Monitor calibration

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matthew1471

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May 13, 2007
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Bournemouth, UK.
I realised last night there can be quite a big difference in the colour reproduction on different monitors.

How often do you calibrate your monitor? What software do you use?

Are there monitors which are better suited for colour based / web design work? Is it a case of you get what you pay for?
 


I'm a programmer. I'm the guy who makes it "work", not "look pretty". I calibrate my monitor when I can no longer read the grey text in my black console (read: never).

Once, I had a client who insisted that I was using the wrong shade of blue or some crap (when I'm pretty sure the color I was using was #dddddd, which isn't really blue at all). I tried to insist that he hire a designer, but he wanted it done YESTERDAY, so I told him if he bought me a new monitor, I'd be glad to make sure it matched up right.
He bought the monitor, and lo- it looked the same as my old monitor!
Turns out the fucking client had pins missing in his VGA cable, so of course everything was superduper blue...
 
I would say it is a case of you get what you pay for. The best monitors usually come with colour correction software.

In reality though, your hardware can conflict with your software which can conflict with your printer. So the best thing you can do is get it as close as you can, and live with the difference.

Also we use pantone colours at least to set the base for a project, and then go from there. At least we know what we are going to be producing then.
 
You can spend thousands on high end calibration and matching tools but this is pretty good for entry level colour calibration...

Monitor & Printer Profiling - X-Rite Eye-One Display 2

More info on the manufacturer's site...

X-Rite: Get exactly the color you need, every time, anywhere in the world.

The same people make the aforementioned expensive shit too. In the case of web work it really doesn't matter too much. Buy a decent monitor and you should be fine. It really matters when it comes to print work though, but then it's usually a matter of experience and knowing your equipment set up.
 
Fatbat said:
You can spend thousands on high end calibration and matching tools but this is pretty good for entry level colour calibration...

Monitor & Printer Profiling - X-Rite Eye-One Display 2

More info on the manufacturer's site...

X-Rite: Get exactly the color you need, every time, anywhere in the world.

The same people make the aforementioned expensive shit too. In the case of web work it really doesn't matter too much. Buy a decent monitor and you should be fine. It really matters when it comes to print work though, but then it's usually a matter of experience and knowing your equipment set up.
Click to expand...

This. and, if you don't edit photos or know what PMS is just calibrate it by eye.

When I was in the print business I used the eye one with very predictable and repeatable results. I still use one on my Lacie CRT (I like the crt better for photo editing than my cinema display). It's simple to use, but unless you have a quality monitor your results will certainly not be ideal.

A calibrated monitor is only one part of getting predictable and repeatable output. For example if you are sending your images to west coast imaging for output you'll need the profile for their device you will be using, etc.
 
If you can not trust the colors displayed on your monitor, all other color management is a waste of time. Calibrating and profiling your monitor should, therefore, be your first priority.
 
I have two settings on my monitor. One is for picture editing, with more brightness and saturation, the other is set for most of the time, with less brightness and saturation. I like to keep other options simple and let programs that go along with graphic card sort other things automatically if possible.
 
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