Pages: [1]   Go Down

Author Topic: dual monitor recognition in photoshop  (Read 9314 times)

wmantooth

  • Newbie
  • *
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 8
dual monitor recognition in photoshop
« on: March 26, 2007, 01:29:47 pm »

I have been working under the assumption that: When I calibrate my two monitors, assign the appropriate profile to them, they are operating with those profiles at that time. An instructor says Nope: Only if you have two video cards, because if you have one the system only recognizes one profile. When I go to “system prefs > displays > color” I see the correct profiles assigned to the monitors. However when I go to “photoshop > edit >color settings > click and hold on the RGB working space”, I see photoshop displays the correct profile of the monitor I have selected as the main display, but underneath it says colorsync RGB-generic profile, not the calibration profile that is assigned to 2nd monitor. Is she right, must I buy a second video card.

G5 dual core 2 – power mac / NVIDIA GeForce 6600 graphics card
Logged

Richowens

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 977
dual monitor recognition in photoshop
« Reply #1 on: March 26, 2007, 02:54:34 pm »

If I understand you correctly, you are using your monitor profile as your working color space in Photoshop?

 If so, this is incorrect. Your monitor profile is only to run your monitor, not a space to edit photos in. For editing I would suggest Prophoto RGB. You should be able to find it on your dropdown list of ICC profile in PS.

 May I suggest that you read up on color management a bit more. Perhaps the best start would be to go to the home page on this site and look through the Understanding series and Tutorial series of articles Michael has written.

Rich
Logged

jackbingham

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 205
    • http://www.integrated-color.com
dual monitor recognition in photoshop
« Reply #2 on: March 26, 2007, 02:55:50 pm »

Quote
I have been working under the assumption that: When I calibrate my two monitors, assign the appropriate profile to them, they are operating with those profiles at that time. An instructor says Nope: Only if you have two video cards, because if you have one the system only recognizes one profile. When I go to “system prefs > displays > color” I see the correct profiles assigned to the monitors. However when I go to “photoshop > edit >color settings > click and hold on the RGB working space”, I see photoshop displays the correct profile of the monitor I have selected as the main display, but underneath it says colorsync RGB-generic profile, not the calibration profile that is assigned to 2nd monitor. Is she right, must I buy a second video card.

G5 dual core 2 – power mac / NVIDIA GeForce 6600 graphics card
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=108804\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

On a mac she is definatley not right. The system is designed to handle 2 profiles by default regardless of the card. This is a pc problem not a mac problem. So now the question is why is Photoshop not seeing the system profiles correctly. If you go to system prefs/displays/color the correct profiles are indeed assigned correctly? Just checking to confirm.
Logged
Jack Bingham
Integrated Color Corp Maker

wmantooth

  • Newbie
  • *
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 8
dual monitor recognition in photoshop
« Reply #3 on: March 26, 2007, 05:11:59 pm »

Quote
On a mac she is definatley not right. The system is designed to handle 2 profiles by default regardless of the card. This is a pc problem not a mac problem. So now the question is why is Photoshop not seeing the system profiles correctly. If you go to system prefs/displays/color the correct profiles are indeed assigned correctly? Just checking to confirm.
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=108830\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

Yes when I go to system prefs/displays/color the correct profiles are displayed

Warren
Logged

wmantooth

  • Newbie
  • *
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 8
dual monitor recognition in photoshop
« Reply #4 on: March 26, 2007, 05:15:27 pm »

Quote
If I understand you correctly, you are using your monitor profile as your working color space in Photoshop?

 If so, this is incorrect. Your monitor profile is only to run your monitor, not a space to edit photos in. For editing I would suggest Prophoto RGB. You should be able to find it on your dropdown list of ICC profile in PS.

 May I suggest that you read up on color management a bit more. Perhaps the best start would be to go to the home page on this site and look through the Understanding series and Tutorial series of articles Michael has written.

Rich
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=108829\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

No I am using RGB 1998 as my working RGB color space. When you click and hold on the profile of your working RGB color space in photoshop color prefs it should display the monitor profiles.

Warren
Logged

wmantooth

  • Newbie
  • *
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 8
dual monitor recognition in photoshop
« Reply #5 on: March 26, 2007, 05:17:24 pm »

Quote
Yes when I go to system prefs/displays/color the correct profiles are displayed

Warren
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=108853\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]


I'm hoping someone can answer that question Thanks for the help so far.

Warren
Logged

djgarcia

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 341
    • http://improbablystructuredlayers.net
dual monitor recognition in photoshop
« Reply #6 on: March 26, 2007, 05:46:31 pm »

At least in Windows, as long as the card and driver support dual monitors, Win XP will use the correct profile for each monitor provided your calibration software handles them properly.

I have a single dual-monitor ATI FireGL card which I calibrate with Spyder2Pro. Each monitor gets its own profile with different names (a 1 or 2 at the end, oddly enough), and Win XP assigns the proper profile to each monitor. You don't need two separate cards.

