Spyder3 Pro - makes my LCD too bright!

I ran the Spyder3 Pro and am generally happy with the colors, but I have to set my monitor to be super bright to match the brightness level it wants. And when I make my monitor that bright, it does not match my prints. Not even close.

Is this a limitation of the Spyder3 or is there a good, reliable workaround?

Thanks in advance!
Michelle

Well, I don't have a Spyder3. But, with my old Spyder2, it's best to turn off the Ambient Light Check at the beginning of the process. For the first calibration, then, you can leave your Brightness and Contrast set to the default settings until the software tells you to do "something". But then, you may want/need to dial down the Brightness, and then you can run the calibration again.

Brightness is one of the more challenging things to "get right". Your typical monitor will start out way too bright and calibrating doesn't always get it right. So, do what "looks right" to you, but then you will need to do the "acid test": test prints from a reliable source will be needed (it's best if they provide you with a printer profile if you can "soft proof" in Photoshop, and make sure they don't do any "corrections") and then you will need to view the print(s) in good light, meaning something approaching daylight (not so much direct sun, but a good amount of light, and, for color, the light "temp" should be close to the temp of daylight).

Run through that process and, if needed, adjust the monitor brightness. Repeat if needed.

It's good to do this with a number of prints of various tonal values and a range of colors as well as at least one B&W print.

In my experience it can take a few tries, maybe a couple, maybe you will get it right with just one, but the end result is that you can then move on to do your post-processing and when needed, printing, with confidence.

There is a freeware alternative to the Spyder Software that some folks swear by. I wish I could remember the name.

Fizzler wrote in post #12988668
There is a freeware alternative to the Spyder Software that some folks swear by. I wish I could remember the name.

Maybe ArgyllCMS most easily run with the DispCalGUI front end?

tonylong wrote in post #12988494
Well, I don't have a Spyder3. But, with my old Spyder2, it's best to turn off the Ambient Light Check at the beginning of the process. For the first calibration, then, you can leave your Brightness and Contrast set to the default settings until the software tells you to do "something". But then, you may want/need to dial down the Brightness, and then you can run the calibration again.

Brightness is one of the more challenging things to "get right". Your typical monitor will start out way too bright and calibrating doesn't always get it right. So, do what "looks right" to you, but then you will need to do the "acid test": test prints from a reliable source will be needed (it's best if they provide you with a printer profile if you can "soft proof" in Photoshop, and make sure they don't do any "corrections") and then you will need to view the print(s) in good light, meaning something approaching daylight (not so much direct sun, but a good amount of light, and, for color, the light "temp" should be close to the temp of daylight).

Run through that process and, if needed, adjust the monitor brightness. Repeat if needed.

It's good to do this with a number of prints of various tonal values and a range of colors as well as at least one B&W print.

In my experience it can take a few tries, maybe a couple, maybe you will get it right with just one, but the end result is that you can then move on to do your post-processing and when needed, printing, with confidence.

Thanks a bunch for this, Tony. I had not thought to try a B&W print as well as the color prints, but that does make perfect sense.

I ran the colorimeter again and this time did not set the brightness level to what it wanted, and it did calibrate itself with only minor complaint.

I'm also curious how people view their prints next to their monitor? Just some type of desk lamp? I don't have good enough lighting to really tell if my print matches my monitor exactly. Though the colors are much MUCH better after calibration -

Cheers,
Michelle

Oh yeaaah, baby! I re-ran my calibration again and it seems like I had a bad setting in the config before. This time I only had to set the LCD brightness at 42 per Spyder3's instructions and it looks good.

I printed from LR - which has always had pukey colors prior to calibration so I just didn't use it - and the print came out NICE!

ps. Ambient light check is OFF.

That's great, Michelle!

As for lighting for viewing your print, there are bulbs that have a "proper" color temp, but I don't recall specifics. So, I just did a quick Google of "photo viewing light bulb" and got a page with promising-looking links (after the ads):

http://www.search-results.com …b%3Asrc%3Dieb%3​Ao%3D16316

And, there are folks here who have put out recommendations -- maybe one or two will see this and chime in!

try googling Solux

Thanks folks, I will check out Solux.

I wish I had bought a calibrator last year. I don't know why this seemed like such an imposing task before I started it. It really wasn't, and now I have to go back and fix a LOT of work!

(Oh well, that will be kind of fun when winter gets long and boring ).