Calibration and power outages

In our part of the world, on a single supply electrical system, we are subject to frequent power outages. The average last year was over once a week, usually blamed on a marauding raven.

Did a search on monitor calibration and power outages and didn't find anything of use. While most people here have battery backup and voltage fluctuation protection, some of us are having a bit of debate as to how frequently to calibrate. Currently I try to do it monthly which seems to be adequate but hope somebody here with more expertise in things technical might offer an opinion.

David, I calibrate every two weeks, or there abouts. This seems to be adequate. Some folks calibrate more often. The main thing to keep an eye out for is if you're seeing any color shifts between calibrations. If you are, it's time to recalibrate.

An accurate calibration depends upon the stability of the brightness of your screen. If you have a power outage during the calibration, the screen will likely flicker when the battery backup kicks in, which would result in a less than accurate calibration.

If your battery backup kicks in while you're calibrating, cancel the operation and shut down the computer. You don't want to risk data corruption or loss and/ or possible damage to your hardware if there are voltage spikes that the regulator can't handle.

--P

Thanks Preston, I have been fortunate in that a blackout hasn't occurred during a calibration. It is not unusual, particularly in the winter, to have several power losses over the course a week. Part of my thinking is that I should re-calibrate after every incident and then there is that lazy part that says "Why bother, it may happen again tomorrow." With the stability of power supplies in the south, it doesn't seem to be a question that any of the various tech forums seem to have dealt with.

Dave - Why would you need to re-calibrate after every event? It's not as "clean" as simply shutting off your monitor, but it's the same effect. And if you have a backup/filter on the supply, it shouldn't see any voltage spikes or other oddities, right? I can't think of a reason loss of power would suddenly make them shift more than just turning off the monitor or unplugging it.

I agree with David. A loss-of-power event shouldn't affect your calibration unless the monitor profile is somehow corrupted, which would be unlikely. I also agree that your battery backup/ filter should smooth out any normal spikes. A voltage spike that would be large enough to cause physical damage would trip the fuse/breaker on the backup unit first.

I think if you stick with a regular schedule for calibration, you'll be fine.

--P

Thanks David and Preston,

It is a duscussion we have been having among some of the local people, which nobody really had the experience or expertise to answer. Must run, as it is freezing rain, we may soon have a power outage.