Tip: Correcting Your HxD LCD Colour Using Laptop (& Create a Custom WB)

[Conner999]

As I mentioned in an earlier post, H5D LCDs kinda suck. They're older and obviously lower-res vs. modern bodies, but they also tend to be less than colour correct.
Our H5D LCD tends to have a magenta shift. Images fine, it's just the rear LCD CB.

Now, you can play with the custom K values, but that only adjust the blue-yellow shift. It does nada for the green-magenta tint. For that you need to shoot a grey card.  You can then store the custom WB for use as desired.

Since like all cameras, the rear LCD shows a jpeg processed using in-camera settings, if you set the custom WB for jpegs to correct for any LCD colour imbalance, the rear LCD will show a colour correct image.  The RAWs are, of course, unaffected.

When tethered or importing, set the proper WB on the 1st capture and the rest will be perfect both on camera and laptop.

Old Method
In that earlier post I talked about using a grey card with layers of colour correcting gels clipped on top and shooting it. Too magenta, add layers of say 1/8 magenta gel to add green until happy.

This works, but it's not very granular - if your off by say 1/16 of a gel, you have to screw around and sooner or later, after too many gels, the background grey vanishes. It also means a stand, grey card, gels, clips, etc.

New 21st Century Method
A ew way we're using is our laptop (MBP) & PS (the example below assumes our case of too magenta, but spice to taste):

1. Open a new PS file, make it large, and fill the background layer with 50% grey - that's your grey card.
2. Add a second layer and fill it with magenta (or green).
3. Adjust opacity to a best 1st guess. Usually doesn't take much.
4. Shoot the screen in Custom WB mode.
5. Take a shot of surroundings & compare real life to LCD
6. Adjust opacity of 1st colour correction layer and rinse/repeat until happy with Green/Magenta shift

7. If desired, add a 2nd colour layer and fill it with blue or yellow, adjusting opacity, and repeat process until happy with LCD warmth (if needed). Again, it takes very low opacity to get the job done.

8. Save file and if desired create versions for daylight vs tungsten vs _____ and save WBs in custom profiles in-camera.

Our H5D takes maybe 2 minutes and it works perfectly. The method allows you to dial in the colour exactly and naturally compensates for a less than perfect laptop calibration.

Now, if a client looks at your rear LCD and/or if the less than perfect colour annoys you, it's an issue no longer.