Luminous Landscape Forum
Equipment & Techniques => Computers & Peripherals => Topic started by: JohnKoerner on January 24, 2009, 10:34:59 pm
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Also, where can you get the LCD2690WUXi2?
Most places are sold out, but I am looking at a place that has one for $1,174. That is less than B&H has the previous version for, so I am a bit leery of such a low price.
Has anyone recently purchased the LCD2690WUXi2, and (if so) where did you get it from?
Have you noticed any significant improvement over the previous version?
Thanks for any feedback,
Jack
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Your price is probably from Provantage and yes they are reliable.
Personally I would wait until the SV kit version is in stock for the wuxi2.
Yes, as a matter of fact, it was Provantage ... glad to hear they're reliable
I found the wuxi2 at B&H, with the SV kit, for $1495. They claim it's not in stock, but they'll take your money now and ship it in 2 weeks. I was also mistaken on Provantage: Yes they has the wuxi2 for $1,174 but at that price it was not with the SpectraVision.
B&H's price was with ...
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Just an update: B&H is now accepting orders on the NEC LCD2690WUXi2-BK-SV.
They do not have it in stock, but they say it will be there within a week.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/5999...w_SOFTWARE.html (http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/599905-REG/NEC_LCD2690W2_BK_SV_MULTISYNC_LCD2690WUXi2_26_w_SOFTWARE.html)
B&H is offering the new monitor, plus the new Spectra VII software, for only $ 1,389.95
I just ordered mine
Jack
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I received my LCD2690WUXi2 today
But for some reason, I can't get my computer to recognize it
It works and looks wonderful, but when I try to install the Spectra VII software it says "unable to locate compatible monitor" ...
When I look in the Device Manager it just says "Standard Monitor"
I have tried to load the drivers and install new hardwars, but can't seem to get it done
Jack
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I received my LCD2690WUXi2 today
But for some reason, I can't get my computer to recognize it
It works and looks wonderful, but when I try to install the Spectra VII software it says "unable to locate compatible monitor" ...
When I look in the Device Manager it just says "Standard Monitor"
I have tried to load the drivers and install new hardwars, but can't seem to get it done
I had strange problems when I first got the NEC 3090 and the SpectraViewII software. I solved it by doing two things: I uninstalled my other monitor profiling sofrtware, and I installed the latest video driver (nVidia, in my case.)
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Hi Jack!
Had the same troubles with my monitor. 1st thing are you on a mac? There is a warning on the Nec site. I am windows xp sp3. First thing I did was download new Microsoft WHQL digitally signed drivers from the Nec site. My computer then recognized my monitor in display properties.
http://www.necdisplay.com/SupportCenter/DriverFinder/ (http://www.necdisplay.com/SupportCenter/DriverFinder/)
Then I downloaded the spectraview II software. Please note the warnings on this page re: mac and some video cards. I also checked to make sure I was using current driver for Video card.
http://www.necdisplay.com/SupportCenter/Mo...s/spectraview2/ (http://www.necdisplay.com/SupportCenter/Monitors/spectraview2/)
After upgrading Spectraview changed preference to autodetect......closed it and restarted and it recognized my monitor.
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Hi Jack!
Had the same troubles with my monitor. 1st thing are you on a mac? There is a warning on the Nec site. I am windows xp sp3. First thing I did was download new Microsoft WHQL digitally signed drivers from the Nec site. My computer then recognized my monitor in display properties.
http://www.necdisplay.com/SupportCenter/DriverFinder/ (http://www.necdisplay.com/SupportCenter/DriverFinder/)
Then I downloaded the spectraview II software. Please note the warnings on this page re: mac and some video cards. I also checked to make sure I was using current driver for Video card.
http://www.necdisplay.com/SupportCenter/Mo...s/spectraview2/ (http://www.necdisplay.com/SupportCenter/Monitors/spectraview2/)
After upgrading Spectraview changed preference to autodetect......closed it and restarted and it recognized my monitor.
No I am on a PC using Vista Home Premium, SP1.
Thank you so much for the links and the advice. I will try all of that and report back
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I had strange problems when I first got the NEC 3090 and the SpectraViewII software. I solved it by doing two things: I uninstalled my other monitor profiling sofrtware, and I installed the latest video driver (nVidia, in my case.)
