Monitor Calibration

[Farlo]

Could anyone point me to a good, preferably free, monitor calibrator site/program?  I know one was linked to quite a while ago, but I've long since lost the URL (and I am far too lazy to Google).  Just bought Bioshock 2 off a friend and upon launching the game it decided it didn't like my brightness/contrast settings and thought it would be a good idea to completely screw them up without asking first... 

 

This topic might be worth discussing and expanding into a section of the SIG, your monitor/OS settings can have a huge impact on colors and whatnot.

[TechAngel85]

Windows should have a fairly good one. Control Panel >> Color Management >> Advanced Tab >> Calibrate display button

[rootsrat]

I use Lagom tool. Never failed me, and I do print out large photographs quite often for art exhibitions - both in colour and b&w.

 

If you have any presets on your monitor don't forget to set it to some kind of standard/default/normal preset first.

[MontyMM]

This is a very good point. Manufacturers love setting exaggerated defaults to make their screens pop on the shop floor. Good calibration would be a very good inclusion for the wiki.

[Besidilo]

I use Lagom tool. Never failed me, and I do print out large photographs quite often for art exhibitions - both in colour and b&w.

 

If you have any presets on your monitor don't forget to set it to some kind of standard/default/normal preset first.

Lagom is excellent for checking your calibration results, but nothing beats hardware calibration.

 

I have a Spyder 3 Pro and Pantone Huey Pro over here,  worthwhile investments in the long run, considering how many monitors I have calibrated with them.

 

Not to mention that you need to calibrate the monitor every 4-6 weeks to retain the image suitable for photo editing, etc.

 

And yes, I agree that the default settings on most monitors (especially TN panels) are horrible and people simply don't realise how inaccurate the colours are. With contrast and brightness pushed all the way up, it's no wonder how we get so many awful ENB configs that are nothing short of oversaturated blurry POS.

 

Don't forget that you're still limited by the hardware and even the best colour calibrators in the world won't be able to squeeze out more than your monitor is capable of displaying. Either way, I still heartily recommend investing in one, be it a used Spyder 2/3 from ebay.

 

If you give me your monitors' models, I can have a look around for the most accurate general settings for your monitor. Without knowing the batch/revision number, it might be a little on the hard side, though, but a good starting point nonetheless.

[WilliamImm]

Erm - I use two Hanns-G HF191A monitors (I think that's what they are called). Wondering what the ideal general settings are for that monitor, as I also do photo editing on the same computer.

 

(And yes, I was thinking of getting a Spyder, but they were very expensive - at least at the places I looked at.)

[Kelmych]

I have two monitors and I also use a Pantone Huey Pro to calibrate both. On both monitors I did notice a significant change in the before and after versions of the baseline picture that the Huey shows.

[justjr]

I have an Dell UltraSharp U2311H, it is IPS, when I bought I did a research, I found that the original calibration of this monitor is optimum, at least compared to the majority of bad calibrated monitors. Can you take a look at it's calibration?

[Besidilo]

Erm - I use two Hanns-G HF191A monitors (I think that's what they are called). Wondering what the ideal general settings are for that monitor' date=' as I also do photo editing on the same computer.

 

(And yes, I was thinking of getting a Spyder, but they were very expensive - at least at the places I looked at.)[/quote']

 

It's very hard to find your monitor in any databases, I guess the model differs depending on location. Either way, HannsG. monitors aren't exactly popular and don't get enough reviews or feedback from people who actually calibrate them, so I'm afraid I can't help you much.

 

Another thing is that with two monitors of the same brand, calibration will differ anyway. You could really use a hardware calibrator that would set up two separate profiles for your monitors and offset the imbalance.

 

I have an Dell UltraSharp U2311H' date=' it is IPS, when I bought I did a research, I found that the original calibration of this monitor is optimum, at least compared to the majority of bad calibrated monitors. Can you take a look at it's calibration?[/quote']

 

Refer to this database - https://www.tftcentral.co.uk/articles/icc_profiles.htm#d, try the posted settings and read the review. It is one of the better calibrated models from that year.

[WilliamImm]

Actually, both monitors are HW191As. Mixed up one character in the model number. After reading what you said, I'm not expecting to see more results, but you can try again anyway.

[Farlo]

Refer to this database - https://www.tftcentral.co.uk/articles/icc_profiles.htm#d, try the posted settings and read the review. It is one of the better calibrated models from that year.

 

That site doesn't have mine: ASUS VH236H, can you point me to one?

[rootsrat]

Depends what you want to use it for, but I calibrate my Acer X233H with the tool I linked earlier and I've never had any anomalies on my print outs.

[WilliamImm]

I use Lagom too - calibrated my dual monitors with it. Would like to use a hardware calibration tool, but it would be tough to afford for me right now...

[rootsrat]

I'm on dual display too, but my secondary screen is some cheap 19 inch, not worth calibrating really :D

 

All in all, I dream of a dedicated computer room with a projector

[justjr]

Ok, so just configure custom RBG, contrast and brightness, then apply the ICC?

What about the vibrant color feature from nvidia? It's 50% by default I think, but if I move the slide all the way left my monitor becomes b&w, lol.