# Anyone Familiar With X-Rite Monitor Calibration



## Roomka (Aug 14, 2012)

Hello, just purchased a dell IPS Monitor And it looks great!, However when i look at other monitors the colors are wayyyyyy off. Anyone Care to help me out please. thank you.


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## cgipson1 (Aug 14, 2012)

Do you mean that you have a calibration unit, and that after using it... the Dell looks off compared to the others?? Same light, same location?


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## Roomka (Aug 14, 2012)

sorry lol, i meant to say i just purchased a new dell ips monitor And did a couple of pictures. Then i went to go see on the other monitors how it came out and boy it was way offff. Someone told me that i should use the x-rite software but didnt say the specific one to use cause they have many products. i went on amazon and found this one  http://www.amazon.com/X-Rite-i1Disp...344969174&sr=1-1&keywords=X-rite+i1-Display+2 , not sure if its the right one but if anyone can let me know id really appreciate it


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## cgipson1 (Aug 14, 2012)

Roomka said:


> sorry lol, i meant to say i just purchased a new dell ips monitor And did a couple of pictures. Then i went to go see on the other monitors how it came out and boy it was way offff. Someone told me that i should use the x-rite software but didnt say the specific one to use cause they have many products. i went on amazon and found this one  Amazon.com: X-Rite i1Display 2 Color Calibrator for LCD, CRT, and Laptop Displays: Electronics , not sure if its the right one but if anyone can let me know id really appreciate it



If none of your monitors are calibrated.. they are probably all over the place! The Dell is probably the most accurate.. but even it needs calibration (especially if you print your photos properly). Almost any of the calibrations units out there will work for you.. after you learn how to use it. I have an X-Rite and love it...


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## Roomka (Aug 14, 2012)

so basically if i buy this x-rite software its going to make my dell monitor have the same colors as all the other monitors correct?


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## myko5 (Aug 14, 2012)

I don't know if this was one of the products you were looking for or not, but JamesBjenkins was selling this on the buy/sell forum. He is a reputable seller/buyer from what I have seen on the forums. Pretty sure he still has it.

http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/buy-sell/288701-xrite-idisplay-pro-2-monitor-calibrator.html


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## Roomka (Aug 14, 2012)

Thanks!


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## MTVision (Aug 14, 2012)

Roomka said:
			
		

> so basically if i buy this x-rite software its going to make my dell monitor have the same colors as all the other monitors correct?



Not necessarily. It's going to calibrate the dell monitor so that when you edit your photos - you are seeing the correct colors/brightness/etc. - and your printed photos will match what you see on the computer screen. More than likely, after calibration, your monitor will look completely different from any other monitor that isn't calibrated....


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## myko5 (Aug 14, 2012)

Roomka said:


> Thanks!




No problem. You might want to search the buy/sell forum here first before amazon. Sometimes you can catch a really good deal. One like I just sent you. I thought about buying it myself, but I want to pick up PS6


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## Roomka (Aug 14, 2012)

yeah i just cancelled amazon order, hopefully he still has it.


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## Roomka (Aug 14, 2012)

yeah its crazy i dont understand this world. they should have a standard color for all monitors. if im going to take a picture of something and then photoshop it how can the rest of the world enjoy what i have created?


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## cgipson1 (Aug 14, 2012)

Roomka said:


> yeah its crazy i dont understand this world. they should have a standard color for all monitors. if im going to take a picture of something and then photoshop it how can the rest of the world enjoy what i have created?



They make monitors for all different people. The guy with bad eyesight needs more brightness! The guy that is partially colorblind can compensate by cranking up one color. Someone in a really dark room needs to crank down the brightness and the contrast. 

They are all adjustable. Most are adjusted badly! That is where calibration comes in. It will help to set the monitor to a accepted standard... so what you see on it is the same as what I see on MY monitor. 

I would not try to adjust your new IPS monitor to look like your old non-IPS monitors.. that would be a mistake! I would adjust / calibrate the Dell first... and then HOPE that your other monitors can even be calibrated anywhere close to the Dell.


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## Roomka (Aug 14, 2012)

Yeah im give that try. Thanks!


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## Helen B (Aug 14, 2012)

If you want an X-Rite monitor calibrator you might want to consider the current i1 Display Pro model - it's quite a bit better than the older i1 Display 2 version.


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## Roomka (Aug 14, 2012)

im guessing this is the current one correct? Amazon.com: X-Rite i1Display 2 Color Calibrator for LCD, CRT, and Laptop Displays: Electronics


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## Helen B (Aug 14, 2012)

Er, no. The i1 Display Pro is current, the i1 Display 2 is the old one.


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## Roomka (Aug 14, 2012)

Amazon.com: Xrite EODIS3 i1Display Pro: Electronics ?


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## Helen B (Aug 14, 2012)

Yes.


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## Roomka (Aug 14, 2012)

do you use the new one or the old one?


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## Helen B (Aug 14, 2012)

Both. I also have an i1 Pro and a DTP94. The i1 Display Pro produces the most accurate profiles.


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## Roomka (Aug 14, 2012)

nice, thanks for your help!


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## Garbz (Aug 15, 2012)

I use the old one and it works fine but I wouldn't recommend a product which has been formally discontinued.



Roomka said:


> yeah its crazy i dont understand this world. they should have a standard color for all monitors. if im going to take a picture of something and then photoshop it how can the rest of the world enjoy what i have created?



What kind of a sound system do you have? If you've spent less than about $10k on it, how are you supposed to enjoy the subtle timbre of a specific brand of instrument an artist has chosen to make his works?

