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Author Topic: SpectraViewII and nVidia card  (Read 4710 times)

walter.sk

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SpectraViewII and nVidia card
« on: October 05, 2009, 11:05:44 am »

I have been profiling my NEC3090 with the SpectraView software and the Eye-One Display 2 colorimeterfor almost a year now, with good results until recently.  As I understand, the SpectraView software is supposed to neutralize the effect of the video card so that there are not two sets of color adjustment going at the same time.

A couple of weeks ago I found that there was a new driver for my nVidia 3900GT video cards, which I run in SLI mode to boost the hardware acceleration.  Disobeying my usual rule of "don't fix it if it ain't broke," I installed the new driver, which caused crashes with everything.  I immediately deinstalled it and rolled back to the old driver (I'm also running WinXPPro, SP3).  I noticed that my reds were now so saturated and bright that they were leaping of the screen at me.

After several attempts at callibrating and reprofiling with SpectraView II I was unseccessful at taming the reds.  I went into the nVidia panel and found under Color Settings that the Vibrance slider was set at +79.  I also found that the nVidia panel icon appeared in the task-bar associated with the Start Menu.  I ran MSConfig and disabled anything starting with nVxxx that was located in the nVidia folder and rebooted, and the reds seem normal to me.  

I'm going to recalibrate and reprofile the monitor and see if stuff stays OK.

The question I have, for those who know nVidia, is "Am I doing something wrong by disabling the nVidia processes from the Startup tab in MSConfig?"

If not, I would suggest that those who have NEC displays and too-red reds check their startup routine to see if a similar problem exists.
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MPatek

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SpectraViewII and nVidia card
« Reply #1 on: October 05, 2009, 03:52:19 pm »

While I am not an expert in nVidia cards, I think that you should be fine with disabling their software layer from the Startup. The only thing I would double-check is "dual "monitor" functions in case that you have two displays run from the same video card.

What is interesting is that LUT table on your card was not completely reset when display profile was loaded. I presume that NEC3090 has its own 10-bit internal LUT which cannot "compensate" or reset the the video card settings. Have you tried the LUT Loader from X-Rite site to check your video card LUT table settings? Here is the link ( just search for "LUT loader"). It also has a simple way for resetting the LUT table in video card.
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Marcel

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walter.sk

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SpectraViewII and nVidia card
« Reply #2 on: October 05, 2009, 08:05:27 pm »

Quote from: MPatek
What is interesting is that LUT table on your card was not completely reset when display profile was loaded. I presume that NEC3090 has its own 10-bit internal LUT which cannot "compensate" or reset the the video card settings. Have you tried the LUT Loader from X-Rite site to check your video card LUT table settings? Here is the link ( just search for "LUT loader"). It also has a simple way for resetting the LUT table in video card.
Yes, the NEC 3090 does have an internal LUT, which is addressed by the SpectraView software.  I believe SV is also supposed to reset the video card settings.  I did a search for LUT loader after going to the xrite link you provided.  I was able to find documents about LUT loaders but not an actual executable file.  Tomorrow when I'm more alert I'll try again, as well as browse the SV manual again.

Thanks for the reply.
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MPatek

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SpectraViewII and nVidia card
« Reply #3 on: October 05, 2009, 10:03:49 pm »

Just noticed that it is called LUT tester (not loader). Sorry for the confusion. Here is fresh link that got me to the application. Link

Good luck,
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Marcel

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walter.sk

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SpectraViewII and nVidia card
« Reply #4 on: October 06, 2009, 08:59:12 am »

Quote from: MPatek
Just noticed that it is called LUT tester (not loader). Sorry for the confusion. Here is fresh link that got me to the application. Link

Good luck,
Thanks, Marcel.  I tried the tester, and, as I had thought, it confirmed that my nVidia card would work with it.  Later, if I have the nerve, I will change one of the settings in the video card, then reprofile the display and see if it actually reset the video card.
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walter.sk

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SpectraViewII and nVidia card
« Reply #5 on: October 06, 2009, 09:07:14 am »

Quote from: walter.sk
Thanks, Marcel.  I tried the tester, and, as I had thought, it confirmed that my nVidia card would work with it.  Later, if I have the nerve, I will change one of the settings in the video card, then reprofile the display and see if it actually reset the video card.
Well, I just opened the nVidia Control Panel and under the Color Settings tab I set the Digital Vibrance to 0, and saved the new settings.  I then opened the SpectraView II software and reloaded the last calibration/profile file I had done.  It reset the display, with visible changes.  I then reopened the nVidia Control Panel and, lo and behold, the Vibrance setting was back to 50% and the other settings at their neutral points, as well.

Thanks for the link to the LUT Tester.

For anybody else here who has had problems with oversaturated colors on their display, perhaps my experience can help them to discover double settings that interfere with proper display functioning.
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WillH

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SpectraViewII and nVidia card
« Reply #6 on: October 06, 2009, 10:45:55 am »

FYI - the Nvidia controls operate internally on the video card and are separate from the normal LUTs. Be very careful about using these controls since they apply color transformations (saturation etc.) that can not be turned off by applications like SpectraView - you must use the Nvidia control panel. Good advice is to reset them all to zero/off/default positions and don't ever touch them again.
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Will Hollingworth
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NEC Display Solutions of America, Inc.

walter.sk

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SpectraViewII and nVidia card
« Reply #7 on: October 07, 2009, 11:32:19 am »

Quote from: WillH
FYI - the Nvidia controls operate internally on the video card and are separate from the normal LUTs. Be very careful about using these controls since they apply color transformations (saturation etc.) that can not be turned off by applications like SpectraView - you must use the Nvidia control panel. Good advice is to reset them all to zero/off/default positions and don't ever touch them again.
Thanks for the heads-up on that.  Using MSConfig I have disabled anything in the Startup tab that starts with nVxxx.  I checked and in the nVidia control panel, the Desktop Color Settings is now at:

Brightness 50%
Digital Vibrance 50%
Contrast 50%
Image Sharpening 0
Gamma 50%

I am hoping that these are the "off" positions, and I did another callibration/profiling of the NEC3090.  If you are aware of better settings for the above, please let me know.

Thanks again.
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