Thank you too Walter. It sounds like I am going to have to follow a similar path as both of you, and I appreciate your help.
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Well, I was up till 3am, but I got her done
What I thought was kinda funny (and pretty timely) was my Windows "update" sequence came up, and lo-and-behold! ... one the new "optional" drivers was for none other than the LCD2690WUXi2 ... now that's what I call service
Funny thing was, the SpectraView disc still didn't recognize the monitor, even though my computer now recognized it.
So I downloaded the newest version of the software, thanks to the link you provided PrairieMaiden, and it installed perfectly, and my new monitor is now officially calibrated
So thanks again to you both for the tips!
Jack
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Thank you all for this thread. I was struggling with getting my spectraview software on windows XP to recognize my LCD2490WUXi2. I also updated my video graphics card driver but I do not think that fixed anything. It was only after I downloaded Spectraview 1.1.0.3 that it would recognize the monitor during installation. What a hassle. Just thought I would pass that on in case anyone else was having this issue.
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Thank you all for this thread. I was struggling with getting my spectraview software on windows XP to recognize my LCD2490WUXi2. I also updated my video graphics card driver but I do not think that fixed anything. It was only after I downloaded Spectraview 1.1.0.3 that it would recognize the monitor during installation. What a hassle. Just thought I would pass that on in case anyone else was having this issue.
Who knows how long the enclosed CD with software has been sitting on the shelves. It is always a good rule to take a look at the manufactures website for latest software. Glad it is working for you.
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Who knows how long the enclosed CD with software has been sitting on the shelves. It is always a good rule to take a look at the manufactures website for latest software. Glad it is working for you.
I just spoke with NEC. The differences between the 2690 and the 2690i2 are minimal, it doesn't really matter which version you have with regards to performance (at least according to NEC). They had to source certain parts from a different manufacturer and as a result they are required to change the product name. The TFT panel is exactly the same. The analog board (power supply) and video board are different. I would speculate that they are merely having the boards manufactured by a different supplier now and that the parts are probably identical although they didn't go into that much detail.
Cheers, Joe
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NEC LCD2690WUXi2 (widescreen) - (LG.Philips LM260WU2) panel.
This might save you some money if you can find this or a similar LG panel in a Viewsonic or similar smaller brand.
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NEC LCD2690WUXi2 (widescreen) - (LG.Philips LM260WU2) panel.
This might save you some money if you can find this or a similar LG panel in a Viewsonic or similar smaller brand.
It might save you money but you will most likely not get the same quality. Just because a given model uses the same panel does not mean it will perform to the same specifications. Aside from NEC, LaCie, Eizo, and certain Samsung models I'm not aware of any other manufacturers that are using 12 bit LUTs in their processing electronics. Also the backlight will make a difference as well and other features such as NEC's luminance uniformity.
Some more info on the 2690WUXi vs. 2690WUXi2... the version 2 does NOT have the A-TW polarizer (source... the horse's mouth... http://www.necdisplay.com/supportcenter/mo...ectraview2/faq/ (http://www.necdisplay.com/supportcenter/monitors/spectraview2/faq/) (search on polarizer) ).
Cheers, Joe
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I'm not aware of any other manufacturers that are using 12 bit LUTs in their processing electronics.
Cheers, Joe
My HP DreamColor monitor (LP2480ZX) uses a true 10 bit IPS Panel (LG) and an updatable 12-bit pre-LUT, 3x3 matrix, and post-LUT for maximum flexibility.
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My HP DreamColor monitor (LP2480ZX) uses a true 10 bit IPS Panel (LG) and an updatable 12-bit pre-LUT, 3x3 matrix, and post-LUT for maximum flexibility.
Good to know. I'm not too familiar with the Dream Color but just had a look. I wish HP would develop a pro grade 30" like your monitor although (although perhaps with not as wide of a gamut... I work in Adobe RGB and it appears that the Dream Color is capable of going far beyond that), I do have an LP3065 and for a consumer panel it's really quite good. I just took deliver of an NEC 2690 on Thursday and after putting it up side by side with the NEC it really holds its own (especially with regards to black levels, the NEC by comparison has a slight bluish cast to the blacks where as the HP is black black (lower luminance as well at the minimum black level although I suppose that's less important than being able to distinguish between levels)).
