Karri Klawiter

I don’t think it is a matter of old or new screens.

Rightly, if we want to view images accurately we need to calibrate our screens – and this means proper calibrating using equipment / software like Spyder etc. Even the built-in calibration systems in some computers is not good enough.

Ever go into a TV store with rows and rows of TV screens beside each other – and they all look different? Same with computer monitors. Every screen looks different.

I ever saw some of my images at an Internet cafe and, yucks, they look really awful.

thats why i got a new screen… the screen on my laptop changes with the angle it was a nightmare.. when i bought mine the staff in the shop thought i was mad cos i kept moving all the screens around!!!! last month i had to totally re-edit a wedding album as i was printing it.

I have noticed this same thing Karri… I am always changing the settings on the various computers the best I can get…

I’ve had a nightmarish time with this since getting a new screen. Trying to adjust it was like rocket science for me, I was ridiculously inept at it and was making more of a mess of it when I accidently turned the directions to German. Now it’s all in a foreign language, now that it really matters where my capabilities with this are involved.

yer since i had this screen i have re-edited some of my old images… i think its just one of those things we have to get used to or get the software as richard pointed out

Karri,

I see a difference between my Dell at home and the HP I have a work. My Dell is much more accurate, but my thought is the monitor is only one variable.

I think the lighting of the room the monitor is in plays a role and a big variable is if the monitor has been calibrated. My Dell at home has and my work HP has not.

I use Spyder2 to calibrate at home. My understanding is the Spyder3 is much faster. My dad uses Huey to calibrate his montior.

The real test….Of course I do all my editing on my Dell at home. I have ordered prints of my own work from Redbubble and Mpix and have been very pleased with the consistency of my monirtor and the print jobs from the companies.

I think having my screen calibrated improves the consistency between what I see on the monitor and what gets printed.

I am willing to bet if I edited on the HP at work, the colors, tones, and lighting would be off and not match the printing nearly as close.

I see that RichardSeah has the same opinion.

As far as laptop settings go…I dont work on them much. There may be some that have settings, I would think they would. Another way to adjust the settings is via the d video card settings.

My PC is a a Dell with a Dell montior. The montior itself does have montior adjustments but they are limited. I have a Nividia GeForce video card. It itself has adjustment screens that are much more diverse.

Then again…when calibrating the montior I only use the actual monitor adjustments.

I think you would be very pleased if you pick up a Spyder or Huey calibration system. As Richard said, even newer TVs need calibrating for accurate lighting and color.

using Huey which automatically adjusts for changing room light and it comes as a real shock when you calibrate the screen for the first time. Best to do it at least once a fortnight or if you are editing a lot of images, every couple of days.
LOL I shout at friends’ screens when i see the colour all wrong on my pictures on their screens.

Well worth the investment.

I mostly use a laptop and the depth of the photo I see usually depends upon the angle of my screen. When I use the regular pc and monitor is the only time I can truly see what you will see. Since most of my work is done on my laptop this presents occasional problem. Usually I may think a shot is good until seeing it on a regular monitor. Never seems to be the other way around. lol

Kari – it can be a big bear! I agree with Richard; if you can calibrate your screen to a PMS system (panatone) then that will hopefully be a universal ‘color’ – the anti-glare & new ‘privacy’ functions should hopefully follow that same system if the screen is calibrated to the standard. The biggie seems to be having everyone clicking to that universal standard

I have had lighter on some, darker on others. Calibration is the key!

hmmm youve got me wondering if my images look ok now! LOL
Ive never heard of calibrating a monitor and I adjusted my screen with less brightness so my head wouldnt hurt. Too much brightness from looking at it all day would give me headaches. When I print them out on my epson it looks the same as I intended it to be but sometimes its a little darker…. sorry to change the direction of this post but I wonder now how others see my images compared to how I do..

wow thank you! I was hoping just to hear the colors/contrast etc look pretty good :D
Youve made my day!

Hi Karri, we have been discussing monitor / printer / projector calibrating/profiling only this week. Anyone serious about competing in photographic competitions, selling or sharing digital images needs to ensure what they see on their monitor is the same as what will be projected or viewed by others.
There can be considerable difference between monitors, graphics cards, printers and projectors.
Others viewing your work, even on redbubble, may not see what you see.

Flat screen monitor images vary considerably when viewed at different angles.
Some better monitors have wider viewing angle. Many still prefer CRT monitors for this reason.

As the others above stated, you need to calibrate and profile your monitors to white point 6500 (daylight – colour temperature), gamma 2.2 for Windows (luminance)(1.8 Mac) and black level (brightness).
Pantone ColorVision Spyder 2/3 – is probably best value for home users and has a hardware sensor that attaches to the display monitor and checks the output, feeding this back to the software, which creates a calibrated profile. This profile then loads each time you start your computer and controls your monitor’s output settings.
Each computer must be individually calibrated, as it is not just the monitor, but graphics card etc that also play a part in how the image displayed.
If everyone’s display hardware (pc, monitor, printer and projector) was calibrated and profiled in this way, we should all see the same looking image.

To make things more difficult, even the ambient lighting in your room can vary during the day, changing the look of your display. Many purists draw the curtains or blinds and create the consistent room lighting conditions when working on critical images.
One should adopt a consistent viewing angle to the monitor, especially for laptop users who do not always sit in the same position.
Also, some monitors take a while to warm up, so need to be left on for a while before calibrating and using.
Monitors age and fluctuate with use, so need to be regularly re-calibrated.

Of course none of this matters too much if you work doesn’t need to be shared and, if you’re happy with what you see and print, but, if you’re serious about sharing, competing or selling your work, calibrating is a good investment and might prevent disappointment and wasted efforts.

Karri, you have discovered an eternal truth about colour monitors… its a very dark art getting the colour balanced! Truth is that each monitor is individual, even if they are the same model and so each needs individual treatment. We tend not to notice unless, like you, we have to use another monitor from our usual one. I suggest googling colour balance or similar terms for various methods suitable for your setup (CRT or TFT, Mac or PC).

Steve

I have refused to get the flat panel monitor. I love the depth that my older monitor gives me. My husband uses the flat panel, but then he is not into art the way I am. I love my deep older monitor. My computer is top of the line, just love the older colors and depth I get with my monitor…..hugzzzzzz