Monitor/Calibration Survey

Hi my fellow PNW photographers. As I've been working on some recent photographs, I've found that my monitor calibration is definitely sub-par. This may be a combination of my using a Spyder2Pro that doesn't work too well with Win 7 (although it does go through the motions, I've read online that others are having issues), and my monitor isn't exactly premium, but it's not a dud either. It's a 22" Gateway that is less than a year old.

The monitor is bright, and in conjunction with my monitor settings and calibration, I've tried to get it to the right point where it's close to what I print and what other photographers see online through their calibrated monitors.

However, recently, it's become clear that other photographers, whose monitors I assume are calibrated, are seeing my images as much darker than I am.

Any thoughts? What are you using for monitor calibration, and has anyone else dealt with super bright monitor issues?

I'm using the Spyder 3 Pro on an iMac. iMacs are known for their bright screens but I just turn it down until it looks right based on images processed on another computer at another time and calibrate from there. So far, so good....I think.

Ryan, I've found that the software used for calibration can make a huge difference...I now have an NEC monitor that has integrated hardware based calibration, but previously I relied on ColorEyes Pro and a spyder for my calibration...

http://www.integrated-color.com/cedpro/coloreyesdisplay.html

A bit expensive, but well worth it.

I use a Pantone Colormunki Photo calibrater...expensive but dead on. I wish I had that NEC monitor though..I've heard they are awesome!

I use an Eye-One Match 3 and an NEC 2070NX Monitor. Nothing fancy, but it gets me by.

Spyder Pro 3. It allows you to go through the steps to darken monitor.

Also a GREAT custom profile for the prints loaded into PS and soft proofing there. Once you calibrate on your side well it comes down to the quality of the custom profile for your paper/print machine combination...

Ryan - I use an NEC Multisync P221W monitor with the X-Rite eye one display 2 calibrator. I've had good success with the following calibration settings. White point: D65, Gamma: 2.20, Intensity 120 cd/m2. I used to get comments about my photos appearing too dark on the web when I had the intensity set in the 140-150 cd/m2 range (which basically meant I had my monitor too bright compared to everyone else, and this made my photos appear too dark on other calibrated monitors). If your prints are turning out too dark, decreasing the intensity in the calibration settings should help as well. You would basically need to set your intensity lower and then reprocess your photos and see how they look. You can post some examples here and we can judge how they look.

Tim Grey's book titled Color Confidence is a great reference about color management and is definitely worth the time to read, if you haven't already.

Hi Ryan,
For what it's worth, I have never calibrated my monitor and, to make matters worse, I've been using a laptop for all my photoprocessing for the last 3 years. I do have a fixed location where I do almost all editing, and I am careful to tilt my screen until the Lightroom background is a consistent gray (i.e. not lighter or darker at top or bottom). Having said that, I do occasionally get comments that my colors seem off (to much magenta in the sky, or too much blue in the rocks or something), but who knows whether that's a calibration issue or just "me" and what I can see regardless of the monitor. Also, I don't print regularly. So, when I print, there is some hit or miss.

Hi Ryan! I have a very similar setup to yours. I did not find problems with my Spyder setup with 32 bit Win 7 but on 64 bit it is VERY slow to initialize during startup and I've noticed inconsistencies in some of my photos. I rarely print so I'm not concerned about consistency with the print drivers. My Spyder setup is significantly better than not calibrating and I'm not ready to justify the expense of a new system so I'll put up with it for now.

Hi Ryan, I use the Eye-One Match 3 for calibration on an Apple 30" and 23" Cinema HD displays. I should probably check the calibration as it was last performed 2 yrs ago. I guess I haven't redone the check as the prints I get back (from 3 different commercial printers, plus my canon Mark II,) all match what I am seeing on the monitor.

I'm also using the Eye-One Match 3 (with a Mac). Formerly with a Gateway 22", now a 23" Apple Cinema Display. The Gateway is actually a pretty decent monitor, IMO (or at least mine was - not sure if it's the same as yours). Like others have suggested, turning down the brightness helped in getting results that appeared correctly when images were viewed by others online, and in a closer match between screen and print.

I assume that you've checked for a software/firmware update for the Spyder? I started with a Monaco calibration device that was high-end when I was first made and worked great on a Sony CRT with Windows 98, but couldn't do the job on the Gateway with WinXP.

Ryan, your LCD is most likely too bright, I have mine set for an intensity 120 cd/m2, the same as Scott. Many folks have their's set as low as 90 cd/m2.

I have 2 NEC's with the NEC integrated hardware calibration software and the wide gamut puck.

Thank you all for your input and thoughts. I dug deep into my monitor settings, ran through some calibration, and did some test prints and I'm pretty happy. I'll probably upgrade my calibration hardware and software sometime in the not too distant future, but I feel I've got it to a good point after getting feedback on a couple forums.

Thanks again for all the feedback.