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Author Topic: Monitor Calibration - Can something still go wrong?  (Read 736 times)

rabanito

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Monitor Calibration - Can something still go wrong?
« on: January 30, 2019, 05:05:23 am »

I calibrate (that's the word Datacolor uses  :) ) my Eizo CG222W with Datacolor Spyder3
I follow the instructions on the screen, measure ambient light, put the sensor on place and wait until it's done.
Very simple and there is nothing else I can do.
After that there are two possibilities, Calibration On or Off. The ON position gives a pleasant display which is of course what I use
OFF is unpleasant.
Now my question is
Even if I followed the instructions and I like the results and Spyder tells me that alles is OK, could it be that the monitor is not well calibrated and I don't notice? I wouldn't trust my perception of colors that much :)
Is there a reliable way to check that?

I ask firstly out of curiosity, just for learning, but also because as I had some issues in printing am trying to investigate if something can go wrong in the "pipeline", beginning at the monitor.
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howardm

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Re: Monitor Calibration - Can something still go wrong?
« Reply #1 on: January 30, 2019, 09:14:28 am »

The short answer is 'given what you have, you don’t know'.

The S3 wasn't great to begin with.

EthanH from DryCreek did a bunch of testing a few years ago comparing some
XRite products and DataColor products and a lab grade device. 

The takeaway was that the XRite i1Display Pro was more
accurate to begin with and various copies of the device were much better 'in agreement'
with each other whereas the Spyders were all over the place.

smthopr

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Re: Monitor Calibration - Can something still go wrong?
« Reply #2 on: January 30, 2019, 11:58:19 am »

I calibrate (that's the word Datacolor uses  :) ) my Eizo CG222W with Datacolor Spyder3
I follow the instructions on the screen, measure ambient light, put the sensor on place and wait until it's done.
Very simple and there is nothing else I can do.
After that there are two possibilities, Calibration On or Off. The ON position gives a pleasant display which is of course what I use
OFF is unpleasant.
Now my question is
Even if I followed the instructions and I like the results and Spyder tells me that alles is OK, could it be that the monitor is not well calibrated and I don't notice? I wouldn't trust my perception of colors that much :)
Is there a reliable way to check that?


I ask firstly out of curiosity, just for learning, but also because as I had some issues in printing am trying to investigate if something can go wrong in the "pipeline", beginning at the monitor.

Aside from the probe accuracy of the Spyder, using the ambient light measurement and using the display with significant ambient light probably means that you will not have good accuracy.  If this works well for your type of work, you are all set.  But, since you're posting here, it seems you are having some doubts.

1. Start with calibration hardware/software that you have confidence in.
2. When working with your display, use subdued lighting that is the same color as the monitor white color.  (if you are setting the display to D65, lighting should be 6500k) The light should ideally be behind the display so as not to illuminate the display with reflections from the room.
3. Calibrate your display in a darkened room with no ambient light.
4. If you will be using your display to color correct for printing to paper, do not set the display whitepoint higher than 100 nits, otherwise your prints may well look darker than your display in common lighting situations.  I use 80nits myself and that is on the edge of too bright for comparing to prints.
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digitaldog

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Re: Monitor Calibration - Can something still go wrong?
« Reply #3 on: January 30, 2019, 12:46:52 pm »

The On or Off option isn't very useful other than showing you something did happen.
The ambient light options for any such product is questionable at best and worthless at worse.
If your goal is to match a display to a print properly illuminated NEXT to the display, when a soft proof is invoked, then it does or doesn't.
As outlined here:

Why are my prints too dark?
A video update to a written piece on subject from 2013

In this 24 minute video, I'll cover:
Are your prints really too dark?
Display calibration and WYSIWYG
Proper print viewing conditions
Trouble shooting to get a match
Avoiding kludges that don't solve the problem

High resolution: http://digitaldog.net/files/Why_are_my_prints_too_dark.mp4
Low resolution: https://youtu.be/iS6sjZmxjY4
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rabanito

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Re: Monitor Calibration - Can something still go wrong?
« Reply #4 on: January 31, 2019, 05:48:43 am »

Thank you very much for the suggestions, I'm taking care of that from now on
As for the dark prints, I use a GrafiLite (OttLite) lamp beside the monitor.
I compared the prints (sRGB Relative and Prophoto Relative and Perceptual) of the Printer Gamut Test File with the image from the screen.
They don't look dark to me, on the contrary, the image on the screen looks infinitesimally darker :)
The colors in the screen look a little more saturated.
But no magenta cast at all, as I described in another topic. I must have done something wrong then.

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