Calibration questions

SeeKified

SeeKified

SeeKified

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Basically just wondering how one'd go about calibrating a PC monitor. When calibrating my TV, I just made sure that the devices connected to it are outputting a non-clipped signal so I can view BtB and WtW during calibration.

This seems to be a bit tricky on a PC, as the signal gets modified and the settings on my actual monitor only seem to affect the panel's own light output and doesn't affect what's actually coming through signal-wise.

At the moment I'm just using the Catalyst controls to calibrate according to AVS HD 709, but things still look a bit off, really.
 
Agreed - if you're doing any 1/2 serious photo editing, it's worth invesitng in colour calibration (the I1 display LT is a more wallet friendly option). What monitor are you using? If it's a TN, I'd recommend putting the money towards an IPS instead if you're after accurate colour.
 
Even if you buy the i1Display2 then it's money well invested as it's with you for life :)

The results speak for themselves when you compare before/after calibration and even the best of screens see a good difference!

A lot of it is in the software as well during the profile creation process. I opted to use Lacie's BlueEyePro software with my i1D2 because I found it more thorough and calibration results were consistent. The reporting aspect is a lot better than anything else. Contact Lacie directly if you want to use the software as you have the same probe as the Lacie if you get the i1D2.
 
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Khaaan! said:
Even if you buy the i1Display2 then it's money well invested as it's with you for life :)

The results speak for themselves when you compare before/after calibration and even the best of screens see a good difference!

A lot of it is in the software as well during the profile creation process. I opted to use Lacie's BlueEyePro software with my i1D2 because I found it more thorough and calibration results were consistent. The reporting aspect is a lot better than anything else. Contact Lacie directly if you want to use the software as you have the same probe as the Lacie if you get the i1D2.
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Actually calibrators do have a life span. You should really replace them every so often as the filters degrade and it skews what the device can read :) Got an I1 in my draw that created a horrid red cast now, but it swears blind its right!

Still worth buying though. For the sake of £100 over a few years its a no brained even for an ameteur.
 
Adrianr said:
Actually calibrators do have a life span. You should really replace them every so often as the filters degrade and it skews what the device can read :) Got an I1 in my draw that created a horrid red cast now, but it swears blind its right!

Still worth buying though. For the sake of £100 over a few years its a no brained even for an ameteur.
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Did not know that.

Might look at replacing my i1D2 after a bit more, had for about 3 years now and keep on getting the teeeeniest edge of a pink tinge on my current screen.
 
Mine's not had any casting at all and it's about 5 years old now and gets used once every few months. results are always consistent as well with no odd behaviour.

Is there any official documentation saying what the MTBF for the filters are? My Google is not showing any results on thepopular imaging sites (DPReview, Fred Miranda etc).

When the cover is on it's pretth much sealed from any external evironment anyway and the unit itself is kept in a zipped neoprone pouch at room temp so I wouldn't have imagined any degradation at all, not for at least a several years anyway and even then..>!
 
Update, I noticed that Xrite have a trade in program until the end of September so if you purchase their latest i1 probes you can get some money back.

I'm tempted to take this offer on board and get the ColorMunki and trade in the i1Display2 but at the same time I'm not sure it's worth the hassle as the i1D2 is still one of the better Colorimeters out there and I use the Lacie Blue Eye Pro software so maybe I'm better of sticking with this. The Colormunki is said to be as good as (maybe slightly better?) than the i1Display2, better in that it can calibrate printers and projectors. Both can calibrate LED screens just fine.

Either way, a heads up for those looking to get a device but unsure.
 
mrk said:
Update, I noticed that Xrite have a trade in program until the end of September so if you purchase their latest i1 probes you can get some money back.

I'm tempted to take this offer on board and get the ColorMunki and trade in the i1Display2 but at the same time I'm not sure it's worth the hassle as the i1D2 is still one of the better Colorimeters out there and I use the Lacie Blue Eye Pro software so maybe I'm better of sticking with this. The Colormunki is said to be as good as (maybe slightly better?) than the i1Display2, better in that it can calibrate printers and projectors. Both can calibrate LED screens just fine.

Either way, a heads up for those looking to get a device but unsure.
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From what I've heard the software is useless if you want to know the actual colortemp/contrast/gamma values, though it still does its job when it comes to profiling. It's also tied to the X-rite software.
 
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Hmm if it's strictly tied to Xrite software then I'd indeed recommend sourcing a used i1Display/2. Heck even a Spyder2/3 would work as you can use Lacie's Blue Eye Pro with them.

Issue resolved in that case then I guess :p
 
... Apparently the i1D2 sucks with LED monitors.

FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF.

I don't wanna be screwed with having to use X-rite's software... yet I don't wanna waste money on buying an OEM version.
 
