SpectaView II + Intel HD 4600 graphics = no communication

[Whitey Fisk]

Hello all,

long time reader 1st time poster, and I apologise for my 1st post here being a request for technical assistance.

For a while now I have been happily using SpectravView II with a p221w on an older Nvidia gpu. However, I have just built a new system using an Intel HD 4600 display adapter. I can now no longer get communication between my display adapter and monitor.

What I have done so far is;
-install latest driver from Gigabyte website (gigabyte mainboard)
-install latest and 2nd latest driver from Intel website using both .exe and .zip versions (installing via device manager)
-install a couple older drivers I found on the web
-install latest version from SpectraView software from web (Readme states most Intel chipsets are supported)
-install CD version of SpectraView software then update through software
-run software as admin and tried to manually add display via display config (the software gives me no displays to add)
-connect display via DVI-D
-connect display via HDMI adaptor at PC to DVI at monitor (the way I had it working on old laptop)
-connect display via VGA cable
-disable and re enable on board gpu in bios
-reset display settings to factory via menu
-stop and start ddc/ci on display via advanced menu
-contacted NEC via email, I am yet to hear from them.

my bios is current, the only other thing I haven't done (and last thing I can think to try) is install a discrete gpu, my hunch is this will solve my problem. Before doing that though I'd love to hear from anybody who has had any experience with SpectraView II and on-board Intel graphics and whether they have had success get the software to work correctly.

many thanks

Sam

[narikin]

Yes, I think that to use Spectraview properly you need a standalone graphics card.

Besides which, you'll be best looking for a 10bit capable graphics card (probably an old FirePro, unless you have the $ for a new one) so you can take advantage of the 10bit pipeline to that 10 bit monitor. It does make a difference.

 

[Whitey Fisk]

Hi narikin,

thanks very much for your advice.

Regards
Sam

[Dale Villeponteaux]

e-bay usually lists some old Quadro 4000s which will also provide a 10-bit path.

Regards,
Dale  

[Alan Goldhammer]

The issue is really one of Spectraview supporting the on CPU graphics which they do not at the moment.  The footnote in the NEC Readme file states explicitly, "DisplayPort connections and "HD Graphics (GMA HD)" chipsets (based on Core i3, i5 and i7) are not currently supported."  I think the ball is in NEC's court in terms of fixing this problem.  I don't know what your budget is but I just built a new photo editing workstation this past spring and put in an NVIDA GTX 660 2GB card.  There are multiple manufacturers and the price point is about $180 or so.  The card works wonderfully and I use Spectraview to calibrate.

[Whitey Fisk]

hello,

thanks to everyone for contributing here. I had suspected it would come down to the case of I need a discrete gpu, which is fine - no point if having this display if I cant use SpectraView to get the best out of it.

Alan, I am not sure if I have missed something here, when I look through the readme file of version 1.1.16 i cannot find the foot note you talk of, in fact it states as of version 1.1.08 'Added support for Intel "core graphics" on i3/i5/i7 processors.'

Although I do note they removed comms between intel video chipsets and displays in 1.1.09 but this was only via Display Port. Anyway it highly likely I have glossed over something.

Once again, thanks to all for the input - its look like I'll have to get a new gpu in this case

[ned]

I just had the same problem with a new system I just built. Email NEC support and they will send you a patch. Intel Haswell graphics chip set I believe.

[Whitey Fisk]

Hi Ned,

thanks for this. I did contact them but have not heard anything. I will send another email to them.

Sam

[ned]

Hi, Sorry was on my phone for the last response. Here is a copy of the email with the link to the file.

Cheers,

Ned

Thank you for your support question.
 
Software support for the new Intel Haswell based graphics is not included in the currently released version of SpectraView. However we have a patch available which should work on your system if you are interested in trying it.
 
Here are the instructions for using the new version:
 
1. Close SpectraView.
 
2. Download and unzip this file:
http://www.necds-engineering.com/released/nec_MONAPI2_beta_131118_Haswell_test.zip
 
3. In this folder on your system:
C:\Windows\SysWOW64\
[Assuming you are using the 64 bit version of Windows]
 
Create a backup of the existing file called “MONAPI2.dll”.
 
4. Replace the file in “C:\Windows\SysWOW64\” with the MONAPI2.dll file from the zip in step 1.
 
5. Start SpectraView. Check if it detected any displays. You may need to go into the “Edit -> Display Configuration” and see if it is detected and communicates correctly.
 
6. If it doesn’t work correctly, then replace the file from the backup in step 3.
 
Best Regards
 
Will Hollingworth
Senior Manager - Product Development
NEC Display Solutions of America Inc.

[Alan Goldhammer]

Glad to see that Will H. weighed in on this.  The footnote that I was referring to was in my readme file and may have been an older version than the one you had.  Hope the fix that was posted works for you.  The Intel CPU graphics are quite good and I use them for HPTC builds.

[Whitey Fisk]

Success!

SpectraView is now working correctly again. Thanks so much for all that contributed to this thread. For now I can at least go back to a calibrated display. That being said the advice given about 10bit workflow is of interested to me, I am now sure how it translates to using LR5 but I will continue to research this.

Once again, thanks to all.

Sam