Monitor calibration

GP
Posted By
Geoffrey Pocock
Apr 16, 2005
Views
667
Replies
15
Status
Closed
Hello

I know the professionals prefer a CRT to an LCD monitor but I have taken the plunge and bought an EIZO FlexScan L768. I’ve done this because I need a bigger screen with a smaller footprint and for publishing portrait documents the screen rotation is fantastic.

So is the colour and I am getting quite good matching. But as Adobe Gamma does not really work on an LCD screen I thought I should buy a proper profiling system.

So far I have read about the Monaco Optix XR and the Spyder 2.

Any advice on the best one (or another device) to go for would be much appreciated.

Geoffrey

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M
Madsen
Apr 16, 2005
Geoffrey Pocock wrote:

Any advice on the best one (or another device) to go for would be much appreciated.

According to the following site, you can not go wrong with a Optix XR Pro.
< http://www.outbackphoto.com/color_management/cm_08/essay.htm l>.


Regards
Madsen
M
Madsen
Apr 16, 2005
Geoffrey Pocock wrote:

Any advice on the best one (or another device) to go for would be much appreciated.

According to the following site, you can not go wrong with an Optix XR Pro.
< http://www.outbackphoto.com/color_management/cm_08/essay.htm l>.


Regards
Madsen
J
johnastovall
Apr 16, 2005
On Sat, 16 Apr 2005 11:09:20 +0100, Geoffrey Pocock
wrote:

Hello

I know the professionals prefer a CRT to an LCD monitor but I have taken the plunge and bought an EIZO FlexScan L768. I’ve done this because I need a bigger screen with a smaller footprint and for publishing portrait documents the screen rotation is fantastic.

So is the colour and I am getting quite good matching. But as Adobe Gamma does not really work on an LCD screen I thought I should buy a proper profiling system.

So far I have read about the Monaco Optix XR and the Spyder 2.
Any advice on the best one (or another device) to go for would be much appreciated.

MacWorld recently did a review on the major color management devices.

http://www.macworld.com/2005/03/reviews/monitorcalibrator/in dex.php

There was this thread here recently:

Best way to profile monitor and printer for use with Photoshop?

rec.digital.photos has in the last several months several threads on monitor calibration.

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BH
Bill Hilton
Apr 16, 2005
So far I have read about the Monaco Optix XR and the Spyder 2. Any advice on the best one (or another device) to go for would be much appreciated.

From various reviews it looks like the two you mention plus the
GretagMacbeth Eye-One are the three best moderately priced ones. If you read the reviews mentioned in the other threads MacWorld likes the Spyder2 best while the Outback review liked it least, so I guess it depends on what they were looking for.

One thing I like about the Eye-One is that Gretag has the best low cost printer profiling solution, around $1,000 for a spectrophotometer and software, and you can trade in the Eye-One towards this (I think for a $200 credit), so if you think you’ll want to do any printer profiling later on the GM Eye-One would be best.

I’m doing the same evaluation right now and was leaning toward the Eye-One before reading the Outback article, which really liked the XR, though they ranked the Eye-One pretty much equal. I’ve used the original Spyder for about 5 years and it does a decent job on CRTs but not on LCDs.

Bill
R
Ron
Apr 16, 2005
"Bill Hilton" wrote in message
So far I have read about the Monaco Optix XR and the Spyder 2. Any advice on the best one (or another device) to go for would be much appreciated.

From various reviews it looks like the two you mention plus the
GretagMacbeth Eye-One are the three best moderately priced ones. If you read the reviews mentioned in the other threads MacWorld likes the Spyder2 best while the Outback review liked it least, so I guess it depends on what they were looking for.

One thing I like about the Eye-One is that Gretag has the best low cost printer profiling solution, around $1,000 for a spectrophotometer and software, and you can trade in the Eye-One towards this (I think for a $200 credit), so if you think you’ll want to do any printer profiling later on the GM Eye-One would be best.

I’m doing the same evaluation right now and was leaning toward the Eye-One before reading the Outback article, which really liked the XR, though they ranked the Eye-One pretty much equal. I’ve used the original Spyder for about 5 years and it does a decent job on CRTs but not on LCDs.

Hardware calibration on LCDs, except for high-end LCDs
($10K and up) is generally a waste of money. LCDs have
excellent color accuracy within a limited color gamut, and nothing one does with a hardware calibrator will improve this gamut.
M
Madsen
Apr 16, 2005
Rick wrote:

LCDs have excellent color accuracy within a limited color gamut, and nothing one does with a hardware calibrator will improve this gamut.

