Is it possible to calibrate a monitor to display in sRGB?

After reading a lot about color spaces and monitor calibration, I am still confused.

 

I have 2 monitors. One is a 17inch CRT (Phillips 107E5), which has a preset called sRGB. When I select that, it

automatically adjusts the colors, contrast, and brightness to certain levels. When I order a print from Winkflash

or PrintRoom (both use sRGB printers) and compare it to the digital version on my monitor, they are absolutely

identical (it's amazing). I really like this. In addition, most photos I view online from pro photographers look

really good.

 

My other monitor is an LCD (Samsung 2220WM, not calibrated). The contrast and brightness are way high, and it has

a magenta cast on all photos I see. I have tried several times to fiddle with the settings so that it displays

photos the way my CRT does, unsuccessfully.

 

My question is: if I buy a calibration kit (software and hardware), will I be able to have my LCD monitor display

the sRBG settings?

 

Thanks in advance.

No, but once profiled the monitor profile will correctly translate between an image in sRGB and what the monitor can display so you should have consistent results. I use Winkflash with a calibrated monitor and the results are quite good.

I have a Viewsonic which also has the sRGB setting. I use it like that all the time. However, I also have another LCD I use which i have calibrated using the Monaco system. They both look almost identical.

 

So, you can calibrate a monitor and should so with an appropriate set of tools.

 

If you have sRGB of course you are automatically set, in a sense.

Monitors are not calibrated to sRGB nor any other particular color space. Calibration insures that digital images will be displayed with the correct colors when viewed using a color-managed program like Photoshop. sRGB is a device-independent standard which specifies which color a certain "number" represents. Photoshop uses the color space (e.g., sRGB or Adobe RGB) to interpret the image file for display. Photoshop does not use the monitor profile - that is done by the operating system.

 

sRGB represents a narrow range of colors, resulting in better color when using a non-CMS application (e.g., Internet Explorer) to display the image. You will get better results using a calibrated (profiled) display even for non-CMS applications.

Those canned sRGB settings on displays don't take into account the dreaded red/green shift between how bluish-(contains

magenta/violet) the color cast of your white is from your midrange-(greenish/cyanish) which plays tricks on your eye's color(hue)

perception. This two tone color cast can be quite subtle and hard to detect by eye, but after your eye adjusts to this, it's not going

to take this into account in long edit sessions and you may find your fleshtones end up looking either too red or a dull yellow in

prints.

 

These two color casts can only be removed through hardware.

Thanks everyone for your answers. Unfortunately, I don't understand most of them. My basic question is: can I calibrate my LCD monitor so that it displays photos like my CRT does? Thanks again.

This can be a bit confusing at first, but I'll take a shot at explaining it.

Basically, sRGB isn't a "setting" on your monitor, it's a color space, just like Adobe RGB (1998) and ColorMatch RGB are color spaces. A color space is simply a collection of colors, and you can choose from several different color spaces in your editing software. If you want to learn more about color spaces, there are some great discussions here on PhotoNet, but the important point is that sRGB is a color space, not a setting on your monitor.

 

Getting back to your question, I'm not familiar with your CRT monitor, but I'm guessing the button labeled "sRGB" simply adjusts the monitor's contrast, brightness, color, tint, etc. to make images created in the sRGB color space look accurate on the monitor. You're not really setting sRGB in the monitor, you're just telling the monitor that you'll be looking at sRGB images and to make them look good.

 

Finally, my answer to your question is a qualified "yes." I'm guessing that if you buy a color calibration system, you will be able to calibrate both monitors to show colors accurately and they will look pretty much the same on both monitors and in your prints from the lab, with the caveat that CRTs and LCDs just naturally look a little different due to their design. But, if one of your monitors is several years old or defective, then all bets are off and you may not be able to calibrate that monitor. (I learned that the hard way.) In general, however, you should be able to make the monitors display colors accurately, or at least more accurately than an uncalibrated monitor. And if your monitors are displaying colors accurately, then images in the sRGB color space will be accurate. (That's not always true in other color spaces, but that's a whole 'nother story.)

 

Of course, if all this is just too much trouble, and you're happy with the results from images edited on the CRT with sRGB selected, well....you know what to do.

Hi Dave.

 

I think I understand more now. Bottom line is that my CRT is dying, and I will need my LCD to display images properly. Based on your answer, it sounds like I'll be able to do that.

 

Thanks everyone for their time.

The sRGB spec is based on a theoretical display using a fixed set of phosphors (P22), has a defined chromaticity, white

point and TRC gamma. So yes, there are some old displays that can produce sRGB but nothing that's been built in the last

6-8 years. As mentioned, you can however get images to preview correctly in an sRGB color space thanks to color

management (display profiling, ICC aware applications and documents that are in that color space).

"Bottom line is that my CRT is dying, and I will need my LCD to display images properly."

 

A color calibration system is the way to go then. There are some software-based systems where you kinda fiddle with the monitor controls to calibrate it, but a package that includes hardware and software can create a color profile for your individual monitor that your operating system will use to adjust the display. I have an LCD monitor and I use a ColorVision system I bought several years ago for about $100 and it makes a big difference. Good luck.