Monitor Profiling Survey - Which software and what settings?

[DenisM]

As there appears to be as many opinions on this topic as there as software programs and settings, I thought it might be useful to do a poll of members' choices.

Just post the software and measuring device you use (along with links to their sites if not already posted) and your White Point/Gamma/Luminance choices.

To kick it off.........

Calibration: EyeOne Display2 and Color Solutions basICColor Display 4.1.9.

http://www.colorblind.de/english/Datenblaetter_E/display_E/display_E.htm

Settings: After some experimentation, I now use the basICColor PrePress preset:

White Point: D50

Tonal Response Curve: L*

Luminance: 130

Denis

[alexkent]

this is opening a can of worms....

I use EyeOne Match (previously by Gretag but now owned by Xrite),
settings;

6500k (D65)
Gamma 2.2
Lum 140

for my Apple LCD's.
i am mostly outputting 'fine art' prints on inkjet printers (Epson 9800, Canon iPF5000)

[Tim Read]

Calibration: EyeOne Display 2 with SpectraView Profiler 4.1.9 (BasICColor by any other name)

White Point: D65
Tonal Response Curve: 2.2
Luminance: 140
Monitor: NEC SpectraView 2090

Tim Read

[jose]

Calibration: EyeOne Pro + BasICColor Display 4.1.9, with PrePress preset except luminance.

White Point: D50

Tonal Response Curve: L*

Luminance: 80 (as recommended in Eizo CG241W)


--
Jose.

[mharvey65]

I'm fully aware that there are many ways to achieve a happy profiled environment - but - The one thing about profiling is that we are supposed to be achieving an 'open' standard. So for example, an image on my monitor should look the same as an image on anyone else' monitor anywhere else in the world. If this is the case, then the current set of postings is indeed a worrying statistic.

The currently agreed standard for monitor profiling is:

White point: D65 or 'Native' for laptops
Gamma: 2.2 regardless of if you are on PC or Mac or what make the monitor is
Luminance: 120 cd - this is less critical, depends on the brightness of the environment in which you work and doesn't affect the ability of a profile to correct colours

From this I would assume that either everyone has a good reason not to choose these settings OR there is a lack of definitive information about why these standards are universally accepted.

The theory that 'because you are viewing your output in a D50 viewing booth the monitor needs to be calibrated to D50' just doesn't really hold. Anyone using a whitepoint of D50 is looking at a very yellow monitor. I'm not sure that many will find a significant match between their printed work and screen working at D50 - unless they are not viewing their prints in a viewing booth?

So from where I sit,

Whitepoint: D65
Gamma 2.2
Luminance 120 cd

Eizo CG-21, CG-210 x2, CG-241, Flexscan L887, Apple iMac intel x4

So for all you colour guys and gals - try this for fun...

http://www.xrite.com/custom_page.aspx?PageID=77

Michael

[DenisM]

I'm fully aware that there are many ways to achieve a happy profiled environment - but - The one thing about profiling is that we are supposed to be achieving an 'open' standard. So for example, an image on my monitor should look the same as an image on anyone else' monitor anywhere else in the world. If this is the case, then the current set of postings is indeed a worrying statistic.
Michael

Michael,

Very interesting point....as is the point made here.....

http://www.updig.org/guidelines/calibration.php

....."There is not a single standard for white point, gamma and luminance because there is not a single standard for what you are trying to match."

So, which is more important: final output or, for example, that the designer who receives your DVD of files is seeing what you're seeing?

For what it's worth, I include a Readme file with all DVDs which states the settings I'm using.



Jose, a Luminance setting of 80? I'd love to see what you're seeing! 

Denis

[horseoncoboy]

for offset softproofing purposes the  fogra  (german ! http://forschung.fogra.org/dokumente/upload/Softproof_HandbuchV1_47d2c.pdf ) recommends  following settings:

whitepoint 5800 k
lumnance 160cd/m2
gamma: L*,1,8,2,2, sRGB

for myself i have settled at 5800K 2,2 140 with my eizo cg241+cg21 i have used and tested basiccolor display, i1 match and color navigator 5.1  the last one is my favorite

[Tim Read]

Hey I got a score of 4, is this significant?.  http://www.xrite.com/custom_page.aspx?PageID=77  Or have I inadvertently started a competition?

Tim Read

[mharvey65]

If you scored 4 then your monitor is very well profiled and you aren't colour blind... 8% of men are!!

Unfortunately a lot of photographers have scored 0 (0 is best), mind you I guess it does depend on your age...