Who claims that gamut improvement is the reason why people buys a hardware calibrator? I bought it to set my monitor to a known standard (calibration) and to be able to produce a fairly accurate monitor profile to use in my color managed programs (profiling).


Regards
Madsen
GP
Geoffrey Pocock
Apr 16, 2005
Geoffrey Pocock wrote:
Hello

I know the professionals prefer a CRT to an LCD monitor but I have taken the plunge and bought an EIZO FlexScan L768. I’ve done this because I need a bigger screen with a smaller footprint and for publishing portrait documents the screen rotation is fantastic.

So is the colour and I am getting quite good matching. But as Adobe Gamma does not really work on an LCD screen I thought I should buy a proper profiling system.

So far I have read about the Monaco Optix XR and the Spyder 2.
Any advice on the best one (or another device) to go for would be much appreciated.

Geoffrey

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R
Ron
Apr 16, 2005
"Thomas G. Madsen" wrote in message
Rick wrote:

LCDs have excellent color accuracy within a limited color gamut, and nothing one does with a hardware calibrator will improve this gamut.

Who claims that gamut improvement is the reason why people buys a hardware calibrator? I bought it to set my monitor to a known standard (calibration) and to be able to produce a fairly accurate monitor profile to use in my color managed programs (profiling).

My point is that hardware calibrators address a problem
that’s largely non-existant with LCDs, while they don’t
address what _is_ the major problem with them. E.g.
trying to color correct an image with lots of near blacks is an exercise in futility on all but the very best LCDs.
H
Hecate
Apr 16, 2005
On Sat, 16 Apr 2005 11:09:20 +0100, Geoffrey Pocock
wrote:

Hello

I know the professionals prefer a CRT to an LCD monitor but I have taken the plunge and bought an EIZO FlexScan L768. I’ve done this because I need a bigger screen with a smaller footprint and for publishing portrait documents the screen rotation is fantastic.

So is the colour and I am getting quite good matching. But as Adobe Gamma does not really work on an LCD screen I thought I should buy a proper profiling system.

So far I have read about the Monaco Optix XR and the Spyder 2.
Any advice on the best one (or another device) to go for would be much appreciated.
Gretag Macbeth Eye system: www.gretagmacbeth.com



Hecate – The Real One

Fashion: Buying things you don’t need, with money
you don’t have, to impress people you don’t like…
H
Hecate
Apr 16, 2005
On Sat, 16 Apr 2005 11:09:20 +0100, Geoffrey Pocock
wrote:

Hello

I know the professionals prefer a CRT to an LCD monitor but I have taken the plunge and bought an EIZO FlexScan L768. I’ve done this because I need a bigger screen with a smaller footprint and for publishing portrait documents the screen rotation is fantastic.
That only applies if you don’t spend money on getting a good LCD screen. And guess, what, the usual recommendation is Eizo. 🙂



Hecate – The Real One

Fashion: Buying things you don’t need, with money
you don’t have, to impress people you don’t like…
TA
Timo Autiokari
Apr 17, 2005
"Rick" wrote:

My point is that hardware calibrators address a problem
that’s largely non-existant with LCDs, while they don’t
address what _is_ the major problem with them.

HW calibration & profiling systems does not address the poor performance of the flat panels (LCD & TFT) at the dark the dark end simply because they can not. The problem is due to the native characteristics of this display technology, nothing can be made in order to get more better/accurate blackpoint or more better/accurate definition in the dark end. And a more expensive flat LCD/TFT panel does not give any notable improvement there either.

trying to color correct an image with lots of near blacks is an exercise in futility on all but the very best LCDs.

Indeed. There are other flat panel technologies that would be quite perfect for color-management like plasma displays. But the only color plasma displays I have seen are TV sets and they are very coarse. Maybe it is so that it is not possible to make a dense color plasma display… or it is just marketing tactic, fist saturate the market with the poor LCD/TFT devices and then sell a good plasma device.

About the HW calibration & profiling devices, they are not up to the accuracy that is required for color-management. The cheap gadgets are so low quality that they are not able to even measure the blackpoint of the display, instead the user has to adjust the blackpoint with the aid of a test chart. The higher priced spectro(photo)meters also have major trouble in measuring the dark end of the range. This is due to the same nasty thing that we suffer from digital cameras and scanners, high noise & other non-linearities there in the dark end. Now, when such inaccurate measurements are used to create a 3-D lookup table based profile for the monitor, there is not much color-management to speak about.