Maybe using the Xrite software but on FredMiranda someone emailed support and the reply they got back was that LED monitors were calibrated just fine.

Lacie's Blue Eye Pro and Xrite's i1D2 are the exact same probe.
 
mrk said:
Maybe using the Xrite software but on FredMiranda someone emailed support and the reply they got back was that LED monitors were calibrated just fine.

Lacie's Blue Eye Pro and Xrite's i1D2 are the exact same probe.
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I was reading up on [H]forum, and have been hearing the results have been sporadic due to the probes not being designed for LEDs, hence the need for the new i1d3

Unfortunately, X-Rite are dumb as hell and locked them. A couple of vendors sell them unlocked, but I can't be bothered buying Calman on top of it and such.

Hatred.
 
Contrasting posts based on what I was reading on Fred Miranda! Were the [H] ones using the Xrite software? I do have an LED backlit screen here at home Ican test mine on but I only use Lacie's software as it is probably /the/best calibration software available and it's test&report has never failed yet.
 
mrk said:
Contrasting posts based on what I was reading on Fred Miranda! Were the [H] ones using the Xrite software? I do have an LED backlit screen here at home Ican test mine on but I only use Lacie's software as it is probably /the/best calibration software available and it's test&report has never failed yet.
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No, the [H] guys despise the software as it doesn't report. I think they were using Lacie's software too.

You should test it anyway since I'm wanting that same setup. :p I can only find the i1d2 at around the same price as the pro - but it's well worth it if I'm not limited to crappy software.
 
What screen do you have? The one I can test on is on a spare PC, it's a 19" LED backlit TN panel though, although for the purpose of calibration and reporting, that should not matter!
 
mrk said:
What screen do you have? The one I can test on is on a spare PC, it's a 19" LED backlit TN panel though, although for the purpose of calibration and reporting, that should not matter!
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It'll be the Hazro HZ27WC, remember? :p

Right now using a U23 IPS though.
 
Ah ok.

I'm rebuilding a PC at the moment so once it's done I will fire up BEP and test :D
 
Just to add to this discussion. All colorimeter devices need some form of correction matrix for the backlighting system you want to use it with, whether that's standard gamut CCFL, W-LED, RGB LED or wide gamut CCFL. Older colorimeters are basically all set up to work with standard gamut CCFL. They do not contain matrices for other backlighting though as the filters are designed to work with a specific type, and a specific spectra.

They will work perfectly fine on other screens and allow you to measure and calibrate as normal. The results will of course tell you the calibration is correct as it's only verifying what it was aiming to do and testing the profile created. If you verify the results against a higher end reference device you will see however that there is some deviation between what the colorimeter and what the ref device tell you. You can do this with an i1 pro for instance. Being a spectrophotometer rather than a colorimeter (and a lot more expensive as a result!) it reads light differently and can work with a wide set of backlighting techs without issue. If you compare the measurements you will see typically a deviance in the measurement of the white point / colour temp between the two, which is typically around 500 - 600k. This applies to wide gamut and RGB LED and to a smaller extent W-LED units. Sometimes the deviance on W-LED is more around 300 -500k but it's still there.

So yes, an i1 D2 will work fine, and yes, x-rite and lacie will tell you it is compatible. I'm reality the white point measurement will be a little out. Ive tested many screens with many devices myself and found that this is really the only deviance, and other measurements like gamma, colour accuracy, luminance etc are very near to one another, as long as you're testing a decent colorimeter of course. In fact a decent colorimeter will be more accurate at the darker tome end as it has a much lower black point threshold than and i1 pro for example....so the spectrophotometer is not brilliant at everything!

Theres a couple of ways to overcome this white point discrepancy. One is through software means where a standard correction is applied to your measurements. Quato's iColor software allows this for instance and works quite well. The other option is to provide correction matrices at a hardware level but that is not as flexible as there's a lot of different screens and a lot of different variable backlight units of various types. Some devices are reported to offer this, eg NEC's branded wide gamut i1 D2 and it is designed to make this correction when combined with their wide gamut screens and spectra view software. I'm reality from my tests it doesn't though so this is a bit of s d herring from what i've seen.

The new i1 display 3 supposedly supports LED and wide gamut as standard but ive not had chance to test that myself yet. Further more it's a bit of a pain as the OEM version cannot be used with xrites software and very few third party apps support it yet. The retail version can only be used with x-rites rather limited (I'm my view) i1 profiler. So again not a perfect option yet.

For most people an i1 D2 would be a very good choice, a great price, very flexible In terms of software support etc. The white point offset isn't going to bother most users at all and it's quite minimal so unless you are matching between several devices, several different backlight types, or need absolute accuracy I can't see it being a problem.
 
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