HP LP2475w calibration results

<p>OK, as some you you have read my other post about hardware calibration and cheap monitors, I recieved the HP LP2475w. I got it through Amazon shipped for about $620.<br>

Pros:<br /> My impressions are pretty good. First off the mount/stand is top quality compared to the Samsung T240. The monitor itself feels sturdier, it has every plug in the world to chose from, and it comes supplied with several chords to use (DVI-VGA, DVI, HDMI, and DP). Once setup, it took about 30 minutes to calibrate to replicate the 5 8x10 test/compare shots I have (Adorama prints using thier porfiles). The color is about dead on in CS4, Capture One, ACDSee, and Firefox after default calibration using my Spyder3 Pro. The brightness needed to be turned down to 0 zero and the contrast to 25, the rest of the monitor settings were default. Turning the power down does cause a very faint hum, unlike the loud buzz from the Samsung, but its quieter than the computer CPU fan which is below my desk. Overall, I like the monitor.<br>

Cons:<br /> OK, these are small, but I thought I'd list tham anyway. The monitor does have 4 dim pixels, they look like dust on the monitor. I may call HP or Amazon on this, since I paid over $600. The supplied software does not install, it may be Vista and I have not looked on the website for an updated version. Last, and this may also be Vista, the windows environment is VERY over saturated and red. Photoshop CS4, Capture One, ACDsee, and Firefox (I changed settings to read profile in FF) are all almost dead on as I stated above, but my background, file explorer, and icons are all way off. Any ideas?<br>

All the cons are survivable. If I had to do it again, I would but this monitor.<br>

Mark</p>

<p>This monitor's color gamut is close to NTSC which is bigger than sRGB the color space Vista's GUI as well as most other OS's are designed upon.</p>

<p>In addition, if the overall contrast of the entire screen is noticeably increased after calibration, saturation will also increase. How's the global saturation level when loading the default sRGB profile as your display profile?</p>

<p>This may be something you're just going to have to live with until Vista color manages its GUI.</p>

<p>sRGB looks fine, its just the calibrated profile that looks over saturated.</p>

<p>m</p>

<p>I am using the same monitor on MB pro, it is excellent, calibrated with eye one display 2, with these settings,wanted brightnes 140.</p>

<p>Brightness 33<br>

contrast 90<br>

RGB: 216, 189, 225</p>

<p>With these settings i get the color space of app. Adobe RGB wide.<br>

Check the review also on prad.de</p>

<p>Mark,</p>

<p>As others have stated, the monitor is wide gamut so things displayed in non-color aware apps can be a bit (OK, sometimes a LOT) over the top. That's the tradeoff you face using a wide gamut monitor in a mostly non-color managed world. I don't find basic windows or productivity software UI's objectionable, but things like websites displayed in IE can look horrible. My web development software (an ancient version of Adobe GoLive) can be disturbing as well. Thank goodness for Firefox 3. [bTW, does anyone know if Dreamweaver is color aware? If so it might be worth the cost to upgrade on that basis alone!]</p>

<p>Did you adjust individual RGB settings as noted by Boris, or did you leave the monitor at one of the default color temps? Despite the Spyder documentation recommending otherwise, I'd make initial adjustments with the monitor's RGB settings, and then calibrate and build your profile from there. And BTW, the sRGB setting I find to be absolutely useless.</p>

<p>I don't know what monitor software you're trying to download, but the disk worked fine on my Vista 64, SP1 machine - though the only software from the disk that I've actually installed is the "pivot" utility. No problems there.</p>

<p>Scott</p>

<p>Scott,</p>

<p>Thanks, I'll try that. I talked to the Color Vision guys and they said thats normal for Wide Gamut monitors and Windows. Nothing I can do except modify the picture used as my background to minimize annoyance (I did and its fine). </p>

<p>The software is the HP CD that came with it. I was trying to install the tilt software and it keeps erroring out. I thought it was a Vista issue. I'll try again later.</p>

<p>m</p>

<p>Mark,</p>

<p>Best of luck with the installation. The only thing I needed was the tilt software and it installed fine here, so it's not a generic Vista thing.</p>

<p>As for your background image - yep, some simple modifications will help. After calibrating, I find that images left in Adobe RGB come pretty close to being right for non-color managed display specifically for my monitor - such as for wallpaper use.</p>

<p>There's no doubt about it - using a wide-gamut monitor has some drawbacks and isn't for everyone, but I sure do love my 2475 for what I do.</p>

<p>Again, best of luck,</p>

<p>Scott</p>

<p>Just got one of these as well. After calibration with an Eye-one Display the appearance is excellent - very clear and smooth - and closely matching recent prints. Also, unlike my older NEC display, no change in brightness when changing viewing angle. I had to reduce the brightness before calibration using the on-monitor controls - set it to 60% in my room (dark outside, curtains shut). All other controls at default. Just one gripe so far - although the build quality is generally excellent, the buttons on the bottom of the monitor do not work well, especially the + and -. At first I thought mine weren't working at all and the feel of them is vague as well. They needed a good click/push with the fingers and eventually they came to life.</p>

<p>What service! I emailed HP business support about the dead pixels. A day later a local service rep called, and send over a new monitor. No hessatations recommending this HP monitor.</p>

<p>Mark</p>

<p>Mark - That is really great that you got a replacement monitor so quickly. What country do you live in?</p>

<p>Actually if you remember looking at Kodachrome slides (or National Geographic magazine in sunlight for that matter), you will immediately recognise the richness of the reds and greens. Having used to cheap TN monitors, I've just got my hands on this IPS baby, and Wow! Now I know what I've been missing by not using a wide gamut monitor to view my thousands of photos. I've always suspected something was wrong when pictures taken even with my DSLR (Nikon D80 with Nikkor lenses) always look a little dull and off colour from the scene that I took.<br>

Now looking back at the same photos I've been taking especially with scenes at sunset and of grass or red items, the are really beautiful! They immediately reminded me looking at Kodachrome slides through a light box. Fantastic!<br>

Every photo enthusiast should be getting one of these IPS wide-gamut monitors even if they cost more (a bit more in the case of this HP LP2475w). I don't use it for colour accuracy, but definitely for the wide dynamic range of colours to appreciate my photos!</p>