Monitor Calibration--I Need Help.

[yogestee]

Hi all,, I bought a new monitor (Samsung SyncMaster 743NX) as the screen on my laptop was looking a bit sad.. I've been trying to calibrate the new monitor visually without any fancy dooddads..

I'll looking at colour and density..Tell me what you think..

[Grimes]

I dunno...I'm at work on a crappy screen, but the first one looks good, maybe a little red, but this monitor is not profiled, and IE is not color managed.

I would really suggest getting a cheap calibrator. I have a spyder express2, got it for like 70 bucks, and it worked wonders. (I have a samsung monitor at home too.)

[number six]

Hi, Jurgen -

Don't know how much I can help you from here. On my (properly calibrated) CRT both look well exposed. Color balance looks reasonable, but of course I didn't see the subject in the flesh.

Second picture lacks color saturation.

:lol:

[René Damkot]

First is too magenta IMO.

[adas]

Yeah, it's a bit magenta.
Did you run the halftone adjustment tool that came on the CD with your monitor? (It's an eye proofing tool which displays a tiny halftone square in the middle of the screen, of various colors and brightnesses). Although this can not guarantee for the color accuracy, for which you need a profiling tool (colorimeter), it gives equalisation between the tones.
What this means, you shouldn't see stripes in the fine gradient image I posted (2nd image).
The first image (courtesy of DPReview.com) is used to adjust brightness/contrast. Basically, you should see the transitions in brightness from one tiny square to another, and very important, you should be able to see difference between the first two squares and the last two squares. (This is where the trinitron CRT tubes struggled, the last 3-5 squares were pitch black) And yes, the black be black and white be white (though in modern LCDs these are well hels in place no matter how you set brightness/contrast. Only in CRTs one could twist the brightness knob and make the black be grey).

[number six]

you should be able to see difference between the first two squares and the last two squares. (This is where the trinitron CRT tubes struggled, the last 3-5 squares were pitch black)

I didn't know that. Guess I'm lucky - my Mitsubishi monitor uses a Trinitron and I can get both ends of the chart right. Which may suggest it's the Sony video amplifiers that are the culprit rather than the CRT itself...

-js

[adas]

The trinitron uses a dark tinted surface to raise black level for improved contrast and vivid color. While this is nice, after a few years of usage, the electron guns get weaker and the black level grows higher and higher.
That happened with my Eizo monitor which I bought used. The shadow details got totally absent, though colors were still nice. Some people in this case use to raise the tube voltage. While this may bring some results, it's undoubtedly accelerating the tube's death.

[JeffreyG]

My monitor is calibrated with an external device and the last three squares still look pitch black to me. What does that mean? Crappy monitor?

[yogestee]

Yeah, it's a bit magenta.
Did you run the halftone adjustment tool that came on the CD with your monitor? (It's an eye proofing tool which displays a tiny halftone square in the middle of the screen, of various colors and brightnesses). Although this can not guarantee for the color accuracy, for which you need a profiling tool (colorimeter), it gives equalisation between the tones.
What this means, you shouldn't see stripes in the fine gradient image I posted (2nd image).
The first image (courtesy of DPReview.com) is used to adjust brightness/contrast. Basically, you should see the transitions in brightness from one tiny square to another, and very important, you should be able to see difference between the first two squares and the last two squares. (This is where the trinitron CRT tubes struggled, the last 3-5 squares were pitch black) And yes, the black be black and white be white (though in modern LCDs these are well hels in place no matter how you set brightness/contrast. Only in CRTs one could twist the brightness knob and make the black be grey).


adas,,, I'm seeing very fine graduations in tones in the first three and last three squares, and even graduations through the middle section..The whites are white and the blacks are black..Brightness and contrast on my monitor should be OK then..

I'm not seeing a magenta cast in the colour image but on my monitor the image is leaning towards slightly warm.. I'd rather lean towards warm than cool especially with portraits..

Next time I'm in Bangkok I'll source a monitor calibration tool and see how I go.. Anyway,,thanks guys for your help and input.. My monitor isn't as out as I thought..

[adas]

I think the magenta cast is thrown in mostly by the background, for which nobody can say what it should look like.

Anyway, you may also check the <Color Tone> setting in the monitor menu. On my SyncMaster there are three settings for that: cold, normal and warm. I use normal, and I'm very pleased with the neutrality of the grey shades in B/W photography.

I believe that if the greys look like greys should look, you've set a good white balance for the monitor. Because it's easier to tell if there's a color cast on a B/W image than on a color one.

[adas]

My monitor is calibrated with an external device and the last three squares still look pitch black to me. What does that mean? Crappy monitor?

It could also mean the environmental light has some influence. It is known that the LCDs give a good black only if there's some light in the room, while the CRTs have the best blacks response in darkness.

[DStanic]

Your pics look good to me. A bit warm/red but you mentioned you were leaning slightly warm so I think it's perfect. I have a Samsung 216bw LCD calibrated using S.2express.

[number six]

The trinitron uses a dark tinted surface to raise black level for improved contrast and vivid color. While this is nice, after a few years of usage, the electron guns get weaker and the black level grows higher and higher.
That happened with my Eizo monitor which I bought used. The shadow details got totally absent, though colors were still nice. Some people in this case use to raise the tube voltage. While this may bring some results, it's undoubtedly accelerating the tube's death.

Interesting. I've had this monitor for 8 years or so and I can still adjust for full range of contrast using the contrast and brightness controls.

-js

[number six]

My monitor is calibrated with an external device and the last three squares still look pitch black to me. What does that mean? Crappy monitor?

Not necessarily. Why trust the calibrator? Can you adjust contrast and brightness by hand?

-js

[JeffreyG]

Not necessarily. Why trust the calibrator? Can you adjust contrast and brightness by hand?

-js

My prints look like what is on the monitor after I calibrated it.

Before, highlights would always look blown out on the monitor even though the histogram said they were not and the prints retained hightlight detail. I don't want to mess with now that the highlights are fixed.