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Author Topic: Dual monitors with different profiles  (Read 4422 times)

NikosR

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Dual monitors with different profiles
« on: September 24, 2008, 02:59:25 pm »

I'm using LR 2.1 on Win XP SP3.

I use 2 different monitors. I usually work on one but I sometimes want to take advantage of the dual monitor function and use both.

Now since these monitors are different I have calibrated them with Spyder2 Pro and load a separate icc profile for each one with Spyder profile chooser app.

When I have LR use both monitors I find out that the profile in the secondary monitor (as shown by Profile Chooser) has reverted to my main monitor profile. Of course I get wrong colours on my secondary monitor. In fact that's how I noticed amothing was wrong and took a harder look. In effect, the profile I select with profile chooser is not sticky.

I also think that problem was not there in LR 2.0 but I won't bet on that either.

This is the first time I notice this although I have worked with other dual monitor aware applications.

Is this a LR bug, am I doing something wrong or am I asking too much from Windows?

Confused....
« Last Edit: September 24, 2008, 03:02:02 pm by NikosR »
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Nikos

NikosR

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Dual monitors with different profiles
« Reply #1 on: September 24, 2008, 03:10:34 pm »

Sorry. Wrong problem description. The monitor profile is not changed but surely something weird is going on.

So diregarding my post above, the question remains.

Does LR 2.1 on Win XP SP3 work correctly with different icc monitor profiles in dual monitor mode?
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Nikos

carl dw

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Dual monitors with different profiles
« Reply #2 on: September 24, 2008, 05:23:26 pm »

Quote
Sorry. Wrong problem description. The monitor profile is not changed but surely something weird is going on.

So diregarding my post above, the question remains.

Does LR 2.1 on Win XP SP3 work correctly with different icc monitor profiles in dual monitor mode?
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=224036\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]


As I understand it (and I'm talking as a Mac user) when using dual monitors the icc profile conversion is only applied to the 'Primary' monitor. As the video cards and software are now all but the same I would assume that the same applies to Windows PC too.
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NikosR

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Dual monitors with different profiles
« Reply #3 on: September 25, 2008, 01:26:06 am »

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As I understand it (and I'm talking as a Mac user) when using dual monitors the icc profile conversion is only applied to the 'Primary' monitor. As the video cards and software are now all but the same I would assume that the same applies to Windows PC too.
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=224093\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]


I can have two different LUTs loaded up for my 2 different monitors using the Profile Chooser. This I know and I can verify.

The question is, will LR pick up the two different icc profiles to make its conversion for monitor display or will it only use one (i.e. the icc profile of the primary monitor)?

 If the latter is the case, colour will be produced correctly on the primary because icc used for conversion and LUT loaded in the card for the monitor are compatible while colour is not going to be produced correctly on the second monitor as icc of the primary is used with the LUT of secondary.

Regardless if this is an application or OS limitation, I think that Adobe should clear this issue up. Anybody knows exactly what's happening or point to some Adobe documentation?
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Nikos

NikosR

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Dual monitors with different profiles
« Reply #4 on: September 26, 2008, 12:53:42 am »

No one who can help here?
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Nikos

bradleygibson

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Dual monitors with different profiles
« Reply #5 on: October 02, 2008, 03:39:48 pm »

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No one who can help here?
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=224492\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

With your hardware configuration, you've already discovered that you can have two different LUT's loaded for two different displays.

Windows does support assigning different profiles to different displays, but most applications do not take adavantage of this capability.  Windows Photo Gallery's viewer does.  It is a part of Vista and now available for XP via Windows Live, so you can verify it is possible to do.

As to whether Lightroom does or not, I don't know, but Windows will support it if they do build in support.

Hope that helps,
Brad
« Last Edit: October 02, 2008, 03:41:14 pm by bradleygibson »
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NikosR

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Dual monitors with different profiles
« Reply #6 on: October 03, 2008, 12:05:57 am »

Brad thanks. Good info about what Windows can support.

About Lightroom. I'm sure there is a Lightroom expert in this forum being able to answer this. Any takers? I wonder if my case is such a rare one that nobody has the answer to it. I doubt it.

Additional question is, supposing that LR does not support what I want, how can I be sure that LR picks up the correct icc profile for the monitor I use for colour correction. The whole concept of primary / secondary monitor is confusing and LR does not help at all since it does not allow you to define the profile used nor does it report which one it's using.

So I'm left pretty much in the dark, apart from trying things and guessing. Which, when we talk about colour management issues, is a darn tough thing to do...
« Last Edit: October 03, 2008, 12:16:11 am by NikosR »
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Nikos

Deep

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Dual monitors with different profiles
« Reply #7 on: October 03, 2008, 04:19:21 am »

I'm keen to see how this pans out.  I still use LR1 (haven't worked out how to upgrade "cheaply" here in New Zealand but I'll get around to it).  I did trial the beta of LR2 and the one feature that I really appreciated was the dual monitor setup, partly for the extra versatility when editing but also I found it wonderful for giving talks because I could see all my photos on my laptop but only display photos I'd specifically selected on the big screen.

I'm pretty sure (on my Mac) that beta LR2 was using both monitor profiles because my 2nd monitor goes very ugly without the custom profile.  So, if something has changed, I'd love to know before I part with any cash for the new version!
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Don

NikosR

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Dual monitors with different profiles
« Reply #8 on: October 03, 2008, 06:32:28 am »

Quote
I'm pretty sure (on my Mac) that beta LR2 was using both monitor profiles because my 2nd monitor goes very ugly without the custom profile.  So, if something has changed, I'd love to know before I part with any cash for the new version!
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=226516\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

Be careful there. Just loading the correct LUT (nothing to do with LR up to this point) will get you more than half way there, in that the monitor won't look too ugly even if the correct icc profile is not used by the app.

I'm not saying that in your case everything doesn't work as expected, all I'm saying is that the problem (if there) can be very subtle.
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Nikos

Deep

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Dual monitors with different profiles
« Reply #9 on: October 04, 2008, 01:09:14 am »

Quote from: NikosR
Be careful there. Just loading the correct LUT (nothing to do with LR up to this point) will get you more than half way there, in that the monitor won't look too ugly even if the correct icc profile is not used by the app.

I'm not saying that in your case everything doesn't work as expected, all I'm saying is that the problem (if there) can be very subtle.
Thanks for the heads up!  Even now I'm careful because I only use a Huey for calibration.  I think it is accurate enough on my MacBook Pro (at least it matches my prints and those I get from a lab which has good colour calibration) but on my external monitor, no matter what the application, the screen seems a tad over-saturated so I never use it for colour critical work.
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Don
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