I seriously doubt MAC OS doesn't handle them properly too. I think your instructor needs to get out of the school and check the real world .
Logged
Over-Equipped Snapshooter - EOS 1dsII &

Richowens

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 977
dual monitor recognition in photoshop
« Reply #7 on: March 26, 2007, 07:54:11 pm »

Sorry Warren, I misunderstood your question.

That means I have had my exercise for today by jumping to conclusions  

Rich
« Last Edit: March 26, 2007, 07:55:15 pm by Richowens »
Logged

wmantooth

  • Newbie
  • *
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 8
dual monitor recognition in photoshop
« Reply #8 on: March 26, 2007, 08:27:48 pm »

No sweat Rich. I still do not have the final answer. Ok I do not need 2 video cards. However in “photoshop > edit >color settings > click and hold on the RGB working space (RGB1998)” Why doesn’t the profile show up in the list underneath the main monitors profile. Someone at Eizo suggest I have to disable “photoshops automatic profiles” so it can find the Eizo generated profile for the second monitor. I wonder if this is true or how it is done? Note: when I assign the eizo profile to my main monitor photoshop has no problem finding it.
Does anyone’s 2nd monitors profile show up in the drop down when you go here: photoshop > edit >color settings > click and hold on the RGB working space”?

Thanks for your help
Warren
Logged

djgarcia

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 341
    • http://improbablystructuredlayers.net
dual monitor recognition in photoshop
« Reply #9 on: March 26, 2007, 10:48:04 pm »

Warren, not sure what the problem here is. This setting selects the default working profile PS will use in processing the images, in my case ProPhoto RGB, in your case I'm assuming from your original statement Adobe RGB 1998.

However under Win XP, although I would never pick them for this setting, I do see both my monitors' profiles in the dropdown list, "1-Plug & Play Monitor" and "2-Plug & Play Monitor" in the very last section of the dropdown. In an earlier section I see one entry "Monitor RGB - 1-Plug & Play Monitor" which I think mirrors your situation.  I believe your main concern is whether the OS recognizes both and is assigning the two profiles to the appropriate monitors in the OS color management settings.
Logged
Over-Equipped Snapshooter - EOS 1dsII &

wmantooth

  • Newbie
  • *
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 8
dual monitor recognition in photoshop
« Reply #10 on: March 27, 2007, 12:41:38 pm »

djgarcia

Yes that’s true. But they are there at the top of the list not be chosen as a working profile but to show you the profile that is assigned to the monitor. For instance I calibrate at the beginning of every job. So when I check that drop down I should see the latest calibration profile at the top. But my concern is, am I seeing the i color accurately on my second monitor. The one I have chosen as the main is an apple 30, which I love for working on the image, but it is not so accurate in the color department. Its warm and if (and I have had 2 of these) you were to calibrate 10 time in a row (I’m using an eye1display2 puck and eye1 software) you will get 10 different profiles. For color reference I use an Eizo cg210 (eyeone puck and Eizo software).  This monitor is rock solid in the color department. If you click through all calibration profiles I have made on it since Dec. there is no perceptible difference. The bridge and ACR pop up on this one and when I am color balancing I am viewing the image on this monitor. Maybe I have no problem. But my perceived problem started when an instructor I have had said you have to have two video cards to view two separate monitors with their own profile. I now know that was not accurate. But when I began to investigate I can see that in photoshop, Photoshop recognizes the profile of the monitor that I have set up as the main in system prefs. But does not say it recognizes the profile of the second monitor. I am curious if it should or do I have to change my monitor arrangement in system prefs to be sure I’m seeing what should be accurate on each monitor. I have tried putting the profiles different places. The profile of the monitor chosen as the main in system prefs is always found. Yet in the spot where the profile of the second monitor should appear it says colorsyncRGB-genericRGB profile.

warren
Logged

iGuy

  • Newbie
  • *
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 5
dual monitor recognition in photoshop
« Reply #11 on: March 27, 2007, 02:59:53 pm »

I wouldn't be so quick to dismiss your instructor's advice.

I was curious so I tested this myself.

To start, here's detailed description of the equipment I'm using:
PowerMac G5 Quad 2.5 with 8GB RAM
nVidia FX4500 video card with 512MB VRAM
main/primary display: Apple 30 inch Cinema Display
second display: Sharp LC-37D90U HD TV (1920 x 1080 DVI)
Mac OS X version 10.4.9

From the System Preferences>Color>Display Profile:
display 1: Cinema HD Display
display 2: SHARP LCD

So far so good.  

From Photoshop CS2 version 2.0 (Photoshop version 9.0.2)
Edit>Color Settings:Working Spaces: Monitor RGB - Cinema HD Display

SHARP LCD is available as an option from the drop-down list.

