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Author Topic: COLOR-CALIBRATED LAPTOPS?  (Read 17659 times)

JohnKoerner

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COLOR-CALIBRATED LAPTOPS?
« on: January 11, 2010, 10:04:18 am »

I see a lot of discussion on color-calibrated monitors for desktops (e.g., NEC 2690, which I have) ... but what about color-calibrated laptops?

I was thinking about getting a travel laptop, so I could view and adjust some of my photos while traveling, and it suddenly occured to me I haven't heard of a laptop whose monitor can be calibrated.

Is there such a thing? If so, who makes them?

If not, which of the offerings are good enough to trust in this capacity ... or is it simply best to wait until you get home?

Thanks for any input.
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JonRoemer

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COLOR-CALIBRATED LAPTOPS?
« Reply #1 on: January 11, 2010, 11:25:15 am »

Quote from: JohnKoerner
I see a lot of discussion on color-calibrated monitors for desktops (e.g., NEC 2690, which I have) ... but what about color-calibrated laptops?

I was thinking about getting a travel laptop, so I could view and adjust some of my photos while traveling, and it suddenly occured to me I haven't heard of a laptop whose monitor can be calibrated.

Is there such a thing? If so, who makes them?

If not, which of the offerings are good enough to trust in this capacity ... or is it simply best to wait until you get home?

Thanks for any input.

Nothing beats a desktop monitor but you can (and should) calibrate your laptop.  If you are looking for laptop screen reviews/tests from a photographer's perspective RobGalbraith.com has a couple of write ups (Macs & PCs):

http://www.robgalbraith.com/bins/multi_pag...d=7-10041-10146
http://www.robgalbraith.com/bins/multi_pag...cid=7-9320-9876

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« Last Edit: January 11, 2010, 11:25:58 am by JonRoemer »
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jjlphoto

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« Reply #2 on: January 11, 2010, 07:24:39 pm »

Keep in mind that laptop screens are only 6bit. I've seen night shots with deep sky gradients looking heavily posterized. Really hard to tell what you've actually got.
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Shirley Bracken

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« Reply #3 on: January 11, 2010, 08:53:22 pm »

I didn't realize laptops were only six bit.  Thanks.
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DarkPenguin

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COLOR-CALIBRATED LAPTOPS?
« Reply #4 on: January 11, 2010, 10:56:25 pm »

TN panels are 6 bit.  Most, but not all, laptops use TN panels.  There are a few that do not.
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LoisWakeman

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COLOR-CALIBRATED LAPTOPS?
« Reply #5 on: January 12, 2010, 04:13:33 am »

Quote from: DarkPenguin
TN panels are 6 bit.  Most, but not all, laptops use TN panels.  There are a few that do not.
TFT Central is quite a useful resource (though whoever designed it hasn't got much of a clue about how to use frames - sometimes you end up with 2 or 3 navigation frames and the content squeezed at the right.) It concentrates on free-standing monitors, but the reference info is reasonably helpful.

You might start with the FAQ for instance
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DarkPenguin

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« Reply #6 on: January 12, 2010, 06:15:00 pm »

Quote from: LoisWakeman
TFT Central is quite a useful resource (though whoever designed it hasn't got much of a clue about how to use frames - sometimes you end up with 2 or 3 navigation frames and the content squeezed at the right.) It concentrates on free-standing monitors, but the reference info is reasonably helpful.

You might start with the FAQ for instance

What am I looking for in the FAQ?
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LoisWakeman

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« Reply #7 on: January 13, 2010, 12:06:55 pm »

Quote from: DarkPenguin
What am I looking for in the FAQ?
It just mentioned 6 vs 8 bit as a starting point
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jerryrock

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« Reply #8 on: January 13, 2010, 12:09:01 pm »

THe Dell Studio XPS 16 offers an RGB LED backlit laptop display which is better at color accuracy than any other display type.

http://www.dell.com/us/en/home/notebooks/l...cs=19&s=dhs
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Gerald J Skrocki

DarkPenguin

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« Reply #9 on: January 13, 2010, 12:15:18 pm »

Quote from: LoisWakeman
It just mentioned 6 vs 8 bit as a starting point

Help me out here.  You posted that in response to "TN panels are 6 bit.  Most, but not all, laptops use TN panels.  There are a few that do not."  I've found nothing related to 6 vs 8 bit laptop displays.  Am I wrong about the TN panel thing?  And if so which part?  The TN panels are 6 bit thing or the laptops use TN panels thing?

Edit: Added a closing quote.
« Last Edit: January 13, 2010, 12:17:25 pm by DarkPenguin »
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JohnKoerner

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« Reply #10 on: January 18, 2010, 10:10:13 am »

I appreciate the responses, thank you.




