NEC PA241 w hardware calibration: i1Display Pro +basiccolor 5

[przemja]

Hello,


I'm about to perform a hardware calibration of the PA241w using i1Display Pro and basiccolor v5.
The question is:
In the unlikely eventuality of sth going wrong - would I be able to restore the default/original monitor LUT values?
(if so, how to do it properly?)


Thanks,
P. 

[Czornyj]

Hello,


I'm about to perform a hardware calibration of the PA241w using i1Display Pro and basiccolor v5.
The question is:
In the unlikely eventuality of sth going wrong - would I be able to restore the default/original monitor LUT values?
(if so, how to do it properly?)


Thanks,
P.  

NEC PA has 3 separate tabels to store hardware calibrations (PROGRAMMABLE 1, 2, 3). You can't change default values in tabels  factory storing calibrated presets, so there's no need to worry.

[howardm]

Make sure to download the Multiprofiler software from NEC ($0) also.

BasICColor5 works fine w/ my PA241W

[przemja]

thanks for replies

well...

cpu/os: macbook pro 13, osx 10.6.8
PA241w connected via displayport 3rd party cable (if that matters)

1. it turnes out basiccolor 5 provides only combined hard-soft-ware calibration for the i1Display Pro + Pa241w
I think I read somewhere that this is possible so I expected true hardware calibration, but I'm fine with the combined option for the moment.

2. Unfortunately, basiccolor 5 becomes unresponsive as soon as I start the calibration process with the PA241w connected
(however, it works perfectly well for the laptop screen alone) the white calibration window displays the "connecting monitor" message.

The i1Profiler works fine, btw.

[przemja]

I do have another question though reg. the i1Profiler:

the i1Profiler 1.2.0 offers the option to manually adjust the RGB values instead of relying on the dodgy ADC option.
The trick is - which values do you touch in the PA241w?
there are plenty of controls to choose from - I'd rather stick to the predefined white balance settings in the monitor's advanced menu, but if that does not provide a good match to the indicated RGB pointers, should I play with the white x y values or sth else?

 

[howardm]

I'd have to check to see if mine is same (hardware & software).  I generally use SV software for my PA241 but have used BasICC. in the past.

There are 'issues' w/ NEC and the Displayport (see a service advisory on the nec site).  Perhaps WillH will chime in.  I use a
MDP -> DVI cable on mine (Apple MDP -> DVI adaptor and DVI cable from PA241) (and in fact, I've had SV software lockup using that).  You may want to read up on using an aux. USB cable w/ the monitor too.

thanks for replies

well...

cpu/os: macbook pro 13, osx 10.6.8
PA241w connected via displayport 3rd party cable (if that matters)

1. it turnes out basiccolor 5 provides only combined hard-soft-ware calibration for the i1Display Pro + Pa241w
I think I read somewhere that this is possible so I expected true hardware calibration, but I'm fine with the combined option for the moment.

2. Unfortunately, basiccolor 5 becomes unresponsive as soon as I start the calibration process with the PA241w connected
(however, it works perfectly well for the laptop screen alone) the white calibration window displays the "connecting monitor" message.

The i1Profiler works fine, btw.

[shewhorn]

I do have another question though reg. the i1Profiler:

the i1Profiler 1.2.0 offers the option to manually adjust the RGB values instead of relying on the dodgy ADC option.
The trick is - which values do you touch in the PA241w?
there are plenty of controls to choose from - I'd rather stick to the predefined white balance settings in the monitor's advanced menu, but if that does not provide a good match to the indicated RGB pointers, should I play with the white x y values or sth else?

You need to enable Advanced mode to gain access to the RGB gains and offsets.

Cheers, Joe

[przemja]

So,

when connected to via mini displayport-dvi connector, and then through nec supplied dvi cable - basiccolor 5 works properly with the PA241w, in the sense that it performs the combined hardware-software calibration. On the downside - the result is that banding occurs from deep blacks all the way up to mid-tones after such calibration, tested visually on a grayscale gradient - no such thing occurred after calibration with i1Profiler  and manual tweaking of the white x-y coordinates to match the rgb indicators during the process.

OH, and for anyone interested - the settings after the combined hard-soft calibration are apparently stored in the "programmable 3" preset  as the monitor switches to that setting after calibration.    