However I see that one and only one selection can be made. So if I was previewing the artwork on the Sharp and using the Cinema Display only for palettes, I'd set this to the SHARP LCD and not worry that the Cinema Display isn't profiled correctly.

But I can't assign profiles to each monitor separately within Photoshop (the way I can in System Preferences); both monitors have to share the same profile. I think this is what your instructor was saying.

If I had a second video card I'd install it and see if my options under Photoshop change to permit assigning separate profiles to each monitor/card. But I don't so I can't.  

If I've misunderstood please let me know. Are you saying that new profiles you create simply don't appear in the RGB Working Spaces drop-down menu? I would think if that were the case that they simply aren't saved in a place Photoshop reads them on startup or they're in a format Photoshop doesn't like. But I'm in over my head here so take this with a grain of salt.

I hope this helps,
iGuy
Logged

djgarcia

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 341
    • http://improbablystructuredlayers.net
dual monitor recognition in photoshop
« Reply #12 on: March 27, 2007, 07:02:01 pm »

Warren, what I was trying to get accross with some factual backup from my configuration is that PS works correctly in my 1-card,  dual-monitor system, in spite of the fact that it is only showing the profile choice of the main monitor. I seems to be displaying the same as your system is showing, so it's very possible that your system is indeed working properly. Are you able to determine visually whether or not the proper profile is being used if you move a PS image window to the second monitor?

DJ
Logged
Over-Equipped Snapshooter - EOS 1dsII &

wmantooth

  • Newbie
  • *
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 8
dual monitor recognition in photoshop
« Reply #13 on: March 28, 2007, 03:07:15 am »

First off, I’d like to say I appreciate everyone’s feedback. I posted the same question on Adobe user forums and out of 19 replies one was intended to be helpful. The others were childishly condescending to obscene, with one person chiding the obscene posters. Useless.

DJ It would appear that everything is in order as I can see a difference when I drag 1 file to the other mentor. When I assign both monitors the same profile in system prefs,
One monitor appears visually off.

IGuy you’re on track as far as I can see. You have to assign the profile in system prefs (on a mac), but the fact that Photoshop does not recognize the assigned profile of the second monitor is why I have a headache. Perhaps it just doesn’t, and everything is working properly. That is how it would seem by my results. A person from Eizo tech support says it’s a photohsop pref. “You must disable photoshops automatic profiles”
But he could not tell me how to do it. And maybe he did not understand the problem. When I look at my first post I realize I did not articulate the situation in enough detail.

Warren
Logged

jbrembat

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 177
dual monitor recognition in photoshop
« Reply #14 on: March 28, 2007, 06:10:19 pm »

Hi,
I have no experience on Mac and moreover I'm not an  expert in dual monitor too. But I want to do some brain storming, hope this help.

First of all, if your monitor supports hardware calibration ok, but if calibration is by software then videocard LUT are changed by the process.
If your system has  only one video card and software calibration is performed, there is no way to calibrate the second monitor.

I don't think PS can manage colors for 2 monitor, I think this could be possible at operative system level but not at application system level.

Application system level does not converse directly with videocard, it send data to operative system that send data to videocard.

So an application can't send 2 flow of data, telling to the operative system wich one is for monitor1 and wich one is for monitor2.

Jacopo
Logged

wmantooth

  • Newbie
  • *
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 8
dual monitor recognition in photoshop
« Reply #15 on: March 30, 2007, 03:43:16 pm »

I know many of you with 2 monitors are using one just to get the pallets out of the way.
But if you were like me, a Mac user and purchased a second monitor to make critical color decisions on an image in Photoshop. It seems that in order to have a closed color managed system. You must be working on the monitor that you have appointed as the main monitor in System Pref / displays. You cannot simple drag an image from your main (in my case Apple monitor onto another monitor to examine color. You would have to first change the monitor arrangement in system prefs / displays and appoint the monitor you plan to view the image on as the main monitor. Or you must install another driver/video card.  For me to make things as simple as possible without buying a second card I have also saved a second workspace arrangement to correspond with what monitor is selected as the main.

Thanks,
Richowens, djgarcia, iguy, jbrembat. And jackbingham- (ck out jbremat’s post, LL & Eizo tech support concurs).

Warren Mantooth

P.S. my apologies to Linda Lowell who was the instructor at Santa Barbara City College (former Brooks institute an Cal arts). She teaches digital darkroom and color management online. A bargain if you are a California resident.
Logged

djgarcia

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 341
    • http://improbablystructuredlayers.net
dual monitor recognition in photoshop
« Reply #16 on: March 30, 2007, 05:54:25 pm »

I don't know about the others, but I use both monitors interchangeably - I don't have a "critical" monitor and a "lame" monitor   . So I know how you must feel. My hopes for your speedy recovery!

DJ
Logged
Over-Equipped Snapshooter - EOS 1dsII &
Pages: [1]   Go Up