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Quote from: jerryrock
THe Dell Studio XPS 16 offers an RGB LED backlit laptop display which is better at color accuracy than any other display type.
http://www.dell.com/us/en/home/notebooks/l...cs=19&s=dhs

Thank you Jerry, that is the info I was looking for in particular.

Jack




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jerryrock

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« Reply #11 on: January 20, 2010, 10:52:59 am »

THe HP EliteBook 8730w Mobile laptop also offers a 17" RGB LED backlit DreamColor display:

http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/us/en/sm/WF...49-3784202.html

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Gerald J Skrocki

michele

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« Reply #12 on: January 21, 2010, 09:12:59 am »

you can calibrate the laptop monitor, but i think it's no-sense because you can just run a software calibration and set the luminosity. with a desktop monitor like eizo you can make first an hardware calibration and then make a profile... by the way, i calibrate my macbook just to know wich is a good luminosity level...

Jonathan Wienke

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« Reply #13 on: January 21, 2010, 09:42:04 am »

Quote from: michele
you can calibrate the laptop monitor, but i think it's no-sense because you can just run a software calibration and set the luminosity.

There are several errors here:
  • No laptop monitor I know of has hardware calibration capability similar to the Eizo.
  • Doing a software profiling with i1 or other calibration device does much more than "set the luminosity". The profile will compensate for non-linearities in the monitor's color channel responses, correctly measure the monitor's RGB primaries, and various other things that go far beyond luminosity adjustment.
  • Unless a laptop is always used in the same controlled lighting environment, the optimal calibration luminosity setting is the one that causes the profile to do the least adjustment to the RGB values going to the monitor. This is especially important given that most laptop monitors are only 6 bits/channel instead of 8.
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runee

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« Reply #14 on: January 30, 2010, 04:47:09 am »

You may want to take a look at the Lenovo W700... Covers, I think, 75% of Adobe RGB and has built in Xrite calibrator (option). The calibrator is built in the laptop near the keyboard, the software tells you to close the lid and an indicator lights up when calibration is done. Simple and easy.
Also, comes with a built in digitizer...

Allround nice hardware
« Last Edit: January 30, 2010, 04:47:33 am by runee »
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Mike Bailey

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« Reply #15 on: January 30, 2010, 06:38:17 am »

The killer problem on laptops is the viewing angle.  I use a Lenovo Thinkpad SL-500 which I've profiled with my Monaco Optix-XR.  It profiles well and I can get the colors - and black and white points - very close to what I have with my desktop systems, but the viewing angle means you have to park your head in pretty much one location.  Side to side, up or down, the slight change in viewing angle changes the apparent contrast.  The W700 mentioned with the self-calibration sounds wonderful, as does the HP.  If only viewing angle were routinely taken into account and resolved, like the old T60.  Maybe someday...

Mike

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Mike Bailey
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« Reply #16 on: January 30, 2010, 10:45:04 am »

What about Apple laptops [mostly MacBook Pro]?
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Jonathan Wienke

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« Reply #17 on: January 30, 2010, 12:31:08 pm »

Quote from: Professional
What about Apple laptops [mostly MacBook Pro]?

Meh. At least for the 13" Macbook I have. Viewing angle changes contrast/gamma significantly.
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Professional

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« Reply #18 on: January 30, 2010, 02:23:37 pm »

Quote from: Jonathan Wienke
Meh. At least for the 13" Macbook I have. Viewing angle changes contrast/gamma significantly.

I hate my 13" MBP [2009] anyway, but i will use it until i can save budget and fix/repair my 17" better MBP [2008].
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HickersonJasonC

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« Reply #19 on: March 16, 2010, 01:07:24 am »

Quote from: Jonathan Wienke
Meh. At least for the 13" Macbook I have. Viewing angle changes contrast/gamma significantly.

My wife's MacBook, which I calibrated for fun, really really sucks in every respect for image viewing. The screen is obviously built for casual browsing and word processing and fails miserably at viewing colors and viewing angle is minimal.

On the other hand, my Macbook Pro 15" with matte screen (old intel version) is almost as good as my very nice Samsung 23" monitor. The ONLY difference I see between the two is that the MBPro has a very very slight salmon color cast compared to the Samsung even after calibrating.

On the other hand, the MBPro has LED screen so its colors and luminosity is good at startup. The Samsung takes about 20 min to warm up.

For me, having the size of the desktop monitor is nice but I would never wait till I got home because of calibration concerns. If nothing else, you can do 99% of the work on your laptop (assuming its a decent screen like the MBPro LCD matte screen) and then just check at home and tweak if necessary.
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