See the problem is one of quality. High end monitors are quite consistent with same models really. You buy two top of the line NEC MultiSync displays and put them side by side they will look very similar out of the curve. But you'll pay dearly for it. Why don't they make identical displays and stuff? Technology is the answer. Identical colour on displays need identical manufacturing processes for the LCDs, identical manufacturing processes for the backlight and a blue moon would help too.


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## Roomka (Aug 15, 2012)

yeah i understand your point, so this x-rite software helped you out?


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## Garbz (Aug 16, 2012)

No because my monitor came with its own software and has an internal hardware calibration table  The software did help me because my monitor is different in that it has a non standard colour profile. As such it needs a profile made or applications won't be able to display colours correctly. This is part of the controls you were talking about. It makes sure that I see the colours the way you intend it because when I open your image my software reads out the working profile (usually sRGB) and then displays the colours on my screen by converting it to my monitor profile. So yes it helps me a lot. It doesn't help me if my mum's screen isn't calibrated but hey if my image looks dull on her screen so will everyone else's she can use as a reference. 

What you need to realise is that most software is pretty much identical in capabilities. They all give you a choice of various settings you want to achieve (such as colour temperature). They calibrate the white point to that colour temperature. They all flash up a series of test images to create a monitor profile. They all then do a greyscale check. They all then write out the appropriate colour correction curve to the video card. It really doesn't matter which device you buy as long as it has the feature you're after.

If you want to calibrate an LCD, make sure you buy one that says "calibrates LCDs" on the box.
If you want to calibrate a printer, you need a more expensive device that has a spectrophotometer in it and says "calibrates LCDs and printers" on the box. 

Pretty much every current device on the market is capable of calibrating every LCD monitor and all of them come with software to do it.


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## Roomka (Aug 16, 2012)

which monitor would give me the same colors as other monitors because im so fed up with this dell monitor. i just tried calibrating with the x-rite and it just does not work. all it did was darken my display to the point where my pictures look black.i basically would want a monitor that has everything already set and ready to go. like if i use an apple monitor the colors are more or less going to look the same on every monitor.


 thats how it looks on desktop, then when i double click a picture this is what happens ->


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## MTVision (Aug 16, 2012)

I'm not 100% on this but maybe the reason all your photos look so dark is because they are underexposed.  Monitors usually come really bright and really contrasty.

Plus its going to take a little bit to get use to the way your monitor looks after calibration.


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## Roomka (Aug 16, 2012)

yeah i also checked out pictures on google images thats i compared with my ipad. its 50% more dark with this setup


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## MTVision (Aug 16, 2012)

Roomka said:
			
		

> yeah i also checked out pictures on google images thats i compared with my ipad. its 50% more dark with this setup



Your iPad isn't calibrated so it's bound to look brighter on that. 

The pictures on your cameras LCD will look brighter then they are too! 

With your new calibrated screen - edit a picture. Raise exposure/brighten it up until it looks good on your screen. Then post it on here - Then hopefully someone who is calibrated can help you out.


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## cgipson1 (Aug 16, 2012)

Roomka said:


> which monitor would give me the same colors as other monitors because im so fed up with this dell monitor. i just tried calibrating with the x-rite and it just does not work. all it did was darken my display to the point where my pictures look black.i basically would want a monitor that has everything already set and ready to go. like if i use an apple monitor the colors are more or less going to look the same on every monitor.
> 
> View attachment 17213 thats how it looks on desktop, then when i double click a picture this is what happens -> View attachment 17212



Looks like a badly underexposed shot.... thumbnails lack data, they are not always accurate (depending on your settings). *If you are posting Photos here (the watch).. and they look that dark.. then THEY are too dark, it is not a monitor problem!* you had the brightness cranked way up on your other monitors... that is the problem.


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## MTVision (Aug 16, 2012)

MTVision said:


> Roomka said:
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> ...


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## Roomka (Aug 16, 2012)




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## MTVision (Aug 16, 2012)

^^ did you just edit that one??


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## Roomka (Aug 16, 2012)

yes


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## cgipson1 (Aug 16, 2012)

Roomka said:


> View attachment 17223



Looks good.. did you edit that on the Dell monitor?


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## Roomka (Aug 16, 2012)

you know whats weird. look how the image looks when i double click it to view on the windows viewer.

 -> next i double clicked  <- this on my monitor looks super dark till the point i cant even see if there is dust or hairs from the clothes, Next i drag it into photoshop and it looks so much brighter here like what is going on ->


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## Roomka (Aug 16, 2012)

yeah i just edited on the dell monitor (U2412M)


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## MTVision (Aug 16, 2012)

Maybe photoshop is using the correct color profile (from the calibration) but windows isn't.....Not sure though


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## Roomka (Aug 16, 2012)

yeah thats what i think is going on also


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## Garbz (Aug 20, 2012)

It's easy enough to check. In windows go to the control panel and click colour management. In the window should be your ICC profile generated by the xrite software. 
In Photoshop click edit -> colour settings. Next to the text that says "RGB" click the dropdown box and look (BUT DON'T SELECT) at the profile called "Monitor RGB" If Photoshop has loaded the colour profile correctly then you should see it listed next to Monitor RGB. 

What settings have you set in the software for calibrating? It would be strange for the black point to be off so far on a monitor profile. It is supposed to rarely change even on quite dramatically different screens. 

Also your Dell monitor has a 82% gamut coverage for AdobeRGB. This means it can display more colours than a normal screen. It also means that any program that doesn't read your colour profile will display colours wrong. Welcome to colour management hell. 
By the way if you ever want to see the internet correctly I suggest you right click on your Google Chrome icon in your task bar, then right click on the popup "Google Chrome" and click properties, then append " --enable-monitor-profile" to the application executable.


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