Cheers, Joe
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Eizo and a couple of other brands *may* have better options and setup, but I can guarantee that everyone else is just a matter of a few basic differences. Samsung, NEC, Sony, Viewsonic, HP - they're all the same, pretty much, or close enough that you'd need a pro to tell the difference. So shop for the panel and features instead of having any attachment to a specific brand.
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Eizo and a couple of other brands *may* have better options and setup, but I can guarantee that everyone else is just a matter of a few basic differences. Samsung, NEC, Sony, Viewsonic, HP - they're all the same, pretty much, or close enough that you'd need a pro to tell the difference.
I beg to differ and it all has to do with context. This forum has an interesting mix of professionals and extremely talented enthusiasts (who can often easily outshoot a lot of pros) and that requires two very different approaches with regards to advice and what is or is not worth buying. I own a Dell 20" (about 4 or 5 years old now... haven't used it in several years aside from the odd non-photo edited application here and there... I never used it for critical editing but I have compared it to my better monitors), and HP LP3065, a Samsung 213T, and an NEC2690. The Dell is the worst of the bunch. The Samsung was nice for its time but much better options have come along since then, specifically it misrepresents reds (they're a bit orange) and it can't be profiled out. The HP is impressive for a consumer model. When I bought it the options were the Apple 30" ACD, the 30" Dell and of course the HP. The HP at the time was the best performing display (if I were to buy right now it would be an NEC 3090).
For professional applications "a few basic differences" can mean the difference between smooth sailing and hours of lost time. For example, if you're producing a print and it contains a smooth gradient like what you would see in a scene with the sky slightly after sunset, a less expensive monitor (of which many tend to have luminance issues... they are too bright and require hacks to work around) in order to bring it down to acceptable luminance levels will require a destructive change to the profile loaded to the video LUT which is only 8 bits. Most of the time 8 bits works for us but with critical applications (especially if you're working in a wider gamut color space) there is very little margin for error. A display that has to be coaxed down to the proper luminance level via the video LUT may display posterization. When you're charging hundreds of dollars for a print you don't want to deliver something with posterization in it so you might start chasing a ghost in Photoshop that may not be there to begin with in the first place. You might find this out when you run a print which is not such a big deal if you own a large format printer but if you don't it's a slow process if you can't rely on your monitor for accurate soft proofing.
For a pro I always say that your monitor is your most used piece of gear in your studio. You're ammortizing its cost over a period of 3 to 4 years and you're doing to stare at the thing for anywhere from 40 to 70 hours per week all year. It makes sense to get the highest quality monitor you can afford. Yes you might save $500 by going with a less expensive model but it only takes one picky or unhappy customer or problem with the lab output and that imagined savings instantly goes away in the form of wasted time trying to trouble shoot problems.
Now for an enthusiast I would say it's more a matter of budget and priority. You could go with something like an NEC P221W or an HP LP2475 and get yourself a very nice display and that will probably serve you quite well. Spending more is met with the rule of diminishing returns and if you don't place a really heavy demand on your monitor (it's not a tool you use every day to make a living with, at least not for making color and density judgments... spreadsheets don't require anything fancy) and the occasional inaccuracy and the time required to fix the problem isn't a big deal then I'd have a hard time recommending that such a user spend twice the amount of money on a more accurate model.
Now to be fair, I know a ton of pros who don't have high end screens and for the most part they do fine but what I often see is that at some point in say, a 3 year period they will run into an issue where the output they get from the lab doesn't match what they see on their screen and when that happens the amount of time you have to put into trouble shooting pretty much negates any money you may have saved. In a professional environment everyone has to consider the ROI of everything they purchase and weigh the risks if they decide to make a compromise and go for something a little less expensive. We all have different needs, I just think it's silly though to skimp on a monitor and maybe try to save $500 when you spend tens of thousands of dollars on top quality glass and camera bodies... what's the point of buying expensive glass and camera bodies if you don't have a tool capable of displaying the nuances that these other tools are capable of capturing? Well... that's my opinion on the subject at least.
