Monitor change shock!

[Metalstrm]

Ok, so I have just received a brand new BENQ LCD 22" widescreen as a present (my old iiyama CRT was dieing a slow death), and honestly, I feel a bit lost. Everything looks so damn different! I feel almost nauseous using Photoshop. Blacks are pulled way up and most whites look overblown.

I knew CRTs rendered color much better and had higher contrast, and that is why I still hung onto my 6-year old faithful 17". But I didn't expect this. Is there a way to calibrate the monitor do you think? I tried the imaging-resource monitor calibration page, and changing the on-screen brightness value didn't reduce the overblown whites by much.

The monitor has got these selectable pictures styles, like standard and sRGB, but I think they're more of a gimmick. I left it on standard. Can anyone relate to this problem at all? Maybe help a fellow member? :(

Thanks!

Edit: Just so you know, the new monitor is a 16:9 BENQ E2200HD with a (quoted) contrast ratio of 1,000:1 and a dynamic ratio of 10,000:1.

[EOS_JD]

Ok, so I have just received a brand new BENQ LCD 22" widescreen as a present (my old iiyama CRT was dieing a slow death), and honestly, I feel a bit lost. Everything looks so damn different! I feel almost nauseous using Photoshop. Blacks are pulled way up and most whites look overblown.

I knew CRTs rendered color much better and had higher contrast, and that is why I still hung onto my 6-year old faithful 17". But I didn't expect this. Is there a way to calibrate the monitor do you think? I tried the imaging-resource monitor calibration page, and changing the on-screen brightness value didn't reduce the overblown whites by much.

The monitor has got these selectable pictures styles, like standard and sRGB, but I think they're more of a gimmick. I left it on standard. Can anyone relate to this problem at all? Maybe help a fellow member? :(

Thanks!

Edit: Just so you know, the new monitor is a 16:9 BENQ E2200HD with a (quoted) contrast ratio of 1,000:1 and a dynamic ratio of 10,000:1.


You need to calibrate your monitor :) if you use photoshop seriously, you need to do this on CRT or LCD.

The default settings are always pretty poor. Get a spyder or similar device - not the crappy software only calibration- and you will see a huge difference. Software calibration varies from eye to eye. Hardware calibration should be much more consistent.

[neilwood32]

LCD monitors are all sold with hugely increased brightness to make the screens look better than they actually are.

Best thing if you are looking for high quality photo editing is buy a hardware calibrator ASAP. I use Spyder but any of the brands is as good. Once you have done it you will see a huge difference in image quality (it will look like what you actually shot!)

[Metalstrm]

Yes, I'm just gonna go ahead and buy a spyder 3 elite. Does it really work wonders?

As it is right now, I really don't feel like using Photoshop at all.

[neilwood32]

Yes, I'm just gonna go ahead and buy a spyder 3 elite. Does it really work wonders?

As it is right now, I really don't feel like using Photoshop at all.

Yes it does work wonders.

Before i bought mine - any prints would look way, way off what the screen did. I printed sunsets and all i got was black where the sea was. Calibrated the monitor and redid the processing and now i have the wave detail I too the shot to get!

Might seem a lot of money but it is worth it if you value your colours.

[EOS_JD]

I have 2 samsung monitors. An expensive and a cheap one., The expensive one calibrates well. The Spyder advises leaving brightness and contrast ayt the default levels but on my cheap monitor I have to turn the brightness down some way prior to calibration to get accurate results. I understand what you mean about the reulting images looking over exposed..... When I flicked an image from one screen to the other there was a huge difference. Now that my brightness (i believe this is the backlight) is down, all looks better.

Generally you pay for what you get however why are you going for the Spyder Elite?The basic one will calibrate your monitor just the same.

[Shultz]

I bought the eye1 for my laptop, couldn't believe the difference, soooo much better & matches the output to my printer now :)

Shelton.

[Metalstrm]

I have 2 samsung monitors. An expensive and a cheap one., The expensive one calibrates well. The Spyder advises leaving brightness and contrast ayt the default levels but on my cheap monitor I have to turn the brightness down some way prior to calibration to get accurate results. I understand what you mean about the reulting images looking over exposed..... When I flicked an image from one screen to the other there was a huge difference. Now that my brightness (i believe this is the backlight) is down, all looks better.

Generally you pay for what you get however why are you going for the Spyder Elite?The basic one will calibrate your monitor just the same.

I really haven't looked at the difference between the two. I just want something that is good.

[EOS_JD]

Did you do any research? Here's a review off a google search

http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1359320

[Metalstrm]

Well, as far as the monitor is concerned, it wasn't chosen by me! :) It's a present, and I can't really go and change it, hehe.

About the spyder, yeah I'm looking into them right now. The elite has some interesting features, but I don't think it will make such a big difference.