Timo Autiokari
GP
Geoffrey Pocock
Apr 17, 2005
Hecate wrote:
On Sat, 16 Apr 2005 11:09:20 +0100, Geoffrey Pocock
wrote:

Hello

I know the professionals prefer a CRT to an LCD monitor but I have taken the plunge and bought an EIZO FlexScan L768. I’ve done this because I need a bigger screen with a smaller footprint and for publishing portrait documents the screen rotation is fantastic.

So is the colour and I am getting quite good matching. But as Adobe Gamma does not really work on an LCD screen I thought I should buy a proper profiling system.

So far I have read about the Monaco Optix XR and the Spyder 2.
Any advice on the best one (or another device) to go for would be much appreciated.

Gretag Macbeth Eye system: www.gretagmacbeth.com



Hecate – The Real One

Fashion: Buying things you don’t need, with money
you don’t have, to impress people you don’t like…

Many thanks for the helpful advice and opinions. I am going to see if I can try one of the systems before lashing out the best part of £200.

Best wishes

Geoffrey Pocock
GP
Geoffrey Pocock
Apr 17, 2005
Hecate wrote:
On Sat, 16 Apr 2005 11:09:20 +0100, Geoffrey Pocock
wrote:

Hello

I know the professionals prefer a CRT to an LCD monitor but I have taken the plunge and bought an EIZO FlexScan L768. I’ve done this because I need a bigger screen with a smaller footprint and for publishing portrait documents the screen rotation is fantastic.

So is the colour and I am getting quite good matching. But as Adobe Gamma does not really work on an LCD screen I thought I should buy a proper profiling system.

So far I have read about the Monaco Optix XR and the Spyder 2.
Any advice on the best one (or another device) to go for would be much appreciated.

Gretag Macbeth Eye system: www.gretagmacbeth.com



Hecate – The Real One

Fashion: Buying things you don’t need, with money
you don’t have, to impress people you don’t like…

Many thanks for the helpful advice and opinions. I am going to see if I can try one of the systems before lashing out the best part of £200.

Best wishes

Geoffrey Pocock
J
johnastovall
Apr 18, 2005
On Sun, 17 Apr 2005 00:27:38 +0100, Hecate wrote:

On Sat, 16 Apr 2005 11:09:20 +0100, Geoffrey Pocock
wrote:

Hello

I know the professionals prefer a CRT to an LCD monitor but I have taken the plunge and bought an EIZO FlexScan L768. I’ve done this because I need a bigger screen with a smaller footprint and for publishing portrait documents the screen rotation is fantastic.

So is the colour and I am getting quite good matching. But as Adobe Gamma does not really work on an LCD screen I thought I should buy a proper profiling system.

So far I have read about the Monaco Optix XR and the Spyder 2.
Any advice on the best one (or another device) to go for would be much appreciated.
Gretag Macbeth Eye system: www.gretagmacbeth.com

Which of the different flavors of the product?
H
Hecate
Apr 19, 2005
On Mon, 18 Apr 2005 10:38:27 -0500, John A. Stovall
wrote:

On Sun, 17 Apr 2005 00:27:38 +0100, Hecate wrote:

On Sat, 16 Apr 2005 11:09:20 +0100, Geoffrey Pocock
wrote:

Hello

I know the professionals prefer a CRT to an LCD monitor but I have taken the plunge and bought an EIZO FlexScan L768. I’ve done this because I need a bigger screen with a smaller footprint and for publishing portrait documents the screen rotation is fantastic.

So is the colour and I am getting quite good matching. But as Adobe Gamma does not really work on an LCD screen I thought I should buy a proper profiling system.

So far I have read about the Monaco Optix XR and the Spyder 2.
Any advice on the best one (or another device) to go for would be much appreciated.
Gretag Macbeth Eye system: www.gretagmacbeth.com

Which of the different flavors of the product?

Depends on how much you want to spend really. If you just want to profile your monitor, then the Eye One Display. Otherwise, go for EyeOne Photo or EyeOne Proof depending on your needs and the size of your wallet. 🙂



Hecate – The Real One

Fashion: Buying things you don’t need, with money
you don’t have, to impress people you don’t like…

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