So shop for the panel and features instead of having any attachment to a specific brand.
This I agree with 100% Eizo can produce some real clunkers as does NEC. A brand name doesn't necessarily mean guaranteed quality or accuracy. Case in point... lots of people think Bose speakers produce high quality sound but if people were in a blind listening test comparing Bose products to other products of similar cost without knowing what they were listening to NOBODY would ever come to the conclusion that Bose speakers sounded good at all. Bose - Better sound through marketing! :-) And what about Dell? Dell has a terrible reputation when it comes to monitors but what if one day they produce a real winner? It would be silly to dismiss a good product if it can deliver the goods just because historically the results have been poor.
Cheers, Joe
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It should be important for anyone who subscribes to this forum to maintain a calibrated workflow. We invest thousands of dollars on cameras, lenses, lighting and software and most want to find a bargain monitor. There are a lot of brand specific fanboys out there, but a monitor is a personal choice and should have a feature set that best suits the individual. For me it was important to find a monitor that could easily switch between calibrated color gamuts and the HP DreamColor is the only monitor that I am aware of that can accomplish this task with the push of a button. The internal LUT can maintain seven separate color space calibrations, allowing you to switch from Full Gamut or Adobe RGB to sRGB for web viewing so you don't get the super saturated effect prevalent in most wide gamut monitors. While others monitors may allow you switch color spaces, they won't be calibrated spaces until you do another full calibration.
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While others monitors may allow you switch color spaces, they won't be calibrated spaces until you do another full calibration.
Can you elaborate on this more? While the NECs can only store one Monitor LUT at a time you can, via Spectraview simply select a different target and it will automatically upload a new monitor LUT to the screen. I'm not sure how the end result is any different than what the HP is doing (aside from the fact that the NEC is storing different calibrations on your computer and not in the monitor).
Now, one thing I'm not sure of is if the NEC clamps down on the gamut for those lower gamut color spaces. The SpectraView software does ship with an sRGB target but I'm not sure if that merely means it's setup for D65, Gamma 2.2 or if it prevents the display from rendering colors out of the sRGB gamut to render... I'm curious now though and it's easy enough to test.
How do the HP do at rendering lower gamut color spaces? I bought the 2690 with the intent of using it in Adobe RGB. I've heard a few comments that the sRGB emulation isn't all that great.
Cheers, Joe
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Just did a test... I can confirm that the "sRGB Emulation" target does indeed clamp down on out of gamut colors (I guess it wouldn't otherwise be sRGB Emulation). Simply select a previous target in the SpectraView software and you are in a calibrated state, no need to recalibrate.
Cheers, Joe
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Can you elaborate on this more? While the NECs can only store one Monitor LUT at a time you can, via Spectraview simply select a different target and it will automatically upload a new monitor LUT to the screen. I'm not sure how the end result is any different than what the HP is doing (aside from the fact that the NEC is storing different calibrations on your computer and not in the monitor).
Now, one thing I'm not sure of is if the NEC clamps down on the gamut for those lower gamut color spaces. The SpectraView software does ship with an sRGB target but I'm not sure if that merely means it's setup for D65, Gamma 2.2 or if it prevents the display from rendering colors out of the sRGB gamut to render... I'm curious now though and it's easy enough to test.
How do the HP do at rendering lower gamut color spaces? I bought the 2690 with the intent of using it in Adobe RGB. I've heard a few comments that the sRGB emulation isn't all that great.
Cheers, Joe
There is a difference between calibration and profiling. Calibration changes the physical characteristics of the monitor's LUT while the profile created by the software dictates video card output. The HP DreamColor actually stores seven distinct calibrations, not profiles.
I wasn't familiar with the 2690 so I looked at the product manual which verified my conclusion that the monitor has one calibration setting under "programmable".
From the manual:
The other settings The sRGB and NATIVE, color presets are standard and cannot be changed.
The PROGRAMMABLE setting can only be adjusted using color calibration software such as NEC’s GammaComp or Spectraview II.
From this I concluded that the calibration for the Nec 2690 is only accurate for the color space profiled during the calibration process.
