Is colour calibration worth it?

[sid]

I'm getting more and more into photography but unfortunately when I purchased my screens last year, I hadn't taken this new hobby into account.

So basically I have 2 LG226WTQs

These are 2ms TN Panels and needless to say, colour reproduction or viewing angles aren't great. (They were bought to game on and they are good at that)

Despite have two of the same screens, I can notice a difference between colours despite having same settings in the OSD.

How much of a difference will a hardware colour calibration make? Is it worth spending upto £100 on something like Huey pro or Spyder colorimeter? or are TN panels just flawed in this respect?

Would it be possible to get exactly same colours on both screens? This is something which made me upgrade to two of the same screens in the first place!

sid

2 Dell 2408s would be nice but won't be affordable for a long time to come.

 

[Baddass]

have a look at my review and analysis of the L227WT here (same as the Q model you have).

http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/reviews/lg_l227wt.htm

default colour accuracy is very poor, but the screen is certainly capable of much more with some nice calibration. Just because it's TN Film doesnt mean it cant offer good colour reproduction. You wont get over the viewing angle issues of TN Film obviously, but you should see some nice improvement. I've tested the Spyder3, Pantone Huey Pro and Spyder2 in the past, and found the Pantone can offer the better colour correction. Luminance correction is difficult with them all really, but you should at least be able to get the screens looking very similar.

If you want some better colour accuracy get something like the X-rite Eye-One Display 2 device if you can

 

[netheo86]

TBH buying a calibration device isn't always needed, there is a program built into windows that you can use to calibrate a screen by eye caled adobe gamma. the software uses a combination of OSD controls and basic graphics card manipulation

devices such as the eye-one can achieve slightly better results but doing it by eye is good enough for most people. Also even if you calibrate both monitors you might still get colour differences.

 

[sid]

Looking at Badass' review, I've picked one (well two) of the worst screens possible. I'm not sure if there is a 34ms input lag as I've gamed many high speed FPS on it like UT3 which would be hard if there was any?

Some of the Huey's can be had for cheap so I might test it out in any case, cheers

sid

 

[Adrianr]

have a look at my review and analysis of the L227WT here (same as the Q model you have).

http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/reviews/lg_l227wt.htm

default colour accuracy is very poor, but the screen is certainly capable of much more with some nice calibration. Just because it's TN Film doesnt mean it cant offer good colour reproduction. You wont get over the viewing angle issues of TN Film obviously, but you should see some nice improvement. I've tested the Spyder3, Pantone Huey Pro and Spyder2 in the past, and found the Pantone can offer the better colour correction. Luminance correction is difficult with them all really, but you should at least be able to get the screens looking very similar.

If you want some better colour accuracy get something like the X-rite Eye-One Display 2 device if you can

Just like to say thanks for all the great reviews. Been looking for something like that! Should finally be able to make up my blinking mind now!

 

[Baddass]

TBH buying a calibration device isn't always needed, there is a program built into windows that you can use to calibrate a screen by eye caled adobe gamma. the software uses a combination of OSD controls and basic graphics card manipulation

devices such as the eye-one can achieve slightly better results but doing it by eye is good enough for most people. Also even if you calibrate both monitors you might still get colour differences.

software calibration will help get things 'looking' better to the naked eye, and are good for getting a comfortable brightness and contrast level. However, in real terms, colour accuracy will remain pretty poor, and it's very hard to get any 'real' correction.

Looking at Badass' review, I've picked one (well two) of the worst screens possible. I'm not sure if there is a 34ms input lag as I've gamed many high speed FPS on it like UT3 which would be hard if there was any?

Some of the Huey's can be had for cheap so I might test it out in any case, cheers

sid

The L227WT is ok once you've calibrated it, but yes, at default settings the colours are pretty poor. Remember though, this is only if we are talking about accuracy. If you want nice bright, vivd, cartoony colours for gaming and movies (which many people do), the screen is fine. The input lag is good really, it's rated there at 9.4ms average not 34ms?! Hit refresh and check that's what you see in that review, it should do!

Just like to say thanks for all the great reviews. Been looking for something like that! Should finally be able to make up my blinking mind now!

glad to help

 

[badbob]

I'm looking for a calibrator, which'll do PC LCD monitors, LCD when used with a HTPC (both ICM profiles here?) and also from DVD which means comes supplied with a calibration DVD and instructions per make/model. Also to correct colour decoder

 

[sid]

Sorry badass I have the L226WTQ which seem to have a 34ms lag.

These screens also gave lots of RTC artefacts which i fixed by changing the panel type in the service menu.

Would you reccomend any colour calibration module then?