Regards,

Michael

[mharvey65]

for offset softproofing purposes the  fogra  (german ! http://forschung.fogra.org/dokumente/upload/Softproof_HandbuchV1_47d2c.pdf ) recommends  following settings:

whitepoint 5800 k
lumnance 160cd/m2
gamma: L*,1,8,2,2, sRGB

for myself i have settled at 5800K 2,2 140 with my eizo cg241+cg21 i have used and tested basiccolor display, i1 match and color navigator 5.1  the last one is my favorite

Why would you want to work on a monitor which is calibrated to show you what you are able to achieve on press? Unless you are obsessed with supplying CMYK files or doing specialist retouching for a magazine or advertising?

Surely you just want to see what your wonderful pictures 'really' look like - without compromise?

How they put the things onto paper is surely the printers problem (or solution - depending on where you're standing)?

Working with a monitor set to match a press 'standard' is only useful if every image you ever look at is going to end up on a press. What if you wanted to print a beautiful image to your Epson or have a Lambda print made?

What if it was going to be printed in Japan or the US - does Fogra still hold up?

I can't imaging many photographers would want to work this way...

Food for thought,

Michael

[horseoncoboy]

for offset softproofing purposes the  fogra  (german ! http://forschung.fogra.org/dokumente/upload/Softproof_HandbuchV1_47d2c.pdf ) recommends  following settings:

whitepoint 5800 k
lumnance 160cd/m2
gamma: L*,1,8,2,2, sRGB

for myself i have settled at 5800K 2,2 140 with my eizo cg241+cg21 i have used and tested basiccolor display, i1 match and color navigator 5.1  the last one is my favorite

Why would you want to work on a monitor which is calibrated to show you what you are able to achieve on press? Unless you are obsessed with supplying CMYK files or doing specialist retouching for a magazine or advertising?



Surely you just want to see what your wonderful pictures 'really' look like - without compromise?

How they put the things onto paper is surely the printers problem (or solution - depending on where you're standing)?

Working with a monitor set to match a press 'standard' is only useful if every image you ever look at is going to end up on a press. What if you wanted to print a beautiful image to your Epson or have a Lambda print made?

What if it was going to be printed in Japan or the US - does Fogra still hold up?

I can't imaging many photographers would want to work this way...

Food for thought,

Michael

there is no compromise in any way if you use this values . the color gamut of a display is not much influenced by the calibration settings. to get a correct simulation of a printer
you need to use the photoshop soft-proof feature or something similar. the only  critical value is the white-point setting because photoshop uses relative colormetric for display rendering.
in my experience 5000 is way to yellow  and 6500 to blue for a good display to print matching but 5500-6000 k works well with most papers for inkjet or offset which contain some optical brighteners.

the new gracol and swop standards are based on fogra data but i have no information about asia.


one of the biggest misunderstandings comes from the fact that a lot belief you need large spaces  do display or print natural images or in other words  real images contain so many bright and high saturated colors
that only ultra large spaces like prophoto can hold them. this is in most real world cases not true.

[alexkent]

didn't i mention this was opening a can of worms ?


as i understant it, D65 and G2.2 are pretty much standard.

i personally question the "standard" Lum value of 120, as this makes your modern, bright, lcd display look like a display from 10 years ago when lum over ~130 wasn't possible.
if you're working in a brighter environment (anything brighter than a retouchers darkened cave) higher luminance's are appropriate.
some software (EyeOne Match for example) doesn't create a correct gamma curve if you don't give it a target lum to work to.

regarding the xrite online colour test, this is a nice game, but nothing to be taken too seriously.
alex.

[jose]

Jose, a Luminance setting of 80? I'd love to see what you're seeing! 

Denis

Denis,

My profile is for work with ImagePrint and prepress. My room workspace is at 5000ºK  and 300-350 lux, so I'm very comfortable with L=80 and D50. I have another profile to switch at L=110 and D65 when my environement is not controled (daylight, etc...).

saludos!

[OMRA]

The old batle, "see or not to see", my english is not very well. But my 2c

D50 or 5000K is common use to prepress it guives you some equivalence to "white paper" and for that a more simple way to work.
I have the hope that someday in future we can work with software platforms sutch as "Integrated color solutions" Remote director kind of stuff.

http://www.icscolor.com/index.php?/products/remote_director/#

And remember "the guilt is always from the photographer" "A culpa é sempre do fotografo"

regards
Octavio

[OMRA]

Hey I got a score of 4, is this significant?.  http://www.xrite.com/custom_page.aspx?PageID=77  Or have I inadvertently started a competition?

Tim Read

score 4 at sec.time