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There is a difference between calibration and profiling.
I'm aware of the differences. From a technical standpoint the only LCD displays that can be calibrated (although it's still not a full calibration because the changes to color temp are global from white to black) are ones that have red, green, and blue LED backlights. Everything else is just a form of profiling because you can't actually change the white point of the backlight itself. Your Dream Color of course is capable of this as it actually has RGB LED backlights. To expand upon that, (being technically nitpicky here) just because you have a high resolution monitor LUT doesn't mean that you are actually calibrating a screen. The file loaded to the monitor LUT is the result of a profile (by loading it into a high resolution monitor LUT the end result is much less destructive than if the same corrections were loaded into the VIDEO lut).
Calibration changes the physical characteristics of the monitor's LUT while the profile created by the software dictates video card output. The HP DreamColor actually stores seven distinct calibrations, not profiles.
I'm aware of this as well however I've always heard the file uploaded to the Monitor's LUT referred to as the Monitor profile (which is accurate, it's a profile of the monitor's characteristics and the corrections for out of spec results) and the file uploaded to the video LUT. Even though the word "profile" is used in reference to the file that gets loaded into the Monitor LUT, I've always known the difference between profiling and calibrating.
I wasn't familiar with the 2690 so I looked at the product manual which verified my conclusion that the monitor has one calibration setting under "programmable".
From the manual:
"The other settings The sRGB and NATIVE, color presets are standard and cannot be changed.
The PROGRAMMABLE setting can only be adjusted using color calibration software such as NEC’s GammaComp or Spectraview II."
From this I concluded that the calibration for the Nec 2690 is only accurate for the color space profiled during the calibration process.
Breaking it down, the 2690 has only 1 monitor LUT (I suspect the Dream Color has only 1 Monitor LUT as well... wouldn't really make a difference if it had multiple LUTs because only one can be applied at any one given time).
If you manually "calibrate" the 2690 (more on the technical semantics of that later) then you can store your RGB values into setting 1, 2, 3, or 5 for instant recall to change your white balance. This however isn't a complete job as it does not encompass other settings like luminance, gamma curves, and settings unique to the NEC such as luminance uniformity. It would be nice if NEC had user presets for that BUT, if you have SpectraView it's pretty much a moot point because you have unlimited presets there and they store EVERYTHING about the monitor's configuration. Luminance, black level, color temperature, gamma curve, luminance uniformity, luminance tracking, and color temperature. Enter your settings and when you hit "Calibrate" it asks you to name your file and it's forever available for instant recall (well, it takes a few seconds to send it from your hard drive to the Monitor's LUT and to update the other settings as well but for all intents and purposes it's the same as having presets directly on the monitor).
Now, NECs are often referred to as screens that you can actually calibrate and technically this isn't really true. I touched on this before... because the CCFL puts out a specific color temperature you're pretty much stuck with that. The only way to modify that color temperature is by turning on pixels and subtractively filtering out light. This of course is not ideal on monitors that don't have high resolution monitor LUTs because the end result will degrade the resolution of the limited 8 bits that we have to work with. NEC gets around this by having a 12 bit monitor LUT and high resolution panel where by it has 16 times the resolution available to it to make such changes. By making these changes well above the resolution of the video card the NEC can take the 8 bits and remap those values to the higher resolution monitor LUT. The end result is that we don't have to sacrifice resolution coming out of the video card in order to achieve a different white balance or lower luminance or what have you, the lookup table in the video LUT remains 1:1.
So, not exactly the same as fully calibrating (you can only really calibrate the backlight on the NEC, that's it, the rest is technically profiling) but much better than the results you get with a monitor that has only an 8 bit LUT (in which case it makes no difference if you put the results in the video LUT or the monitor LUT).
Now... if we REALLY REALLY REALLY nitpick the Dream Color can't be fully calibrated either because the response curve of the individual pixels can not be changed. While you can calibrate the color temp of the backlight that is a global change across the entire gradient from black to white. If there are any color shifts on the way from white to black, those shifts must be corrected with a profile (which would be stored in the Monitor LUT). Once OLED technology gets reasonable we will see monitors that you can genuinely calibrate because the pixels themselves emit light and you can calibrate the response curve from black to white (and the black levels will be phenomenal as you can actually turn the individual pixels off completely).
