki). I didn't really look into Color Munki because all I wanted was something to calibrate my monitor and that's what the Spyder III Pro does. lf you Google you should be able to find plenty of information about both. And if you're still unsure, post a question to the photo.net digital darkroom forum. I've found that to be a good place for questions about digital gear.

[Mark Barendt]

I realize I need to calibrate my monitor, both for web purposes and printing.

For the web, forget it. You have no control over what your stuff looks like on anybody's monitor except your own.

For printing you must realize the limits of all these devices. The color temp and brightness of the room you are in probably changes as the day progresses so your images will look different at different times of the day.

You also need to realize that your monitor and paper are very different mediums, they will look different. (Think projected slide vs paper)

Different printers and papers have different gamuts too.

That said, profiling your monitor or paying your lab for corrections are the only reliable ways to get repeatable results.


95 percent of what I do will be from wet-plate images, so I need something that would be good for B&W, something simple - like me. Looks like the Spyder and Munki are the 2 most popular choices. WHich would be best for my criteria?

I'm sure either will work fine.


Also, how often is calibration necessary? The monitor I just bought is pretty clunky to adjust so if calibration is a weekly, or even monthly, occurrence, it's likely I won't do it as much as necessary with this monitor.
Thanks.

You will probably only mess with adjusting the monitor hardware once, the recalibration is all software past that and probably once a month will be plenty.

[pherold]

You should also consider the i1Display 2. We sell them all here so I don't have an ulterior motive to favor one over another. The i1D2 is also very accurate, the software is easy to use and it works on LCD & CRT monitors. It has an attachable ambient light head that you can use if you want to get an idea of what color temperature your lights are. In my testing I have found it to get a darker reading for blacks than the Spyder 3. That might draw out a bit more shadow detail in the monitor profile with the i1D2.

Concerning your clunky monitor: Most of the process is automatic - allowing the software and the measurement instrument to go through their paces. But in the beginning of the monthly process you are expected to adjust your brightness at least using the monitor controls. So that might be a bit awkward, but you'd be surprised at how you get used to it after a few months. It does not take much to adjust the brightness up or down a few notches.

[thechrisproject]

For the web, forget it. You have no control over what your stuff looks like on anybody's monitor except your own.

I disagree with this. It's true, you don't have control, but a well balanced image on a calibrated monitor will look better on more displays than one where you just don't care. A lot of my opinions on this come from sound mixing. You don't control the speakers people listen to your mixes on, but a good mix will sound good on most speakers.

Congruently, I'd almost say that the best way to get good color on the web is to test your photos on various different displays.

[Mark Barendt]

My real point here is only that once you have corrected the image for printing in a color managed work flow, there is no point in doing more to make it look good on the web.

Sampling isn't a realistic option for individuals because the sample would not be large enough to provide good data.

I know that whenever I got a new computer or monitor, before my photographic adventures began, the first thing I did was adjust the brightness and contrast of the monitor to suit my taste.

Short of sampling say 10,000 monitors, in the entire geographic area you intend to serve, there's no good way to find an average.


I disagree with this. It's true, you don't have control, but a well balanced image on a calibrated monitor will look better on more displays than one where you just don't care. A lot of my opinions on this come from sound mixing. You don't control the speakers people listen to your mixes on, but a good mix will sound good on most speakers.

Congruently, I'd almost say that the best way to get good color on the web is to test your photos on various different displays.

[Bruce Schultz]

I've ordered a Spyder3Print calibrator. I'll let you know how it works for me.
I printed an image last night, and it took 3 tries before I got the desired tones.

[Peter De Smidt]

I might be mistaken, but isn't the spyder3print just for prints? Without a calibrated monitor, it's doubtful that it'll be much help. I have a spyder 3 print and a Spyder 3 elite (monitor). Together they work well, although reading patches is a pain. Luckily, I don't change papers that often.

[thechrisproject]

My real point here is only that once you have corrected the image for printing in a color managed work flow, there is no point in doing more to make it look good on the web.


Agreed.

[Bruce Schultz]

"I might be mistaken, but isn't the spyder3print just for prints? Without a calibrated monitor, it's doubtful that it'll be much help."

Damn. I knew I was getting off too easily with only $270 spent.

[Brian Ellis]

Bruce - If you paid $270 you probably bought Spyder3 Print, which I believe will only calibrate your printer, not your monitor. I'd suggest returning it and either going to a higher price (about $470) to buy Sypder3 Elite (I think they call it), which will calibrate both your monitor and your printer, or just forget printer calibration and buy Spyder3 Pro, which only calibrates your monitor and can be bought for around $130 if you Google for the best price. Or you could keep Spyder3 Print for you printer and add Spyder3 Pro to calibrate your monitor, which would bring your total cost to about $420 (not sure why buying the two separately costs less than combining them in Spyder3 Elite, maybe my prices are a little off or maybe the monitor calibration capabilities of Elite are supposed to be better than Syder3 Pro). In any event, you can find information about which Spyder product does what at www.colorvision.com, the web site for the maker of the various Spyder products. But don't buy from them, you probably can get better prices on all this stuff by Googling for the best price.

