# monitor Calibration



## silve225 (Jan 10, 2013)

Hi everyone im looking into buying a a device that Calibrates the monitor. Which one would you recomend. Im not looking to spend much money as i dont have much.


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## KmH (Jan 10, 2013)

This is about the best you can get for the price - Xrite CMUNDIS ColorMunki Display1


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## silve225 (Jan 10, 2013)

this was the one i was looking at. Is the one you mentioned better?  Datacolor Spyder4PRO - Advanced Color Calibration - Datacolor Imaging Solutions


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## KmH (Jan 10, 2013)

From personal experience with both, I recommend X-Rite products over Datacolor products.


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## Light Guru (Jan 10, 2013)

I have the spyder 4 Pro and have enjoyed it 
Datacolor Spyder4Pro Display Calibration System S4P100 B&H Photo


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## KmH (Jan 10, 2013)

If you take the time to look at their recommended image prep pages, many online print labs recommend X-Rite products for calibration too.


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## Garbz (Jan 11, 2013)

I somehow feel X-rite has a better rep in the colour industry than Datacolor. In any case I am a happy owner of several X-rite products so you know what I'm going to recommend


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## silve225 (Jan 11, 2013)

thanks everyone. If all goes to plan i should have enough money to buy it by monday.


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## Finntastic (Jan 24, 2013)

So which one have you decided to buy?  And did you get it yet?  If so, are you pleased?

Just curious!  I use a Spyder 4 and I am quite happy with it, but I am intrigued by the possibility of X-rite, which I have never used.


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## silve225 (Feb 5, 2013)

Finntastic said:


> So which one have you decided to buy?  And did you get it yet?  If so, are you pleased?
> 
> Just curious!  I use a Spyder 4 and I am quite happy with it, but I am intrigued by the possibility of X-rite, which I have never used.



i didnt get the monitor calibration yet. I decided to wait until around spring time since my job picks up around there and will have more money then. And also i dont take many photos in the winter so i figured i would just wait until then. Also thinking of buying a new monitor.


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## JDFlood (Feb 5, 2013)

By then you should be able to get a 4k monitor.


http://www.pcworld.com/article/2023866/ces-sharp-announces-32-inch-4k-monitors.html

Can't wait, I want two. JD


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## silve225 (Feb 5, 2013)

JDFlood said:


> By then you should be able to get a 4k monitor.
> 
> 
> Sharp announces 32-inch 4K monitors | PCWorld
> ...



those look awesome but one problem i have is they will cost a stupid amount of money. (something i dont have much of)


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## Garbz (Feb 7, 2013)

Given dual-link DVI is incapable of achieving 4K resolution at any faster than 24Hz I think you may want to save up for a decent video card before you get a decent display.


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## jbarrettash (Feb 7, 2013)

I strongly suspect that the difference between makes of colour calibrators is a question of interface and personal preference - colorimeter technology is pretty simple and old. All they are all doing is measuring the luminance and chroma that the software displays on the screen, guiding you through the colour adjustments on the monitor and deriving a profile with the adjusted settings to "set" the monitor's colours at a given gamma and temperature. I have a Spyder2 (suite edoition) and for my purposes it is more than sufficient. Had I payed almost twice the price at the time, I would have gotten the ability to make custom targets, have multiple monitor support, front projection calibration and a few other features I didn't need.

So what it boils down to, I believe, is that you pay for a lot of features and/or the brand's reputation. My advice is to choose the most inexpensive one that has the features you need, and, if you can, test before buying just to see if the interface is straightforward and easy to follow and understand. 

And I strongly recommend (assuming your monitor is decent enough from the getgo) buying the colour calibrator BEFORE a new monitor. The best monitor in the world will produce crap images if not properly calibrated. A colorimeter is an essential part of a decent workflow, IMHO.

Good Luck!


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## silve225 (Feb 7, 2013)

Thanks for that write up jbarrettash. Im probably going to be buying a new monitor at the same exact time because i want to get an ips monitor. My monitor is okay but i wouldnt call great for photo editing as its only 1600X900 resolution and not ips.