Cheers, Joe
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I'm aware of the differences. From a technical standpoint the only LCD displays that can be calibrated (although it's still not a full calibration because the changes to color temp are global from white to black) are ones that have red, green, and blue LED backlights. Everything else is just a form of profiling because you can't actually change the white point of the backlight itself. Your Dream Color of course is capable of this as it actually has RGB LED backlights. To expand upon that, (being technically nitpicky here) just because you have a high resolution monitor LUT doesn't mean that you are actually calibrating a screen. The file loaded to the monitor LUT is the result of a profile (by loading it into a high resolution monitor LUT the end result is much less destructive than if the same corrections were loaded into the VIDEO lut).
I'm aware of this as well however I've always heard the file uploaded to the Monitor's LUT referred to as the Monitor profile (which is accurate, it's a profile of the monitor's characteristics and the corrections for out of spec results) and the file uploaded to the video LUT. Even though the word "profile" is used in reference to the file that gets loaded into the Monitor LUT, I've always known the difference between profiling and calibrating.
Breaking it down, the 2690 has only 1 monitor LUT (I suspect the Dream Color has only 1 Monitor LUT as well... wouldn't really make a difference if it had multiple LUTs because only one can be applied at any one given time).
The DreamColor has a 12 bit pre LUT a 12 bit 3x3 Matix multiplier and a 12 bit Post LUT that outputs to a 10 bit panel.
It would be nice if NEC had user presets for that BUT, if you have SpectraView it's pretty much a moot point because you have unlimited presets there and they store EVERYTHING about the monitor's configuration. Luminance, black level, color temperature, gamma curve, luminance uniformity, luminance tracking, and color temperature. Enter your settings and when you hit "Calibrate" it asks you to name your file and it's forever available for instant recall (well, it takes a few seconds to send it from your hard drive to the Monitor's LUT and to update the other settings as well but for all intents and purposes it's the same as having presets directly on the monitor).
Again, the NEC system does not store information for individually calibrated color gamuts. It calibrates for wide gamut and uses sRGB emulation mode switchable in the OSD.
[!--quoteo(post=0:date=:name=shewhorn)--][div class=\'quotetop\']QUOTE (shewhorn)[div class=\'quotemain\'][!--quotec--]Now, NECs are often referred to as screens that you can actually calibrate and technically this isn't really true. I touched on this before... because the CCFL puts out a specific color temperature you're pretty much stuck with that. The only way to modify that color temperature is by turning on pixels and subtractively filtering out light. This of course is not ideal on monitors that don't have high resolution monitor LUTs because the end result will degrade the resolution of the limited 8 bits that we have to work with. NEC gets around this by having a 12 bit monitor LUT and high resolution panel where by it has 16 times the resolution available to it to make such changes. By making these changes well above the resolution of the video card the NEC can take the 8 bits and remap those values to the higher resolution monitor LUT. The end result is that we don't have to sacrifice resolution coming out of the video card in order to achieve a different white balance or lower luminance or what have you, the lookup table in the video LUT remains 1:1.
So, not exactly the same as fully calibrating (you can only really calibrate the backlight on the NEC, that's it, the rest is technically profiling) but much better than the results you get with a monitor that has only an 8 bit LUT (in which case it makes no difference if you put the results in the video LUT or the monitor LUT).
Now... if we REALLY REALLY REALLY nitpick the Dream Color can't be fully calibrated either because the response curve of the individual pixels can not be changed. While you can calibrate the color temp of the backlight that is a global change across the entire gradient from black to white. If there are any color shifts on the way from white to black, those shifts must be corrected with a profile (which would be stored in the Monitor LUT).
Cheers, Joe[/quote]
Because of the RGB LED backlighting in the DreamColor, accurate white point can be obtained for each colorspace by individually adjusting each color group of LED. There is no loss of dynamic range that must be compensated for as in CFL backlit monitors. This is also why it can display 100% of both Adobe RGB and sRGB.