As between calibrating your monitor and calibrating your printer, I think monitor calibration is more important because it's difficult if not impossible to get a consistently accurate comparison between the monitor and the printer without a calibrated monitor. What you see on your monitor will never be an exact duplicate of your print because of the different light sources but you'll get much closer if your monitor is calibrated. As for printer profiles, I've found that for my "serious amateur" (i.e. not professional) work the paper profiles I download from the paper manufacturers' web sites work well and they cost nothing so I haven't felt a need to pay several hundred dollars to calibrate my printer.

[kander]

I have an Eye one display and am very happy with it.

[Bruce Schultz]

I got the Spyder 3 Elite. Made a big diff in print quality.

[vicgin]

I followed this post and bought the Spyder3 pro. The software ate up my Intel Imac today.
CS3 images won't open. Even the "color label" in the finder are now B&W. There are colored streaks throughout most of the folder icons. :mad:

Completely dumped the datacolor folder and application. No "uninstall" on its CD. Ran a disk utility - no good. No response yet from datacolor.

This real serious to me.

Any suggestions on locating and removing hidden extensions etc?

Herbert

[jim kitchen]

Dear vicgin,

My immediate suggestions would be as follows:

1. reinstall your OSX operating system, and when you are done create a secondary account, aside from the original administrator account for future use;

2. once you installed your OS, you must, must, must initiate a "Repair Permissions" routine from the disk utility application.

Once you complete that exercise restart the Mac. If you continue to have problems with your screen after you install the new OS, my first thought would be that your video card is misbehaving.


That said, and for anyone else that uses a Mac, where you simply install software freely, I would suggest the following routine to make your installation easier, and more effective:

1. before you install any software, and I mean any, including software updates, you must use the disk utility to prepare your HD by using "repair permissions" first;

2. once that exercise is complete, you must restart your computer;

3. install your software freely;

4. restart your computer;

5. initiate the disk utility application again, select your updated Hard Drive, and start "repair permissions...";

6. once that exercise is complete, you must restart your computer;

7. use the software.


I mention this, since many users forget what application experts must do to install software onto your computer, and although they do an excellent job, their applications must wander through a process that operates properly, only when the programmer follows the rules. For example, the installation application must politely knock on the Mac's front door, then ask the system if they can come in, where the system allows or denies access to the application. Once inside the front door, the installation can commence without issue, and when the installation is complete the application must terminate and exit gracefully, but a graceful exit is periodically ignored.

When a graceful exit is ignored, the application generally forgot to close the door behind it on the way out, therefore generating a few permission statements along the way, which will be properly attended to by the Disk Utility...

jim k

[vicgin]

Jim,
My friend, thank you. It worked.
I printed your post and hung it on the wall over my computer.
You're a gem...
Regards
Herbert

[vicgin]

Jim,
Couldn't resolve issues with datacolor or amazon (where I purchased). Hands being tied about returning opened software (cop out for sure). I am out $138.
Anyway, you mentioned in your post about my videocard might be misbehaving.
How can I check it? Or verify it ...
Regards
Herbert

[B.S.Kumar]

Herbert,

If you haven't done it yet, I suggest joining the Yahoo group at http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/datacolor_group/. C.D. Tobie of Datacolor answers questions quickly and will help you.

Cheers,
Kumar

[jim kitchen]

Dear vicgin,

Since you have an iMac, there is really only one software package that seems to do the calibration function properly, and that happens to be the software package from a company located here: http://www.integrated-color.com/cedpro/coloreyesdisplay.html

That said, their software and your puck and, or their combined package with the Spyder 3 puck will calibrate your monitor. Their software will lower the iMac's screen brightness to a proper level too. I believe they have a demo software package available for you to use that lasts for a few days. I use this software on a few of my computers, since they offer multiple licenses, and it is flawless. The iMac happens to be one of my Apple software testing computers.

If your monitor is producing multicoloured bands or artifacts through your screen, whether the coloured bands are appearing through a folder, the background, or an image, your video card may have a faulty chip on board. That is a signal your card is faulty and if your iMac is under warranty it will be replaced. The cause of the video board issue can be heat related but who knows until it is diagnosed by a technician.

Lastly, you should remove any trace of any calibration software before keeping one calibration software, since they sometimes compete with each other for attention when you start up your Mac. The software I mentioned modifies the iMac's video card output to force your monitor to behave properly, once you create a profile with the calibration.

The Spyder 3 puck is recommended for newer monitors such as yours.

jim k

[vicgin]

Jim,
Thank you for the post.
I got mad enough to pursue the issue with Colorvision. They bumped me over to some guys in Zurich that wrote the program. We got everything working now.

You are right by approaching the problem from the monitor brightness angle. Because
my wife's side of the computer had a little piece of shareware working the monitor brightness. Once dumped the Spyder3 installed correctly.

Here's an unrelated aside - Amazon will not accept returns of opened software at all. Know of any device that does not have some? Maybe that is why they can market the same products cheaper from the same stores ie... Adorama, BH etc.

Regards