I've noticed that some support dual displays. Is there any need for buying the expensive ones which do over the standard one and do both displays individually?

I hope that makes sense (I'm looking at the Heuy standard and pro models here)

sid

 

[Baddass]

Sorry badass I have the L226WTQ which seem to have a 34ms lag.

These screens also gave lots of RTC artefacts which i fixed by changing the panel type in the service menu.

Would you reccomend any colour calibration module then?

I've noticed that some support dual displays. Is there any need for buying the expensive ones which do over the standard one and do both displays individually?

I hope that makes sense (I'm looking at the Heuy standard and pro models here)

sid

ah apologies, my bad, misread your post. Calibration is still worth it, default colour accuracy of "budget" TN Film models is still very poor. No real need to calibrate dual monitors, you can just do them separately really.

 

[PiKe]

We have a Gretag Macbeth Eye-One Display 2 and it makes both our MVA and PVA screens pretty darn close, the previous 'by eye' Adobe Colour Adjustment was miles off.

 

[valve90210]

Sorry to drag up an oldish thread but was doing some searching and saw this threas and thought it might be better asking in here rather than starting a new thread.

If you want some better colour accuracy get something like the X-rite Eye-One Display 2 device if you can

I see the Eye-One Display 2 can be had a reasonable price. How much better would you say it was than the Pantone Huey? Is it worth paying the extra £30 or there abouts?

ah apologies, my bad, misread your post. Calibration is still worth it, default colour accuracy of "budget" TN Film models is still very poor. No real need to calibrate dual monitors, you can just do them separately really.

How would you go about doing this, is it a case of setting the comp to use one monitor, calibrating it then setting the comp to use the other monitor and calibrating that one?

Valve

 

[glitch]

I see the Eye-One Display 2 can be had a reasonable price. How much better would you say it was than the Pantone Huey? Is it worth paying the extra £30 or there abouts?

It'll be the best £30 you could spend it you're serious about accurate colours.

How would you go about doing this, is it a case of setting the comp to use one monitor, calibrating it then setting the comp to use the other monitor and calibrating that one?

Depends on your OS.

Mac OS

XP

I know there's some trick to it in Vista but I can't find the right FAQ page!

 

[Adrianr]

OT: Badass - Have you ever tested the Eye One Display LT? It's a bit cheaper than the "2", comes with the same hardware and different software. There will obviously be a reason it's cheaper but you can upgrade the software package online if you want too. Just wondering what the realistic difference is? (If you know!)

 

[Baddass]

I see the Eye-One Display 2 can be had a reasonable price. How much better would you say it was than the Pantone Huey? Is it worth paying the extra £30 or there abouts?

i think so....it's a better hardware device, and even the basic Eye One Match 3 software is very good at actually achieving good results, even if it doesnt offer much in the way of reporting features

How would you go about doing this, is it a case of setting the comp to use one monitor, calibrating it then setting the comp to use the other monitor and calibrating that one?

Valve

that would do the trick

 

[Baddass]

OT: Badass - Have you ever tested the Eye One Display LT? It's a bit cheaper than the "2", comes with the same hardware and different software. There will obviously be a reason it's cheaper but you can upgrade the software package online if you want too. Just wondering what the realistic difference is? (If you know!)

not tested it / used it yet, but imagine it's just a trimmed down ver of their software. I will see if i can get hold of it and run some tests at some point soon

 

[nikuls]

What's the calibration software like on OS X? in all the reviews I can only find people talking about windows. (I'm thinking of getting a Huey)

 

[sid]

What's the calibration software like on OS X? in all the reviews I can only find people talking about windows. (I'm thinking of getting a Huey)

Software calibration pretty useless for photo editing as it will only look good as your eye can calibrate.

I've used the huey on both Pc and Mac and its very good for the money.

sid

 

[helmutcheese]

Mitsubishi last week (while announcing new screens inc a Laser Screen) said the current HDTV Panels can only display 40% of what a humans eye can see.

I would think that covers all LCD Monitors and TV's, possibily not CRT's.

I have always found every LCD I have bought for customers washed out out the box, they do need adjusted.

 

[Samiad]

not tested it / used it yet, but imagine it's just a trimmed down ver of their software. I will see if i can get hold of it and run some tests at some point soon

Bit of a bump but I just wanted to thank you for posting your excellent review (of the L227WT) on your website.

Unpacked mine this evening and the colours out of the box are hideous. I haven't really got the time or inclination to really get stuck into sorting out the mess that LG send this monitor out in, so I just plonked in your recommended settings and am very pleased with the image now.

So cheers.

 

[embalse]

Does the Eye-One Display 2 work OK in Vista?