Monitors are all manufactured with certain inconsistencies in color/tone representation. Even the high end monitors require "calibration," which simply means re-adjustment of color/tone against a standard so that it becomes accurate.
You basically have two options:
manual calibration, which relies on the accuracy of your eyes. You open a jpg print in photoshop & hold a *color-accurate* print of the same picture in your hand, then you do tweaks in your video adjustment dialogue box in windows till your screen looks right.
As an example, if you're using ezprints, they send you a color accurate print and give you the option of downloading the jpg so you can do this. You can find this at //www.ezprints.com/help/CalibrationHelp.asp, but you probably have to sign up
The trouble with this method is that human eyes have a wonderful habit of adapting to color variations rather than identifying color variations. The advantage of this method is it's free!
However, I have only been frustrated with my attempts to do calibration this way
hardware calibration
Instead of relying on your eyes, you purchase a sensor/software package that takes all the guess work out of it, learn how to use it, and leave it to the device.
This is certainly the most accurate way of doing it, but the limitation is that it can't make a bad monitor good (though it will certainly make it more accurate than before). Less expensive monitors can have a hard time for instance at representing the real dark and real bright portions of an image.
As to which package to use, you have a lot to choose from. Take a look at dry creek photo. They are exceptional in the standards they maintain & have reviews of a number of the main packages. You'll find them at //www.drycreekphoto.com/Learn/monitor_calibration_tools.htm
all the best,
Bert
Message edited by author 2008-06-12 13:17:57. |