By stating the DreamColor can be calibrated, means that utilizing the HP Advanced Profiling Solution a separate calibration can be obtained for each of seven distinct color spaces;
Full Gamut (133% NTSC Color), Adobe RGB, sRGB, SMPTE-C, ITU-Rec. BT. 709, DCI-P3, and user defined.
While the NEC can store different calibration settings they are all based on the full gamut of the unit, not measured and compared to known standards of each specific color space.
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We are not talking about applying and storing manual settings, it is about calibration data obtained from colorimeter feedback for each specific color profile stored in the monitor's LUT. The DreamColor does this, the NEC does not and instead uses sRGB emulation which is a fixed space that cannot be adjusted.
For clarity:
There is only one active Monitor LUT, even for the Dream Color. The profiles get loaded into the LUT and those are created based upon feedback from a colorimeter. This is true of both the Dream Color and the NEC. With regards to running the calibration/profile, regardless of what it is there is a set standard that defines what the result should be and if the value read back by the colorimeter is out of alignment then that value gets changed in the profile. Now, that profile may control hardware as in the case of a CRT (and we should be able to do this with OLED as well), it may remap inputs to a different output value as is the case with NEC, or it may do both as is the case with the Dream Color (set the levels of the RGB backlights, and then further correct the screen's response with regards to color and gamma by remapping different inputs to different outputs). In both cases the screens are storing corrections from data obtained by a colorimeter based on settings that are manually input.
What you can NOT do with the NEC is define a custom color space so yes, in that case you are stuck with what NEC gives you which is either sRGB or the full gamut that the screen is capable of reproducing (which kind of lines up with Adobe RGB and extends beyond Adobe RGB in the reds and the greens).
Again, the NEC system does not store information for individually calibrated color gamuts. It calibrates for wide gamut and uses sRGB emulation mode switchable in the OSD.
I believe I understand what you're saying... it's not so much calibrated you're talking about as it is defined or defining specific gamuts. Gamuts aren't really calibrated after all, they are defined and then the monitor is calibrated to that definition or target.
Because of the RGB LED backlighting in the DreamColor, accurate white point can be obtained for each colorspace by individually adjusting each color group of LED.
This is definitely a HUGE advantage.
There is no loss of dynamic range that must be compensated for as in CFL backlit monitors.
Yes, although in an 8 bit world NEC xx90 (and some others), certain Eizo models, LaCie, etc. get around this limitation by having a monitor LUT which is of a higher resolution than the input source. So for all intents and purposes these monitors are not losing dynamic range either as all processing can be done at a higher resolution and then dithered down to 8 bits. Technically speaking the Dream Color loses dynamic range as well when the response curve is profiled to adhere to a specific gamma standard but like the CCFL monitors previously mentioned, the Dream Color's processing is of a high enough resolution that there is no net loss when we go back to 8 bits.
This is also why it can display 100% of both Adobe RGB and sRGB.
The 2690 can display 100% of sRGB and most of Adobe RGB although expressing it as a percentage is a bit misleading because the 2690's gamut goes beyond Adobe RGB in the greens and the reds.
While the NEC can store different calibration settings they are all based on the full gamut of the unit, not measured and compared to known standards of each specific color space.
While the NEC only has one known color space (sRGB) it DOES indeed calibrate it (although technically only the backlight output is calibrated and that's merely a recommendation in sRGB, the rest is profiled and stored in a 12 bit monitor LUT) against a known standard. If you do not explicitly select sRGB in the SpectraView interface, you will get a profile that utilizes the entire gamut that the screen is capable of (you can not define custom color spaces, you get sRGB or the full Monty).
Cheers, Joe
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Hi Jack!
Had the same troubles with my monitor. 1st thing are you on a mac? There is a warning on the Nec site. I am windows xp sp3. First thing I did was download new Microsoft WHQL digitally signed drivers from the Nec site. My computer then recognized my monitor in display properties.
http://www.necdisplay.com/SupportCenter/DriverFinder/ (http://www.necdisplay.com/SupportCenter/DriverFinder/)
Then I downloaded the spectraview II software. Please note the warnings on this page re: mac and some video cards. I also checked to make sure I was using current driver for Video card.
http://www.necdisplay.com/SupportCenter/Mo...s/spectraview2/ (http://www.necdisplay.com/SupportCenter/Monitors/spectraview2/)
After upgrading Spectraview changed preference to autodetect......closed it and restarted and it recognized my monitor.
