Determining optimal viewing angle of laptop LCD when processing photos

<p>I know editing photos on a laptop is a no-no for any serious photographer, due to contrast shifting when the viewing angle changes (raise or lower the screen). This is why I have an external monitor (Dell U2711) for all my photo editing needs.</p>

<p>But sometimes it's nice to work on some photos while on-the-go. I have a 15" MacBook Pro with a TN Samsung panel. It's vertical viewing angle is horrendous. Therefore, I feel like I'm editing 'blind' since I have no idea what the proper black level/contrast is since it changes so much based on the viewing angle.</p>

<p>But I feel like there must be <strong>some</strong> way to 'calibrate' the viewing angle on a laptop so you can get <em>reasonably</em> close to the proper contrast. I would assume that one could do this by having an image containing a strip of different shades of grey (from black to white), with some instruction set like 'adjust the viewing angle of your monitor until <em>just</em> make out boxes 1 and 2 from the background black'.</p>

<p>Or something along those lines...</p>

<p>Is there anything like this? Is this even reasonable?</p>

<p>Many thanks in advance for any responses!<br>

Rishi</p>

<p>I have gone through the very same issues, until I found this. I have used this ever since, it works so well and at any angle you have the laptop. Best of all it's only about $15.00 U.S. It never leaves my laptop.</p>

<p><a href="http://acratech.net/product.php?productid=70">http://acratech.net/product.php?productid=70</a></p>

<p>You could also look at your reflection on the screen. If you can see your eyes right in the middle, then you are viewing it at 90· (sorry... I'm using a Latin American keyboard, and I don't have the little circle for "degrees").</p>

<p>No need to spend money, unless your screen is matte, and so non-reflective that you can´t see anything reflected off it.</p>

<p>here's a strip I set as a background image centered</p><div></div>

<p>Thanks everyone!</p>

<p>So I'm assuming after profiling my monitor, viewing it at 90º ensures that the image is accurate? The Acratech seems to be the solution...</p>

<p>Todd, I'm not sure I understand how that strip will ensure that you're viewing the screen at the right angle. I want to make sure that, for example, after profiling my Dell U2711 & my MacBook Pro, I see the same contrast/black level on both screens when editing my photos. Or at least be in the ballpark!</p>

<p>hi rishi, just what you said in your opening post, angle the screen so that you can see the most distinct steps in the image...set it as your background image centered. if it's not at the right angle you'll see black or white blobs instead of steps in the image. let us know if the acratech thing works better.</p>

<p>Todd, I understand that's what you were trying to get at. It's just that I don't understand how seeing the most distinct steps ensures that you're calibrated to some 'standard' that ensures WYSIWYG when you go to print. It's not like seeing the most distinct steps in your patches there suddenly ensures that I'm experiencing a 2.2 gamma response from my monitor... right? The only way that is ensured is if I calibrate to 2.2 gamma AND view my monitor from 90º. Seeing the most distinct patches in your image does not ensure that I'm viewing from 90º, does it? Actually, I have to view my screen from considerably higher to ensure that I see the most distinct patches in your image... Definitely not a 90º angle.</p>

<p>Actually, perhaps a better option than the acratech would be to use these gamma calibration charts:</p>

<p>http://www.normankoren.com/makingfineprints1A.html#gammachart</p>

<p>This one's even better, with individual color gamma:<br>

http://www.lagom.nl/lcd-test/gamma_calibration.php#gamma-test-2.png</p>

<p>This allows me to change the angle of the screen to set gamma, then adjust the brightness properly to set the black level (with the Norman Koren images above). </p>

<p>Does this seem like a valid method? I guess I'd be curious to see if the acratech & this gamma method would agree with one another... I bet they would. I feel like my line of sight is 90º now that I've adjusted my viewing angle to get the gamma to 2.2 according to those charts (I've profiled my monitor to 2.2 gamma).</p>

<p>Thoughts?<br>

Rishi</p>

<p>This applet also helps you estimate the gamma of your display... so you can adjust your viewing angle until the box in the center disappears into the background when you squint:</p>

<p>http://perso.telecom-paristech.fr/~brettel/TESTS/Gamma/Gamma.html</p>

<p>Unfortunately, on my MacBook Pro 15" with the hi-resolution (1680x1050) display, the viewing angle is so bad that even when I'm viewing the screen at 90º, there's a gradient from top to bottom (dark to lighter) without me even moving my head. Surprisingly, if I view the screen from higher up, there's less of this gradient effect (a solid tone across the entire screen looks like a solid tone, not a gradient), but then the gamma is something ridiculous like 1.6 or 1.4 (way too light!).</p>

<p>Anyway, hope this helps someone in the future b/c apparently at this point I'm conversing with myself.</p>

<p>-Rishi</p>