Previewing on Television vs. Computer Monitor

[mblanton]

When I preview my pictures directly from my camera (10D) on my television they look awesome, but when I download them to my computer and view them on my monitor they usually look dark and flat. Why would there be such a huge difference??? I have 27" RCA television vs. 17" Gatway CRT monitor.

MIke

[PacAce]

That's because the TV set automatically adjusts the picture for best viewing. I noticed the same thing with videos shot with a camcorder, too.

[PhotosGuy]

NTSC, the "standard" for TV before all the new digital "standardS", was known as Never The Same Color Twice! It's not recommended for judging the color/quality of your pics.

[Citizensmith]

The television (assuming it isn't HD) is also very low effective resolution (less than 640x480) so it will miss detail that will be revealed on the computer screen.

[mblanton]

I think that my monitor may be off. It's about 4 years old and I thought that everything looked great until I started looking at pictures. Any way to test a monitor???

[scottbergerphoto]

I think that my monitor may be off. It's about 4 years old and I thought that everything looked great until I started looking at pictures. Any way to test a monitor???
Calibration! If you have any Adobe image editing software on your computer, you should have Adobe Gamma in your Control Panel. Run Adobe Gamma to get a simple calibration of your monitor. Then save the profile you create as your default monitor profile.

[aam1234]

Hi Scott,
Does that apply to laptops also. Thanks.

[PacAce]

Hi Scott,
Does that apply to laptops also. Thanks.
Yes. Now, the calibration and profiling may not improve the image a whole lot (that's the bane of laptops LCDs, I'm afraid) but at least you'll have it profiled so that you colors will be truer when using a color managed app like PS. It'll also prevent the color shifts when going from one color space to another that so many have experienced when using uncalibrated and unprofiled monitors or LCDs.

[aam1234]

Thanks Leo.

[PacAce]

Thanks Leo.
De nada. :)