You need to enable Advanced mode to gain access to the RGB gains and offsets.

Cheers, Joe

the monitor's advanced controls offer x y coordinates for Red Green and Blue - seems like a lot of room for human error to me
and if I understand it correctly - the i1Profiler, when showing the RGB indicators, 'wants' the user to set the white balance. Hence the question: which values should one tweak - the red/green/blue/cyan/magenta/yellow  hue/sat/offset , all of which are in the normal rgb menu of the monitor's osd, OR, when in the monitor's advanced menu - the x and y coordinates of white or r, g, b.  

 

[shewhorn]

the monitor's advanced controls offer x y coordinates for Red Green and Blue - seems like a lot of room for human error to me
and if I understand it correctly - the i1Profiler, when showing the RGB indicators, 'wants' the user to set the white balance. Hence the question: which values should one tweak - the red/green/blue/cyan/magenta/yellow  hue/sat/offset , all of which are in the normal rgb menu of the monitor's osd, OR, when in the monitor's advanced menu - the x and y coordinates of white or r, g, b.  

Ahhh... my mistake. Those controls for RGB in the advanced menu are for setting the x,y coordinates of the RGB primaries. They affect gamut, not color temp. Thought I'd remembered just a set of RGB gains and offsets but my memory has failed me. I'd go for the offsets for the RGB channels then (using the controls that are normally available).

1. it turnes out basiccolor 5 provides only combined hard-soft-ware calibration for the i1Display Pro + Pa241w
I think I read somewhere that this is possible so I expected true hardware calibration, but I'm fine with the combined option for the moment.

It depends what your definition of "hardware" calibration is. I've used BasICColor Display v5 with an NEC 2690 and I believe it's uploading the TRCs and color corrections to the monitor's LUT (pretty sure the profile loaded in the video LUT is a normalized profile).

Out of curiosity, have you tried hooking up the display via USB? Spectraview II can circumvent the issues with DDC/ci and Apple's mini DisplayPort via communicating with the monitor through USB. Just for clarity... you hook up the USB cable in addition to the mini DisplayPort->DisplayPort cable (video still goes over DisplayPort, communications via USB). Not sure if the folks at BasICColor have implemented such functionality. One other thing to try, check the preferences. The "Using Apple's mini DisplayPort" check box should be checked.

Cheers, Joe

[uwitberg]

Use USB connection to display!

You should definitely connect your PA display to the computer via USB. basICColor v5 then uses USB to control the display and that's way more reliable than DDC via the graphics cable.
Was told so by Karl Koch, CEO of basICColor.

Regards,
Ulf

[Czornyj]

when connected to via mini displayport-dvi connector, and then through nec supplied dvi cable - basiccolor 5 works properly with the PA241w, in the sense that it performs the combined hardware-software calibration. On the downside - the result is that banding occurs from deep blacks all the way up to mid-tones after such calibration, tested visually on a grayscale gradient - no such thing occurred after calibration with i1Profiler  and manual tweaking of the white x-y coordinates to match the rgb indicators during the process.

OH, and for anyone interested - the settings after the combined hard-soft calibration are apparently stored in the "programmable 3" preset  as the monitor switches to that setting after calibration.    

the monitor's advanced controls offer x y coordinates for Red Green and Blue - seems like a lot of room for human error to me
and if I understand it correctly - the i1Profiler, when showing the RGB indicators, 'wants' the user to set the white balance. Hence the question: which values should one tweak - the red/green/blue/cyan/magenta/yellow  hue/sat/offset , all of which are in the normal rgb menu of the monitor's osd, OR, when in the monitor's advanced menu - the x and y coordinates of white or r, g, b.

Check Review>Edit calibration - correction curves should be virtually straight after semi-hardware calibration. If the curves for each channel are split, it indicates that profiler didn't manage to set the wtpt automatically and you have to do it using manual control in OSD.

Presets "Programmable 1,2,3" store hardware calibrations for various kinds of connection ports.

Stay away from chromatic coordinates of RGB colorants - it's not RGB gain, they're for gamut calibration, not for wtpt calibration.

You should just set the x/y coordinates of white to achieve the target wtpt, there's no "old fashioned" RGB gain control, but in fact it's the same.