Well, PrairieMaiden, again I thank you for this post.
I just upgraded my computer this week ... and re-attached my monitor to the new 64-bit Windows 7 ... and it was déjà vu all over again
I had forgotten how to load the drivers, and the software the equipment came with failed to work once more, so I had to locate this year+ old post and get re-educated ... and am now up and running once more ... so thank you once again.
Jack
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I beg to differ and it all has to do with context...
This I agree with 100% Eizo can produce some real clunkers as does NEC...
Cheers, Joe
Clunkers, which ones? or what should be avoided? Currently in the market for a decent screen and was looking at the Eizo CG243 or 241 and the NEC PA241W but having difficulty finding an NEC to look at (in Oz).
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There is a difference between calibration and profiling. Calibration changes the physical characteristics of the monitor's LUT while the profile created by the software dictates video card output. The HP DreamColor actually stores seven distinct calibrations, not profiles.
I wasn't familiar with the 2690 so I looked at the product manual which verified my conclusion that the monitor has one calibration setting under "programmable".
From the manual:
From this I concluded that the calibration for the Nec 2690 is only accurate for the color space profiled during the calibration process.
No, not even close.
The Multiprofiler lets you switch between a handful of pre-programmed modes (and at least with the PA series, but I think ^2 90's too, you can move the white point and primary locations around and tell it to use a different tone response curve, brightness and blackpoint) and one directly probe calibrated from SV II. And SVII you can just click on what you want. The monitor then loads whatever you pick into it's programmable slot. There is no need to reprogram every time you switch modes! That would be crazy.
It is true that the SV II sRGB calibration do merely profile the gamut and don't let you set it, but MultiProfiler does let you actually set the sRGB primary locations.
It is kind of weird that SV II is missing a bunch of stuff MP has as options.
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What you can NOT do with the NEC is define a custom color space so yes, in that case you are stuck with what NEC gives you which is either sRGB or the full gamut that the screen is capable of reproducing (which kind of lines up with Adobe RGB and extends beyond Adobe RGB in the reds and the greens).
The 2690 can display 100% of sRGB and most of Adobe RGB although expressing it as a percentage is a bit misleading because the 2690's gamut goes beyond Adobe RGB in the greens and the reds.
While the NEC only has one known color space (sRGB) it DOES indeed calibrate it (although technically only the backlight output is calibrated and that's merely a recommendation in sRGB, the rest is profiled and stored in a 12 bit monitor LUT) against a known standard. If you do not explicitly select sRGB in the SpectraView interface, you will get a profile that utilizes the entire gamut that the screen is capable of (you can not define custom color spaces, you get sRGB or the full Monty).
Cheers, Joe
Just want to add that at least with Multiprofiler and the PA series (but I believe also the 90-series ^2 models if not the original 90 series) you can adjust the primary locations. For whatever reason, SV II doesn't let you move them it just allows preset to either sRGB locations as it thinks they should be based on original factory setting or full native gamut. But in Multiprofiler you can shift around the locations, you could for instance use the probe to measure a primary in SV II while shifting it around in Mutlitprofiler and then store a MP mode with primaries moved about in case you think the sRGB locations are a little off or have shifted off over time.
Two oddities are that the SV II Hidef video target mistakenly uses Native Gamut instead of sRGB!! So it's a totally useless mode to program. And SV II's sRGB mode locks in gamma 2.2 TRC curve and doesn't give you a choice while MP lets you use the actual sRGB TRC instead of Gamma 2.2 if you wish.
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Clunkers, which ones? or what should be avoided? Currently in the market for a decent screen and was looking at the Eizo CG243 or 241 and the NEC PA241W but having difficulty finding an NEC to look at (in Oz).
I don't know but there has been a lot of monitor talk in the color management forums so look there too. Maybe even more talk over there than in Comp&Periph.
Also check out www.prad.de (they have an English version too if you hit the little button near the top right, some of the latest reviews are still only on the German version though).