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## Garbz (Feb 9, 2013)

That's oversimplifying, you don't need to spend much to quickly be out of colorimeter territory and you're buying spectrometers. Between them there is a difference in quality and accuracy. So basically only the bottom end devices are similar, the rest you get what you pay for and the sky's the limit


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## jbarrettash (Feb 9, 2013)

Garbz said:


> That's oversimplifying, you don't need to spend much to quickly be out of colorimeter territory and you're buying spectrometers. Between them there is a difference in quality and accuracy. So basically only the bottom end devices are similar, the rest you get what you pay for and the sky's the limit



My information may be outdated then - that's why I joined here, I have a lot of knowledge but so much to learn!

Having said that, is a spectrophotometer really necessary for monitor calibration? Isn't it overkill? My understanding of the main difference between the two is that a spectrophotometer is not subject to matamerism - the appearance of different colours between two objects of the same colour under the same light. This is a real world problem, and cannot occur on a monitor. The two devices measure light very differently and the spectrophotometer is much more accurate, measuring the precise wavelengths of colours, but do people really use and see the difference with an instrument of such precision? It is useful in a lab, where you need to isolate tiny bands of colours and determine their exact wavelengths and where three dimensional objects reflecting light can be victims of metamerism. 

But (and I underline my sincerity - I don't want this to come off wrong) is a spectrophotometer really more useful and necessary to calibrate a monitor and derive a colour profile for editing photographs? And how much more expensive are they? I don't think spyder (the brand I use) even make spectrophotometers, though I'll look into it.


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## Garbz (Feb 15, 2013)

jbarrettash said:


> Having said that, is a spectrophotometer really necessary for monitor calibration? Isn't it overkill?



Heck no. It's overkill for monitors as you rightly say. However one of the first supported features of the next level of devices from the bottom of the ranks is the ability to calibrated reflective light surfaces such as printers and projectors. Many of these are proper colour spectrophotometers. And you're right... I can't see any of the Spyder range of devices for consumers being listed as spectrophotometers, only the actual Datacolor branded ones. 

The vast majority of differences really is ultimately still software features.


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## silve225 (Mar 17, 2013)

I did get the colormunki display. But seems like my two monitors don't agree on the same color. My dell in2020m is a lot brighter then my asus mx239h. how do I know which one to go by?


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## Garbz (Mar 18, 2013)

Play with settings until they even out. Calibration software suits a wide range of environments and goals. i.e. the typical single screen goal is to over power the environment and not care about colour temperature so the settings in that screen would be a factory set colour temp and maximum brightness. Got two screens you'll need to try and set everything. The white point, the black point, the colour temperature, and the gamma curve. 

Assuming both displays are IPS they should agree. If they are not then you're not going to have much fun, subtle viewing angles will account  for differences in that case.


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## silve225 (Mar 20, 2013)

Garbz said:


> Play with settings until they even out. Calibration software suits a wide range of environments and goals. i.e. the typical single screen goal is to over power the environment and not care about colour temperature so the settings in that screen would be a factory set colour temp and maximum brightness. Got two screens you'll need to try and set everything. The white point, the black point, the colour temperature, and the gamma curve.
> 
> Assuming both displays are IPS they should agree. If they are not then you're not going to have much fun, subtle viewing angles will account  for differences in that case.



thanks and only one of them are ips


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## Garbz (Mar 21, 2013)

Eeeek Ok sorry to be the bearer of bad news but the displays will never match perfectly. The viewing angles alone will cause shifts in the colour palate. That said a lot of image editing programs use one monitor for a reference view and the other for a toolbar / filmstrip view. I believe you can setup lightroom and photoshop like this.

As so:

http://jayphotoworks.files.wordpress.com/2009/12/mg_9877-edit.jpg


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## silve225 (Mar 21, 2013)

thats how i do work so its ok. when i save up some more money i will probably buy another asus mx239h monitor


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