problems calibrating NEC PA271

[rkpoon]

So i finally bit the bullet and got the NEC PA271 with the Spectraview II setup. For years i've just been using an i1 display and i1 match with a Dell LCD and it has worked well for my general photo editing (for web mostly, some prints to the local lab). Was really excited to see how the NEC would be considering the rave reviews. Well, I set everything up, calibrated (and calibrated) but the display looks muddy (with very little contrast) and to my eyes, a bit greenish-blue. For the life of me I couldn't figure out why the display looked so awful. The OSD presets of AdobeRGB (preset 1) and Full (preset 4) look a lot more natural, but the Sprectraview calibrated setting just doesn't look right.

My settings for calibration are:
- Photo Editing
- 140 (luminance)
- D65 white point

System is:
- WinXP sp2
- NEC PA271W-BK
- Spectraview II pro kit
- NVIDIA GeForce 9500 GT

Any ideas? I've had to revert back to my old monitor plus i1 to get some work done, it's that bad.

Thanks,

Rick

[Chris_Brown]

Did you read the manual?

(I'm not being sarcastic, just wondering).

[David Sutton]

I have much the same set-up with XP Pro. Assuming the 9500GT driver is up to date (mine is version 3.4.772.04), the monitor and puck is not faulty and the calibration was done correctly,  then I'd probably start with the Windows advanced display properties and check those. Has the i1 software been disabled or is it causing the NEC screen to be double profiled?
FWIW here are screenshots of my calibration targets.
 

[Steve Weldon]

Rick -

When you say the colors look muddy.. are you using a test chart to evaluate this, or your old images previously processed on a different system?  It's not unusual for someone to find their old system is very different.  You can grab a test chart here if you don't already have one.  It's tagged for srgb.

If you're mainly working on the web and having prints made out of house (local lab) then try the sRGB emulation mode.  This will get the colors right, though personally I find it way too bright so I knock the level down to 170.

Remember, it's not at all unusual to get a good monitor that displays colors correctly, and find its very different from what you've been using.  The NEC PA271w is a good and accurate monitor, way ahead of any Dell monitor in several ways, so I'd trust it unless it's broken/defective in some way.

[DeanChriss]

This is a shot in the dark, but is it possible you have another program (like iMatch from the i1 system) loading a LUT into the video card after the Spectraview software has run. AFAIK, Spectraview loads a LUT into the monitor itself, and loading another (or even the same one) into the video card could result in a double correction. I don't know how Spectraview works internally or whether it guards against this, but uninstalling iMatch and Spectraview, then installing Spectraview and doing a calibration would remove all the possible driver, profile, and other possibilities.
Good luck!

[David Sutton]

Also a long shot, but try a different usb port. Avoid the ones on the monitor.

[rkpoon]

Thanks for all the advice, much appreciated!

David, DeahChriss, I think you guys were right. I had i1 Match installed previously, uninstalled it but I guess I needed to reboot the computer to have it take affect. I uninstalled everything, including spectraview, rebooted, reinstalled spectraview and calibrated and the display looks fairly neutral with a normal amount of contrast. Finally! And thanks Steve for the test chart, really shows off the quality of the PA271W!

Cheers,

Rick

[rkpoon]

In case anyone happens upon the same problem, I wanted to update that the real cause of the problem was that the display driver was not properly installed. It was running off the windows plug and play driver, not the driver supplied with the monitor (which didn't install as part of the spectraview s/w install, it had to be manually installed separately). To make sure the driver is installed correctly, check display properties > settings. the display listed should be "NEC MultiSync PA271W (Digital) on <your graphics card>" and under advanced settings > monitor, the monitor type should be "NEC MultiSync PA271W (Digital)".